Confusion reigns over legal status of King Charles’ Australian title

Anthony Albanese has backtracked on advice he agreed with that King Charles’s Australian title would need new legislation to come into force.

King Charles addresses the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh in September. Picture: Getty Images

Anthony Albanese accepted advice that new legislation was needed to formally establish King Charles III’s Australian title but his department has backtracked on that advice while the proclamation of his title is incorrectly styled and inconsistent with other realms.

On September 18, 2023, the Prime Minister signed and circled “agreed” on a minute from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet that said a “a new Royal Style and Titles Act would set out the official style and title adopted for His Majesty King Charles III.”

The brief, released under Freedom of Information laws, follows an earlier brief to the government revealed by The Australian in 2017 that also advised parliament must amend the Royal Style and Titles Act 1973 or introduce a new act to give the king’s Australian title legal force.

A year before Mr Albanese signed the minute, he countersigned a proclamation by the Governor-General on September 11, 2022, establishing the monarch’s Australian title: “King Charles the Third, by the Grace of God King of Australia and his other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.”

The Department told The Australian the proclamation was sufficient even though this ran counter to advice they had previously given to the Prime Minister.

“The proclamation proclaims His Majesty, King Charles III, to be the King of Australia,” a spokesperson said. “The proclamation contains the King’s Australian title. Nothing further is required.”

There is also doubt over the use of “king” twice in Charles’s Australian title, with suggestions it could be an error in the ­proclamation.

The British House of Commons advises the correct form for all realms, including Australia, must begin with “Charles the Third” not “King Charles the Third”.

The contrary and confused advice comes as Charles begins his first royal tour of Australia as monarch and head of state on Friday, travelling to Sydney and Canberra over five days.

Whether Charles needs new legislation to formally establish his Australian title is a matter of debate among constitutional scholars. The Acts Interpretation Act 1901 suggests references to the sovereign in acts are automatically updated.

However, this is provided that application of the act is not “subject to a contrary intention”. As the Royal Style and Titles Act 1973 Act applies to Queen Elizabeth II, such an enactment could demonstrate a contrary intention if applied to Charles.

Canada passed legislation authorising a royal proclamation of Charles’s Canadian title that was given assent on June 22, 2023.

The Australian parliament passed the Royal Style and Titles Bill 1953 to give effect to Elizabeth II’s title when she became monarch. She gave assent to the legislation on April 3, 1953.

When the Whitlam government changed her title to include “Queen of Australia”, with her approval, in the Royal Style and Titles Bill 1973, she gave it assent on October 19, 1973.

This precedent has not been followed for Charles.

The department refused to provide details of the cost of the royal visit, whether the king and queen would stay at vice-regal residences in Sydney and Canberra, and whether the king would attend an Executive Council meeting or give royal assent to any legislation during his visit.