King Charles III and Queen Camilla will begin their first Tour of Australia as Sovereigns this week, with King Charles III becoming the first reigning King to visit his Kingdom of Australia despite over a century and a half of Royal Visits to Australia.
Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second son of Queen Victoria, was the first member of the Royal Family to visit Australia between October 1867 and March 1868, a chaotic visit with riots, fire and even an assassination attempt. A few years later, the future King George V and his elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, visited Australia as midshipmen in training on HMS Bacchante in 1881.
Soon after the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, the planned Tour of the new King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra was overtaken by their son, the then Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, who opted the first Australian Federal Parliament in Melbourne.
The then Prince of Wales made a tour of Australia in 1920, to thank Australians for their participation in the First World War, before the then Duke and Duchess of York made a landmark Tour of Australia in 1927, to open the provisional Parliament House in Canberra.
While Prince George, Duke of Kent was initially appointed Governor General ahead of the outbreak of the Second World War and his subsequent death, it was his elder brother, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, who served as the first and only Royal Governor General of Australia between 1945 and 1947. He had earlier made an extensive 67-day tour of Australia in 1934.
A Tour of Australia by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1949 was cancelled due to his ill health, and in 1952, it was rescheduled for the then Princess Elisabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, who only got as far as Kenya before the King passed away and they had to return to Britain.
Queen Elizabeth II was the first reigning monarch of Australia to set foot on Australian soil during her landmark 1954 Commonwealth Tour, visiting Sydney, Canberra, Tasmania, Melbourne, Brisbane, Brisbane, and Perth over the course of two months, during which she was seen by some 75 per cent of the Australian population.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh visited all Australian states and territories during their five-week Tour in 1963, at the end of a two-month Commonwealth Tour of Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia.
The Duke of Edinburgh visited Australia to open the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956, and open the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth in 1962, in addition to visits to open the Royal Australian Mint in 1965 and the Duke of Edinburgh Study Conference in 1968. The Queen Mother made an extensive three-week Tour of Australia in 1958, while Princess Alexandra attended Queensland’s centenary celebrations in 1959. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent visited Australia for the British Exhibition in Sydney in 1964, while the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester visited the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland in 1965, the Queen Mother returned in 1966, and the Duke and Duchess of Kent made a 25-day Tour in 1969.
The now King Charles III attended the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School for one term in 1966, and returned for visits in 1967, 1970, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1988, and 1994.
The Prince of Wales and Princess Anne joined the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh for a month-long Tour of Australia in 1970, in connection with the bi-centenary of Captain James Cook sailing up the east coast of Australia in 1770.
The Queen returned to Australia again in 1973 to open the Sydney Opera House and then in 1974 to open the Australian Parliament in Canberra, before a longer Tour in 1977 during the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Celebrations.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh made short visits to Australia in 1980 to open the new High Court of Australia building and the City Square in Melbourne, in 1981 for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, for the Commonwealth Games and to open the new National Gallery of Australia in 1982, and to sign the Australia Act in 1986.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, joined by Prince William, made their first Official Tour to Australia in 1983, before making shorter visits in 1985 and for the Bicentenary in 1988.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh did an extensive Tour of Australia for the Australian Bicentennial in 1988, the same year as visits by the Prince and Princess of Wales, Princess Anne, Duke and Duchess of York and the Duke and Duchess of Kent.
The Queen and Duke made a short visit to Australia for the sesquicentenary of the incorporation of the city of Sydney in 1992, but avoided visiting for the rest of the decade into the lead to the 1999 Republic Referendum, which retained the Monarchy.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh did a two-week Tour of Australia in 2000, returning for a short visit for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2002, and to open the commonwealth Games in Sydney in 2006.
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh paid their final visit to Australia over ten days in 2011, visiting Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were in Australia the following year for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, returning for visits in 2015 and 2018, for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Following shorter visits in 2010 and 2011, the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Australia for a ten-day Tour in 2014, along with Prince George, visiting Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Uluru and Adelaide.
After visits in 2013 and 2015, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Australia on their first joint Tour in 2018, to open the Invictus Games in Sydney.
After joining the Queen and Duke in 1988, Prince Edward has visited Australia in 2006, 2014, 2018, and 2019, usually in relation to the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award in Australia.
Most recently, Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Lawrence visited Australia in April 2022, a shorter visit for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee ahead of a larger visit by the now King and Queen the autumn which was cancelled due to their accession to the Throne.
