King Charles, who’s all set to travel to Australia on Friday along with his wife Queen Camilla on the first big overseas tour since his cancer diagnosis, has received a good news from the country.
The King and Queen will tour Sydney and the capital Canberra after landing Down Under on Friday evening.
As per reports, the iconic Sydney Opera House sails will be lit up to welcome the royal couple to Australia amid a row over senior politicians refusing to greet the royals.
The heart-capturing landmark will be illuminated with a four-minute looping montage of pictures of previous royal visits to Sydney.
The exciting news comes amid reports that all six State Premiers controversially announced they would not join a reception in Canberra to welcome the King and Queen.
The King’s much-awaited visit has revived debate in Australia over whether a British royal should be head of state, although polling shows Australians remain ambivalent about becoming a republic.
New South Wales premier Chris Minns, an avowed republican, said it would not stop the royals being welcomed to the city.
Minns said it was important the King was warmly welcomed during his visit to Sydney. He said the “primary objective” in lighting up the Opera House would be to focus on events taking place in the state capital.
Last year, the New South Wales State Government decided not to turn the lights on to celebrate the King’s Coronation.
However, several public buildings and landmarks were lit up in royal purple to mark the crowing ceremony, including Parliament House in Canberra, but the Sydney Opera House, which was lit up to commemorate the late Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September 2022, was not among them.
The Government at the time described the decision as a “cost-saving measure”. The King and Queen will leave the country on October 23 to visit Samoa.
It will be the first trip to Australia by a reigning monarch since 2011, when Queen Elizabeth II visited Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth.
