King Charles & Camilla confirm their October trip to Samoa & Australia

Here are some photos of King Charles and Queen Camilla’s visit to Jersey this week. Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of France. The residents of Jersey consider themselves subjects of the British Crown, I guess? But they mostly operate independently. Honestly, I don’t have a complete understanding of all of this, but it does look like Charles & Cam got a huge turnout for their visit. Speaking of turnouts, I wonder what the reaction will be when Charles and Camilla travel to Australia and Samoa in October. This trip has been spoken about for months already, but the palace just confirmed that it will actually happen. They’ve already edited down the trip to exclude New Zealand and to keep to a “condensed schedule.”

The King and Queen will travel to Australia and Samoa in October but a visit to New Zealand has been dropped after doctors “advised that such an extended programme should be avoided at this time, to prioritise His Majesty’s continued recovery”. Nevertheless, it marks the first visit to a Commonwealth realm since Charles ascended the throne in 2022.

The visit in the autumn will include a trip to the Pacific island of Samoa, where the King will address the Commonwealth heads of government meeting, the biannual conference held by leaders of the community of countries that was championed by the late Queen. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The King and Queen will visit Australia at the invitation of the Australian government, where their programme will feature engagements in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. Their Majesties’ state visit to Samoa will celebrate the strong bilateral relationship between the Pacific island nation and the UK.”

While the King’s cancer treatment continues, his doctors have advised a condensed schedule of engagements, which means that a planned visit to New Zealand as part of the tour has now been dropped. A Palace spokesman said: “In close consultation with the Australian and New Zealand prime ministers, and with due regard for the pressures of time and logistics, it has therefore been agreed to limit the visit to Samoa and Australia only. Their Majesties send their warmest thanks and good wishes to all parties for their continued support and understanding.”

“Their Majesties will visit the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Samoa. The King’s doctors have advised that a further extension to Their Majesties’ trip should be avoided at this time, to prioritise His Majesty’s continued recovery. As with all His Majesty’s recent engagements, his programme in both countries will be subject to doctors’ advice, and any necessary modifications on health grounds. “

[From The Times]

You know what I think is bad news? That we don’t have an end point for Charles’s cancer treatment. I get that the doctors will continue to treat him for as long as he has cancer, but they’re projecting three months in advance that he’ll still be receiving treatment? I also think Charles’s schedule has reflected, for months now, that his treatments really knock him out for several days and that’s why he can’t travel on multi-day tours. I wonder what kinds of contingency plans are being made for all of this.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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40 Responses to “King Charles & Camilla confirm their October trip to Samoa & Australia”

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  1. JoanCallamezzo says:

    I’m just going to say it, I think Charles actually going on that trip is optimistic. Anne is back to working, which tells me William is doing whatever he wants when he’s not doing next to nothing.

    • sunnyside up says:

      The King’s and Anne’s enthusiasm for work makes William look bad. I went off the royals after what happened to Meghan but I have admired Camilla for her support of Charles. William as the heir means the King can’t retire.

      • Tessa says:

        Camilla was horrible to Meghan. I have no admiration for her.camilla should have been supportive of harry and Meghan she should have been a force for encouraging Charles to make peace with his younger son and his family.

      • SarahCS says:

        The sloths working at the DMV in Zootropolis make William look bad.

      • Tessa says:

        It begs the question as to why Charles coddled William all those years so William had only minimum work. And he let William drive harry out. And before he got sick Charles could not seem to even try to get the heir on a work schedule. William has no interest in work except sports events. William should have been doing the work that his stepmother did.

      • Visa Diva says:

        Contrast William to Leonor, the Spanish heir. She did her first solo official visit to another country last week. She’s 18 and met with the President of Portugal and several officials in meetings, and gave a speech.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      This trip and Chuck’s work ethic during his treatment makes the Wails, esp Kate, look sooooo bad!!! If a man in his 70s can still work during chemo – then his DIL who is half his age can as well. He looks way worse than she does and yet – nadda from her.

      The ongoing cancer treatment narrative is cover either for her laziness or ongoing MH treatment.

      • Nano says:

        Exactly. Kate is milking the cancer thing for all she can. Problem is this Victorian princess’ husband doesn’t care if she works or not. I think he actually prefers her at home.

    • Hypocrisy says:

      Is he on Maintenance Chemo for the rest of his life now? That is what it sounds like.
      https://www.cancer.org/cancer/survivorship/long-term-health-concerns/cancer-as-a-chronic-illness.html

  2. equality says:

    Are people really this desperate for something to do that they stand out in the rain just to watch two elderly people walk past? Since there appears to be seating was this part of some other event that people turned out for?

