a “great joy” to be back

King Charles attended a mass and expressed his “great joy” at returning to Australia on Sunday in his first public appearance since arriving in the country.

The 75-year-old sovereign arrived with his wife Camilla in Sydney late on Friday evening. Suffering from cancer, he spent Saturday resting before beginning his royal obligations.

Charles made his first public appearance on Sunday morning, at mass at St Thomas’ Anglican Church in Sydney’s north.

A few hundred people gathered around the building and applauded, flowers and flags in hand.

Later that day, Charles delivered a brief address to the New South Wales state legislative council, where he praised “the promise and power of representative democracy.”

He then allowed himself a joke about his age: “I first came to Australia almost 60 years ago, which is a bit worrying.”

“It only remains for me to say how happy I am to come for the first time as sovereign.”

Charles will spend the rest of Sunday at Admiralty House, the residence of the Governor-General of Australia, the monarch’s representative in the country.

A new chance to see the king will be offered to Australians on Monday, when he arrives in Canberra, the capital, for the busiest part of a lighter schedule, compared to traditional royal visits.

The king’s fragile health spared him from long walkabouts and a schedule stretching over several weeks.

This nine-day trip to Australia and the Samoa Islands is Charles’s first major tour since his coronation and the announcement of his cancer.

A handful of protesters gathered near the church on Sunday, holding signs demanding to “decolonize” Australia.

According to a recent poll, around a third of Australians favor abolishing the monarchy, a third favor keeping it and a third have no opinion. The monarchical fervor in the country in 2024 is in any case much less than during the last royal visit in 2011, when thousands of people flocked to greet Queen Elizabeth II.