The King and Queen beamed in bright sunshine as they arrived for a church service on their first full day of engagement in Australia.
The royal couple, who had a bad day yesterday after their grueling flight, were greeted with loud cheers by the hundreds of well-wishers who gathered as they arrived at St Thomas’ Anglican Church in North Sydney on Sunday morning.
However, the king alluded to his inevitable jet lag when he signed a Bible to mark the occasion and joked: “What day is it again?” and grinning, before continuing to sign the prayer book.
Outside the church, a small group of anti-monarchy protesters gathered under a large “decolonize” banner about 100 meters away, but they failed to spoil the joyful mood.
They used a megaphone to express their support for the rights of indigenous people and waved Palestinian and Lebanese flags.
A handful of locals frustratedly shouted “get lost” and “get a life” as they walked past, while one man told them, “Be thankful you live in a free society where you can argue across the street.”
Fans waiting on the church grounds to shake hands with the king and queen called the ongoing republican debate ‘annoying’.
After the king and queen arrived, protesters were drowned out by shouts of “hip hip hurray” and obscured by hundreds of camera phones held aloft.
The King and Queen beamed in bright sunshine as they arrived for a church service on their first full day of engagement in Australia
The royal couple, who had a bad day yesterday after their grueling flight, were greeted with loud cheers by the hundreds of people who gathered as they arrived at St Thomas’ Anglican Church in North Sydney on Sunday morning.
The crowd held signs reading “Welcome home Your Majesties.”
Charles, 75, and Camilla, 77, spoke to primary school-aged children from Thomas’ Sunday School group, who were brimming with enthusiasm to meet Their Majesties.
“Are they here?” a boy shouted excitedly.
Then someone shouted in delight, “I touched the king!” and ‘I’m famous’. “It was so good, he was so nice,” said one little girl.
Camilla, dressed in a light green Anna Valentine dress and straw hat, was presented with a posy before they were received by the Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Rev. Kanishka Raffel, and the Bishop of North Sydney, the Right Rev. Chris Edwards.
Inside, the Archbishop highlighted the royal history of St Thomas in the presence of the Reverend Michael Mantle, Rector of the North Sydney Parish.
Beginning by welcoming the royal guests, he said: “It is a tremendous honor for us to welcome you to our church this morning.”
The theme of the service was ‘The Good News about Jesus’ and included hymns Rejoice the Lord is King, Tell Out, My Soul and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.
Throughout the service, a lone flute could be heard from outside playing “God Save the King.”
Afterwards, professional flutist Minah Kim said she had only learned the piece this morning while standing on the lawn outside St Thomas’.
At the end of the hour-long service, the King and Queen were wished safe travels for the remainder of their journey before heading to the front where they signed Australia’s first Bible and a book of common prayer.
Aussies formed a crowd outside the church on Sunday to greet King Charles and Queen Camilla
The crowd held signs reading ‘Welcome home Your Majesties’
Each member of the royal family has signed the Bible, which belonged to the Rev. Richard Johnson, Australia’s first Christian minister, on previous royal visits.
The late Queen Elizabeth signed it in 1954 during the first visit of a reigning monarch to these shores, with the archbishop saying the Bible “represents an important history of this church and nation.”
As he stepped out to loud cheers from the hundreds gathered on the lawn opposite the church, the king waved before walking over to speak to the crowd.
Some well-wishers said they queued at 5am to get a prime spot to see the couple, while others in the crowd were mainly from other parts of Australia.
Charles told one person, “It’s a beautiful day,” while several others shouted, “We love you.”
One person said to the Queen: ‘Hello, I hope your jet leg is getting better’ before the pair spoke about the dangers of long-distance travel.
“We have the same thing when we come to Britain,” Helen Hetrelezis told Camilla.
The well-wisher had arrived at the church with her brothers at 7.45am to try to catch a glimpse of Their Majesties.
“We talked about her visit, I asked the Queen about her stay, and she said she really enjoyed Sydney,” Hetrelezis said.
They spent fifteen minutes meeting the hundreds of members of the public who had gathered to welcome Their Majesties, even asking their security if they could walk to the crowd that had gathered opposite the church before leaving.
Benjamin was pleased to meet the king and said it was “a unique opportunity, I am grateful to have met him.”
He added: ‘The king was walking past and I shook his hand and he asked me where I lived and I told him Kirribilli. He said: what a nice suburb.’
As they moved past the crowd, spontaneous rounds of three cheers erupted from the crowd and people continued to shout and cheer.
Abigail Smith, 10, in her scout uniform, gave the king a special gift.
She said: ‘I drew a picture of a kangaroo and gave it to him.
King Charles and Queen Camilla spoke to Sunday School members outside the church
His Majesty was accompanied by Queen Camilla at the service at St Thomas’s Anglican Church in North Sydney
“He said, ‘You’re very nice.’
‘I did it because the kangaroo is an Australian animal.
“I think he liked it.”
Dozens of well-wishers presented gifts to Their Majesties, including Tunnock’s Tea Cakes, Kangaroo jerky and bouquets of flowers.
The Queen has requested that all flowers be taken to Admiralty House, where they are staying while in Sydney.
Mrs. Usher, who was standing next to the flutist, said excitedly, “I shook his hand.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to have him here in our neck of the woods.
“He looks in excellent health.”
Valerie Malinowski, who is 75, joked that she had been “in love” with Charles since they were both 15 but had never met him before.
“We want to make sure he feels welcome,” she said. ‘There is a lot of negativity sometimes, but he is very welcome and very loved.’
Also in the crowd were Sinclair and Wendy Hill, old friends of the king who had hosted him at their home in Australia.
Mr Hill, who has been described as Australia’s greatest ever polo player, was asked by Prince Philip to teach the young Charles and has maintained a warm friendship ever since.
Mrs Hill, who was greeted by the King with a kiss on each cheek, said afterwards: ‘He’s a lovely man and the fact that things weren’t going well for him and he still came… The lengths he goes to deal with all this people to talk. I thought he looked fantastic.”
Speaking afterwards, the Archbishop said: ‘It was a great pleasure and privilege to have Their Majesties with us here at St Thomas’, North Sydney.
“This church has a family connection to His Majesty because his great-grandfather laid the cornerstone as a teenager.”
He added: “It was wonderful for this local church to welcome the Sovereign King Charles and Queen Camilla to worship with us today. We are absolutely thrilled.
‘There was a great feeling.
‘People are very happy to see them and they were received very generously and warmly.
“And Their Majesties were also very generous in greeting many people shortly after their jet lag.”
The church presented the royal visitors with gifts including a rugby ball, cricket ball and toy koala to take home for Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
