Royal Health Scare Down Under: King Charles to Plan 'Rests' Between Engagements During Australia Tour Due to Cancer Battle
King Charles III's first tour of Australia as its people's monarch in October will 'be nothing like Queen Elizabeth's' similar 1954 tour, due to His Majesty's ongoing illness.
From October 18 to 26, King Charles III and Queen Camilla will tour Australia for the first time during the monarch's two-year-old reign. The trip will also take in Samoa, which is hosting this year's annual CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting).
The Buckingham Palace Press Office shared in a statement, "The King's visit to Australia will be His Majesty’s first to a realm as monarch, whilst the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa is the first the King will attend as Head of the Commonwealth."
But the King's first visit to a Commonwealth realm as monarch, which is the 15 nations that recognize the British sovereign as head of state, is making news for reasons related to his current health.
"The King, who has this year been receiving treatment for cancer, will meet Professor Georgina Long and Professor Richard Scolyer and will hear about the work to help those affected by melanoma," the press release added.
Inevitably, for many royal enthusiasts, it will be hard not to compare Charles III's first Australian tour with that of his predecessor Queen Elizabeth II's in 1954.
"The late Queen Elizabeth visited every state of Australia, every territory, including seven capital cities and 70 towns, in 58 days," GBN's royal correspondent Cameron Walker shared. "In contrast, the King is going to be spending, we understand, less than a week in Australia and he's only going to be visiting Sydney and Canberra."
"As we knew, doctors had given the King the green light to travel. It is going to be the first long-haul travel the King has done since his cancer diagnosis," he added. "But it's very clear from the information I've received this afternoon that adaptions have been made. For example, New Zealand originally was on the agenda for the King and Queen to travel to — that has now been ruled out on doctor's advice."
Reflecting the King and Queen's advanced ages at 75 and 76, respectively, Walker further observed, "Time has been factored in for the King to rest between engagements and between travel. Of course, it's a long way to go, halfway across the world, in order to keep his energy levels up on that tour."
One royal insider stepped forward to share how the lack of royal travel to Commonwealth realms since the King's accession to the throne has "been unfortunate and concerning."
"All we have with the Crown is the past reign to compare it to, and although miles away a different era, Elizabeth II's comprehensive travels to her realms in 1953-54 is what was needed more so now than ever," they added. "We cannot fully blame the King or Princess of Wales for getting seriously ill, but the slimmed-down Crown nonsense needs to be lifted."
"Commonwealth representation is vital," the source concluded.
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