    • SarahCS says:

      I always had the impression (perhaps wrongly as I’ve never been) that there’s a bit of ‘Britain but almost abroad’ attitude that means people are more focussed on their Britishness than they might be if they lived on the mainland. A bit like my French family insisting that I MUST support France in all sporting events as I’ve lived most of my life in the UK.

    • Diana says:

      Yes there was an event. Yes people turned out. To many people the monarchy and symbolism is still important. We also had a public holiday for the day.

      No people here are not more focused on their Britishness. You would get a decent turnout in any medium sized town in the UK if you gave everyone the day off for it.

    • Mil says:

      I don’t get this royal circus at all. It is a symbol of the past, but waving and worshiping people who are not artists, scientists or in any way contributors to better reality seems odd. If I were forced to go, I’d share tampons. Just because.

      • GTWiecz says:

        They don’t have any special talent, are not very bright, and don’t even look good…

  3. Cassie says:

    Oh gosh I can’t wait to see them .

  4. Pinkosaurus says:

    I imagine their reception will be based on whether Camilla decides to stay in the car for the whole trip, and whether they openly giggle and mock indigenous performers. Maybe they will only visit with the white people like this visit to Jersey, in which case they seem to be able to behave with some decorum and respect.

    • Sydneygirl says:

      As an Australian, living in Canberra I think this is ridiculous. The “show” part of it here will be big because it’s the capital, but I don’t see a huge contingent getting out on the street for them unless they bus lots of school kids in to see them.

  5. AMTC says:

    Reality here in Australia is that people accept it’s too difficult to get a referendum passed (majority of people in a majority of states) to oust the king as head of state so accept the status quo on the basis that it has no day to day impact and is ceremonial. When the trip was announced the ABC (BBC equivalent) did the usual ‘ask people in the street for their view ‘ clip. One person said ‘well he’s been sick so good on him for keeping on with his work’ and the other person said ‘Well I don’t really mind them visiting but I don’t like Camilla’ 😅

    • seaflower says:

      On twitter (refuse to call it that other stupid name), people are tweeting at the PM to cancel the tour.
      We got WanK not to show up during the horrendous bushfires of 2019-20, there’s hope we can stop CC coming out this year.

      • AMTC says:

        Here’s hoping @Seaflower!

      • Lulu says:

        The question asked should have been ‘do you mind paying (I assume) millions for security while C&C are in the country?’. Nobody cares if they visit but put a dollar amount on what it will actually cost the taxpayers and suddenly a lot of people do mind.

      • GTWiecz says:

        It’s Twitter for me too!

  6. Amy Bee says:

    The decision says that they’re more worried about Australia getting rid of the monarchy than New Zealand.

  7. OzJennifer says:

    They’re no longer – or maybe never were – coming to my part of Australia (Melbourne). I was quite looking forward to holding up a big yellow “Not My King” sign too!

    • AprilUnderwater says:

      Well they were never coming to my neck of the woods (Hobart – always overlooked XD) but I have been seriously considering taking a trip just to hold the yellow placard.

  8. Mocha Cat says:

    Argh, please don’t come.
    Money which will be spent on security measures etc is much better off going towards worthy causes.

  9. Lulu says:

    I’m not a doctor so please excuse what might be obvious, but once Charles gets to Australia wouldn’t it be better to have a bit longer, more relaxed trip than rush around then hurry home? I can see him making his appearances, then staying someplace (whatever they call country estates, it’s slipped my mind) for r&r then back to making appearances or on to NZ. Was the former mistress, Kanga, Australian or am I assuming by her nickname?

    • BeanieBean says:

      I was thinking the same thing, too. That’s a long trip from England, make the most of it. Schedule some down time–William and Kate did!–and visit NZ, too.

  10. Mina_Esq says:

    I’m interested to see how the crowd responds to Camilla, given that Australia famously made Princess Diana a superstar. I hope that comparisons are made, and that Camilla can’t open a newspaper without seeing a picture of the beautiful, young Diana staring back at her.

  11. Rnot says:

    The cancer is going to get him and it’s just a question of how long he can stave it off. He’s got access to the best care in the world, so it might be manageable for years yet, but it’s quite clear that they don’t expect a cure.

  12. BeanieBean says:

    Samoa is not ‘an’ island, FFS. 🙄

  13. Cersi says:

    But he can’t even visit his own son. What a POS!