‘But will I be welcome?’: King’s fears over a potential visit to Australia amid republic push

Charles has expressed fears about the reception he may receive in Australia as Anthony Albanese says he will swear the oath of allegiance at the coronation.

King Charles has expressed fears about the reception he might ­receive in Australia, as Anthony Albanese prepares to extend an ­invitation for the sovereign to visit.

The Prime Minister went to Buckingham Palace early on Wednesday (AEST) for a private audience with Charles where he delivered the official request for the King and Queen Camilla to embark on a royal tour of Australia.

Mr Albanese tweeted: “It was (a) pleasure to meet King Charles III again at Buckingham Palace, and an honour to represent Australia at his Coronation.”

It was pleasure to meet King Charles III again at Buckingham Palace, and an honour to represent Australia at his Coronation. pic.twitter.com/DdGjc0z6Ol

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 2, 2023

It is understood the meeting between the King and Mr Albanese was insightful and rewarding and the Prime Minister extended an invitation for King Charles and members of the Royal Family to visit Australia.

Their meeting came just hours before London Police arrested a man and performed a controlled explosion after suspected shotgun cartridges were thrown into the grounds of Buckingham Palace. Officers detained the man said to be in possession of a suspicious bag as he approached the palace gates at about 7pm local time.

Earlier in the day Mr Albanese had sat down with a wide ranging interview with Talk TV host Piers Morgan at the Australian High Commissioner’s residence, Stoke Lodge in central London, revealing that he would say the oath of allegiance to the King during the Coronation service at Westminster Abbey.

“I think you can be a lifelong republican, which I am and still respect our institutions and certainly I have a great deal of respect for King Charles,” Mr Albanese said, adding: “And it’s a great honour to be here representing Australia, all Australians wish King Charles well, regardless of the different views that people have about our constitutional arrangements.”

King Charles hosts Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Buckingham Palace this morning.

When pressed about making the oath, Mr Albanese said: “I will do what’s entirely appropriate as the representative of Australia, which is Australians made a choice in 1999. And one of the things that you’ve got to do is to accept the democratic outcome. So we made that choice. And I will, certainly in that spirit, as I have, as I have done 10 times in the parliament (make the oath of allegiance).’’

Mr Albanese told Mr Morgan that a demand for a referendum on a republic “isn’t something that can be imposed from the top because it won’t be successfu.l”

He said when that demand is there, “I’m sure a vote will be held”. But he insisted such a vote was not imminent.

Mr Morgan had tweeted about the interview late on Tuesday (AEST), revealing Mr Albanese would swear the oath of allegiance.

The King has questioned Australian diplomats about the country’s possible welcome for himself and Queen Camilla amid the Labor government’s republican push and its appointment of a Minister for the Republic.

The Australian has been told that during recent discussions preparing for the Prime Minister to issue a formal invitation to Aus­tralia, the King remarked: “But will I be welcome?’’

King Charles, right, at the Timbertop campus of Victoria's Geelong Grammar School in 1966.

The King, who has a deep love for Australia after spending two terms at the Timbertop school in Victoria as a teenager, has made it clear he considers the question about Australia’s head of state to be one for Australians.

But that early schooling also taught him that Australians are very blunt and direct, perhaps leading to his wariness about the likely reception. He visited Australia 16 times while prince of Wales, the last being in 2018.

A photo issued by Kensington Palace of Princess Charlotte, taken in Windsor last weekend by her mother, The Princess of Wales, ahead of her eighth birthday on Tuesday. Picture: The Princess of Wales via Getty Images

In the eight months he has been King, Charles has moved to include Australia and the other 14 realms in the planning of the coronation and has symbolically included the Australian flag inside Westminster Abbey, to be carried by soccer star Sam Kerr, as well as having a contingent of the Australian Federation Guard march in the coronation procession.

The Australian understands plans for the next Australian royal visit by the popular Prince and Princess of Wales, and their three children – Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 8, and five-year-old Prince Louis – may be ­upended by Mr Albanese’s invitation to the King.

I've just arrived in London - a busy agenda in the United Kingdom.

Ahead of the Coronation of King Charles III on Saturday, Prime Minister @RishiSunak and I will be meeting to further discussions on the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement. pic.twitter.com/FryHPAJ62u

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 2, 2023

Planning for a visit by William and Kate has been more than a year in the making, and was deferred because of the queen’s death last September and this Saturday’s coronation.

The couple had also wanted to allow the children time to adjust to their new school, Lambrook, near Ascot which they had started, coincidentally, on the day of the queen’s death.

­George was just nine months old when the family last visited Australia in 2014, charming the country when he opened the bilby enclosure at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, excitedly waving his arms when he saw one of the mammals and then tossing a stuffed toy bilby to one side.

Caroline de Guitaut, deputy surveyor of the King's Works of Art for the Royal Collection Trust, adjusts the Imperial Mantle, which forms part of the Coronation Vestments, displayed in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace in London, England. The vestments will be worn by King Charles III during his coronation at Westminster Abbey on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images

Mr Albanese said last September: “There have been some preliminary discussions about the now Prince and Princess of Wales visiting ­Australia. And, of course, the royal family have always been welcome visitors here in Australia, and they would be again.”

It had been expected that Mr Albanese would personally deliver it on Friday, but he used a window of time on Tuesday afternoon, London time, shortly after arriving in the country, to meet with the King.

Charles and Camilla have done one international tour in recent months, to Germany, to help reset Britain’s relationship with Europe following Brexit. Another tour to France was postponed because of widespread strikes in the country.

While Mr Albanese issued a general open invitation during a Commonwealth heads of state reception on the eve of the queen’s funeral, royal protocol dictates that the palace has to wait for a specific invitation from the Australian government before any planning can take place.