King Charles III has just undertaken a long and tiring journey to Australia. An important visit to strengthen ties with this distant Commonwealth kingdom, of which he is head of state.
Around twenty hours of flight, 10 time zones… The journey undertaken by Charles III is long and trying for a 75-year-old king suffering from cancer. His official visit to Australia, where he has just set foot, marks a return to business for the monarch who has had to restrict his activities since the announcement of his cancer on February 5.
To do this, the hyperactive king sought the advice of his doctors to interrupt his cancer treatment for the duration of this ten-day trip.
Charles III back in business, eight months after announcing his cancer
“The king really wants to move, he really wants to fulfill his role”, analyzes in the Royal Podcast the British journalist chronicling international at France 24 Philip Turle. “He knows that his time is running out. At 75, he is an old man. He wants to leave a mark.”
Connection with the British monarchy
“He doesn’t want to just be a sort of interim king, waiting in some way for his own death and the accession of William,” Anna Whitelock, professor of the history of the monarchy at the City University of London, told AP. London, adding: “He wants to be involved in the progress of the world.”
This trip is indeed of particular importance. The king, who will attend the summit of Commonwealth heads of state in the Samoa Islands, takes the opportunity to make a state visit to Australia.
Australia is a Commonwealth kingdom, with Charles III as its head of state. Just like Canada or New Zealand, and a total of 14 kingdoms in addition to the United Kingdom. The king’s visit also revives the debate on the country’s link with the British monarchy.
“It is important for Charles to make this trip to be seen, to show that despite illness, he is their king and is ready to make the trip to greet them in person.”
When the queen died, the question also arose of the relevance of remaining under the leadership of a head of state who lives on the other side of the world. The Australian government has also replaced the face of the monarch on the country’s five dollar bill with an indigenous motif.
36% of Australians still identify as “English”
And if in 1999, Australia rejected by referendum a change of Constitution to become a Republic, “it’s an idea that comes up from time to time”, underlines Philip Turle. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese may himself be in favor of a republic, but no reform in this direction is on the agenda.
Recent polls indicate that public opinion is fairly divided on the issue. A third of Australians are in favor of maintaining the link with the British monarchy. Another third is in favor of freeing themselves from it and a final third is more undecided.
On the eve of his arrival, Charles III carefully sidestepped the issue, declaring that it was for the Australian public to decide.
His arrival in Australia took place with relative indifference. Cindy McCreery, a historian at the University of Sydney, said the lack of attention paid to the royal visit was due to concerns about war, climate change and the cost of living. “We are living in a complex moment with all the global problems.” It is “natural to expect a more varied attitude towards the monarchy,” she notes.
This change in perception of the monarchy is also shaped by demographic developments in the country. According to the 2021 census, around 36% of Australia’s 26 million people still identify as “English”, the largest group in the country. That is a drop of 10 points compared to 1986.
“During previous royal visits, people perhaps had a stronger connection with Britain,” says Cindy McCreery.
Light program
It is his first trip to the country as king to strengthen ties with this country, which last saw a British sovereign in 2011, it was Queen Elizabeth II. With this trip, Charles “wants to highlight the close link between Australia and Great Britain, a link which goes back hundreds of years”, and also prepares the ground for his successor, William, analyzes Philip Turle.
“It is interesting to see whether this trip will have generated renewed support for the British monarchy.”
The king originally also wanted to visit New Zealand, but his doctors advocated lightening the monarch’s schedule and reducing the duration of this trip.
His journey will end in the Samoa Islands, more than 4,000 kilometers from Australia, with Charles’ participation in the Commonwealth Heads of State Summit, which is held every two years. If he was present in Rwanda, in 2022, for the last summit, he was still only Prince of Wales and represented his mother, Queen Elizabeth.
“We’re going to discover a new approach. It’s interesting to see how he plans to manage the Commonwealth, how it will change compared to his mother’s time.”
