KING Charles and Queen Camilla are preparing to embark on their nine-day tour to Australia this week and have an action-packed itinerary ahead.
While the visit is historic – Charles’ first as reigning monarch – it could be “extremely exhausting” for Camilla who “doesn’t like flying”, according to an expert.
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Queen Camilla and King Charles are heading on their Australia tour this weekCredit: PA
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Camilla is said to not love flying and finds trips ‘exhausting’Credit: Getty
The royal couple will land in Australia on Friday, then head to Samoa on Wednesday October 23, before departing for the UK on Saturday October 26.
Editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine Ingrid Seward told Fabulous: “Queen Camilla is 76.
“She gets very tired because she’s not born to this royal life.
“I know she’s been in it a long time, but she’s not born to it, and I think people sometimes forget that Camilla’s never actually had a job.
“I think she finds these trips extremely exhausting. She doesn’t like flying.
“She’s not a great traveller, and she’s not good in the heat, because you know her, you know, like a lot of women of her age, you know. her feet swell up, and she feels uncomfortable.
“So it’s not the most pleasurable thing to do for her to whisk across to Australia although it might be really exciting for somebody younger.”
Despite the tour being potentially taxing for Queen Camilla, the royal expert claimed she will make it a success.
Ingrid continued: “I don’t think it’s great for her, but she has got a great humour, and she’s absolutely lovely to everybody.
“She’ll take a hairdresser. She’ll take her dresser, Jackie.
Inside story of how King Charles bounced back from cancer – from pioneering treatments to real reason Harry got audience of just 30 minutes
“She’ll have plenty of staff around her to help her, and she’s she is just so good humoured that people really like her.
“Even when there’s a dire situation she can turn it around and make and make it much better.
“She’s what we call an upper person.
“She makes the best of any situation, and she can always make it, you know, find some amusement somewhere to cheer everybody up.”
The King and Queen will start their trip in Sydney on October 18 before heading to capital Canberra three days later for a banquet with senior politicians.
It’ll be Charles’ 17th visit to Australia but his first trip to a Commonwealth nation since becoming King.
It’s also his first visit to Australia since 2018 when he opened the Commonwealth Games on the Queensland Gold Coast.
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Camilla’s ‘great humour’ is said to get her through royal toursCredit: Getty
Tour change
Royal Editor for The Times Kate Mansey said on the Royals with Roya and Kate podcast that the Australia tour will be “different from royal tours of old.”
She said: “In Australia we are not going to see evening functions, there’s no State Dinner in Australia, which is unusual.
“They are paring back for health reasons, so there are no late nights.
“They’ve said he’s pausing his treatment during the tour, so they must be reasonably reassured that he can go that period of time.
“He’s been having treatment for quite some time now, since the beginning of the year, and on medical advice, he can pause it while he’s away and will resume it when he comes back. “This doesn’t mean he’s finished his cancer treatment—there’s been no announcement on that point of view—but it is a sign that he’s perhaps well enough.
“The fact that he’s going is quite a reassuring sign from his doctors and the palace.”
Timeline of King Charles’ health battle
A look at King Charles cancer diagnosis and recovery.
January 17: Buckingham Palace announces the King has been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate
January 26: The Sun exclusively photograph the King arriving at The London Clinic for his ‘corrective procedure’
January 29: Seen waving and smiling as he left hospital after an extra night
February 5: Palace reveal while in hospital for his prostate operation doctors discovered the the King has a form of cancer
February 10: King issues ‘heartfelt thanks’ in a written statement
February 21: King tells Rishi Sunak he had been “reduced to tears” by get-well cards
March 21: The Princess of Wales and the King have lunch at Windsor Castle
March 22: Kate announces via video statement that she is being treated for cancer
March 31: King attends Easter Sunday service and takes part in ‘walkabout’ with members of the public and aides say ‘it was a significant step’ as King had ‘responded to treatment very encouragingly’
April 4: The Sun exclusively reveals King has ordered aides to ‘supercharge’ his diary for the summer and is ‘raring to go’
April 10: King and Queen embark on break at Birkhall, in Scottish Highlands
April 26: Buckingham Palace announce King will return to public-facing front-line duties
April 30: King marks his public comeback by visiting a cancer hospital with the Queen
Future:
May 8 and 21: Buckingham Palace Garden Parties
May 21 – 25: Chelsea Flower Show
June 6: 80th anniversary D-Day commemorations in France and UK
June 15: Trooping the Colour birthday parade in London
June 17: Garter Day parade at Windsor Castle
June 18 – 22: Royal Ascot
Late June: State Visit by Emperor and Empress of Japan
July 3: Holyrood Week in Scotland
October: Two or three-week tour of Australia
Roya Nikkhah, who is royal editor at The Sunday Times, adding: “It’s been pared back so it’s tight isn’t it.
“It’s Sydney and Camberra before we go on to Samoa.”
Kate shared how Charles will meet local Australians, but they have tweaked the name of the traditional “walkabout.”
She explained: “There’s lots of opportunities to meet the public, which is what they’re calling the walkabout.
“They used to be called walkabouts but now because of indigenous sensibilities and the fact that they are used by Aborigines to discuss something more spiritual, going off into the bush, they’re not using the term walkabout.”
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King Charles is pausing his cancer treatment during the trip, but is set to resume when he arrives homeCredit: Getty
Royal snub?
All State Premiers have been invited to the Canberra banquet, but not one has accepted to welcome Charles and Camilla at the reception, it’s reported.
Victoria state Premier Jacinta Allan on Sunday added her name to those that have turned Charles down.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles claims he has work to do on his election campaign.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Western Australia’s Premier, Roger Cook, reportedly said he had “other commitments”.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has also excused himself due to a regional cabinet meeting, as did New South Wales Premier Chris Minns.
Minns is expected to attend several other events with the King during his time in Australia.
It comes after Charles vowed to not stand in the way if Australia wants to become a republic.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “Like his mother before him, it has always been the case that His Majesty The King feels that it is a matter for the Australian people.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed he would not hold a referendum in his first term out of “deep respect” for the late Queen.
Australia last held a referendum on becoming a republic in 1999 in which 54.87 per cent voted against it.