King Charles vs. Aussie Anti-Royalists: British Monarch Faces Backlash for Australia Trip as Down Under Republicans 'Feel Unheard'
King Charles III and Queen Camilla's first tour of Australia as King and Queen is "long overdue" but not everyone down under is enthused about the 11-day visit.
This led British Coronations Project at King's College London's founder Dr George Gross to state, "If you don't make these visits, what does that say? It's what the majority think that's crucial, and the majority don't get reported, unless there's a poll, and even that is only a sample."
"If you don't make a visit, eventually that majority say, 'These people seem a very long way away; they're very disconnected,'" Gross added.
He continued, "If you don't make the visit, that's more significant than making it. In terms of the public noise, there's always risk. There's risk in any of these things, but there's greater risk in not making it."
In fact, sensitivity for Indigenous Aboriginal Australians has become one of the biggest headlines of the visit.
This led commentator Anna McGovern to tell GBN's Patrick Christys that the British royal family has "gone woke."
Within the nation, the royal term, "walkabout," was coined in 1970 during the late Queen Elizabeth II's tour of Australia and New Zealand. On this trip, Britain's longest-reigning sovereign, along with Prince Philip, then-Prince Charles and Princess Anne, broke with long-standing royal tradition by engaging directly with the public in a more informal and spontaneous way.
However, the word originates within Aboriginal Australian culture and specifically refers to a traditional rite of passage practiced by young Aboriginal men.
In defense of the royal use of the word, McGovern shared, "I think this is a trend that we're seeing where we're rejecting tradition and something that has been part of our culture for decades now."
She added, "This is something that has been a big part of the tradition, a big part of our history, and I just think it definitely represents the trend that we're seeing and the direction we're going where we're prioritizing political correctness and not wanting to upset people. And I just think it's absolutely woke ridiculousness."
Additional panelist and royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams replied, "It's absolutely essential in my view that the sensitivities in different countries are observed. If you look, for example, the last time William and Catherine sadly went abroad, was in March 2022 to the Caribbean. It wasn't successful because of the issues, although I think it was wrong, and they were hypersensitive, particularly with demands for reparations."
He added: "You look at the Commonwealth, the 56 countries now, I think that's an enormously important institution and we benefit in all sorts of ways as to the other countries or members of it."
Christys dived in and stated, "He spends half his life apologizing for stuff they had nothing to do with."
Newsweek reported on Gross' remarks.