Charles heads to Samoa as indigenious protester shouting ‘king of thieves’ arrested in Sydney – Royal family news
An Indigenous protestor was arrested for attempting to confront King Charles on the final day of his Australian tour, calling him “king of thieves”.
The monarch, 75, and his supporters were targeted by Wayne “Coco” Wharton, who encouraged the crowds gathered at the Sydney Opera House to leave with the King.
Mr Wharton said: “Go home with the King. He is a king of thieves and a king of liars. You have no receipt, you have no agreement on the occupation of this country. You are a nation of thieves. You’re guilty.”
Mr Wharton’s daughter, Nellie Pollard-Wharton, said he was attempting to issue an arrest notice for King Charles because of the royals’ historic treatment of Australia’s Aboriginal people.
This came after a visit to the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) in Sydney, where the King met with First Nations elders. One told him their goal was “sovereignty” in an apparent reference to a protest the previous day.
On Monday, the monarch was accused of “genocide” against Australia’s First Nations by Senator Lidia Thorpe who told him, “You are not my King.”The royal couple will fly to Samoa from Australia for a three-day visit.
Key Points
King Charles’ visit to Australia ‘draws’ smaller crowds compared to Queen’s 1954 tour
Esther Anatolitis, co-chair of the Australian Republic Movement, which campaigns for an Australian citizen to replace the British monarch as Australia’s head of state, said while thousands turned out to see the Charles and Camilla at their public engagements, the numbers were larger when his mother Queen Elizabeth II first visited Australia 70 years ago.
An estimated 75 per cent of Australia’s population saw the queen in person during the first visit by a reigning British monarch in 1954.
“It’s understandable that Australians would be welcoming the king and queen, we also welcome them,” Ms Anatolitis said.
“But it doesn’t make any sense to continue to have a head of state appointed by birth right from another country.”Ms Anatolitis acknowledged that getting a majority of Australians in a majority of states to vote to change the constitution would be difficult. Australians haven’t changed their constitution since 1977.
How was King Charles’s first Australia visit as reigning British monarch in 13 years?
King Charles ends the first visit to Australia by a reigning British monarch in 13 years on Tuesday as anti-monarchists hope the debate surrounding his journey is a step toward an Australian citizen becoming head of state.
Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, watched dancers perform at a Sydney Indigenous community center.
The couple used tongs to cook sausages at a community barbecue lunch at the central suburb of Parramatta and later shook the hands of well-wishers for the last time during their visit outside the Sydney Opera House. Their final engagement was an inspection of navy ships on Sydney Harbor in an event known as a fleet review.
Charles’s trip to Australia was scaled down because he is undergoing cancer treatment.
Indigenous activist Wayne Wharton, 60, was arrested outside the opera house yesterday afternoon before the royals greeted the crowd.
Indigenous activist arrested outside opera house
Indigenous activist Wayne Wharton, 60, was arrested outside the opera house yesterday before the royals greeted the crowd.
The monarch, 75, and his supporters were targeted by Mr Wharton who encouraged the crowds gathered at the Sydney Opera House to leave with the King.
“It will be alleged the man was acting in an abusive and threatening manner and had failed to comply with two previous move-on directions,” a police statement said.
He was charged with failing to comply with a police direction and will appear in court on 5 November.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla meet members of the public outside the Sydney Opera House on 22 October 2024 in Sydney, Australia (Getty Images)
Mr Wharton said he intended to serve Charles with a summons to appear in court on war crimes and for genocide but never got close to the couple.
The royal visit was “a slap in the face to every decent Aboriginal person and fair-minded person in Australia that’s tried to make a go of their lives,” Mr Wharton told the AP after his arrest.
On Monday, Indigenous independent senator Lidia Thorpe yelled at Charles during a reception that he was not her king and Australia was not his land.Wharton said he backed Thorpe “absolutely 100 per cent”.
He had protested with a small group of demonstrators outside a Sydney church service the couple attended on Sunday under a banner “Empire Built on Genocide”.
King Charles to be offered high chief title in Samoa
King Charles will be offered the title of high chief in Samoa during his three-day visit starting today and will be shown the impact of rising sea levels due to climate change in the Pacific island nation.
Lenatai Victor Tamapua, a Samoan chief and member of parliament, said he planned to offer the title of ‘Tui Taumeasina’ to the monarch during a traditional ceremonial welcome to Charles and Queen Camilla tomorrow.
He will later lead Charles through a walkway on a mangrove reserve highlighting the impact of climate change on the Pacific nations and its communities.
“The king tide today is about twice that it was 20, 30 years ago, and that is affecting our land, and it’s eating away at some of the areas that are so hard for us to control, and people (have to) move inwards, inland now,” Mr Tamapua said.
Charles has spent a lifetime campaigning on environmental issues and in 2020 described global warming and climate change as the greatest threat that humanity has faced.
King and Queen continue royal tour with Samoa visit
The King and Queen will receive a formal welcome when they arrive in Samoa for a state visit.
Charles and Camilla will be greeted by the country’s prime minister Afioga Fiame Naomi Mataafa when they step off their jet.
Nearby will be an honour guard formed by the Samoan Police Force, who will be stood to attention for their royal guests.
Samoa is hosting a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) which has the theme “One Resilient Common Future”.
The King is head of the Commonwealth and for the first time will preside over the gathering of presidents and prime ministers, and formally open the event which will be attended by Sir Keir Starmer.
Charles deputised for Queen Elizabeth II during the last Chogm staged by Rwanda in 2022, and in Samoa will be joined by foreign secretary David Lammy.
Lidia Thorpe: Who is the Indigenous Australian MP who accused King Charles of genocide?
Australian senator Lidia Thorpe has made headlines around the world after denouncing King Charles following his Parliament House reception speech.
Lidia Thorpe, 51, accused the British monarchy of genocide in a fiery speech before telling Charles “you’re not my King” as he returned to his seat from a lectern in Canberra.
Ms Thorpe later told the BBC that she wanted to send “a clear message” to Charles. “To be sovereign you have to be of the land,” she said. “He is not of this land.”
King Charles and Queen Camilla continue royal tradition at Government House
King Charles and Queen Camilla continued a longstanding royal tradition when they visited Government House on their Australian tour.
They took the opportunity to plant Eucalyptus trees in the garden, as has been done to mark every royal visit since 1985.
To mark every Royal Visit to Government House since 1985, members of the Royal Family are invited to plant a tree within the grounds.
King Charles praised for open discussion of cancer diagnosis
The monarch, 75, announced that he had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of the disease earlier this year following a routine procedure to treat an enlarged prostate.
He visited the institute to learn about its revolutionary approaches to treating melanoma, one of the most common types of cancer in Australia.
Prof Scoyler, a leading pathologist, said: “It’s courageous of the King to go public with his cancer journey.
“Everyone’s different about how they feel about a cancer diagnosis. Some people are happy to go public with it, but it’s not the same for all patients, and I think we should respect that.
“But for us, what we’ve been talking with the King about today is melanoma and the incredible advances that we’ve made here.”
A history of royal tours Down Under: From a young Queen Elizabeth II to Harry and Meghan’s baby joy
The royal family has been regularly touring and visiting Australia since the late 19th century, with the country playing host to several key moments in their history.
In the wake of King Charles‘s first official tour of Australia as monarch, The Independent takes a look back at the most memorable royal tours in recent history.
