Royal news live: King Charles lands in Samoa for Commonwealth summit after eventful Australia visit
Charles will be offered the title of high chief in Samoa during his three-day visit starting today
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King Charles and Queen Camilla have arrived in Samoa for a three-day state visit following a colourful and at times controversial trip to Australia.
“We can’t wait to visit Samoa... and experience the warmth of ancient traditions,” the couple shared on social media before departing Sydney.
Samoa’s prime minister, Afioga Fiame Naomi Mataafa, greeted the royals upon their arrival. The trip coincides with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm), where the King will preside over discussions on climate change, a cause he has long championed.
Charles and Camilla’s six-day tour to Australia was marred by protests. An Indigenous activist, Wayne Wharton, was arrested after labelling the King “a king of thieves” over colonial injustices.
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.”
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King Charles lands in Samoa to ceremonial welcome
King Charles and Queen Camilla landed in Samoa to a full ceremonial welcome ahead of the Commonwealth summit.
The monarch touched down in Samoa on Wednesday evening (22 October), to be greeted on the red carpet by a Guard of Honour.
The royal couple waved as they stepped out of their plane at Faleolo International Airport.
Prime Minister Afioga Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa and Foreign Secretary David Lammy greeted them at the steps before they were introduced to a number of dignitaries.
The King was invited to inspect the Guard of Honour, which was composed of Samoan police officers as the country has no armed forces.
In pictures: Charles and Camilla land in Samoa
King Charles greeted by confronting climate change ads at Commonwealth meeting
As King Charles arrived in Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, he and other delegates were met with striking ads calling for action on plastic pollution.
The campaign, led by Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation, features a confronting image of a child vomiting plastic, displayed prominently at Samoa’s Faleolo International Airport.
Timed to coincide with the British monarch’s arrival, the campaign pushes for a global plastics treaty to be placed on the meeting’s agenda, 9News reports.
“A global plastics treaty is not a nice-to-have – it is a need-to-have,” said Jay Weatherill, the foundation’s director.
He highlighted the health risks faced by the 2.5 billion citizens of Commonwealth nations, many of whom are under 30.
The Minderoo Foundation has been advocating for such a treaty for two years, warning that current strategies like recycling and reducing consumer demand are insufficient.
King Charles to receive high chief title in Samoa
King Charles and Queen Camilla have left Australia for Samoa where the British monarch will address a Commonwealth summit and be given the title of high chief.
The couple are expected to be greeted by hundreds of people in the Pacific island nation which is holding its first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in capital Apia this week.
Preparations for the summit and the royal trip have been going on for months. Hotels have been renovated and roads and streets where the couple is expected to visit have been spruced up, reports my colleague Shweta Sharma.
King Charles to receive high chief title in Samoa
British monarch visiting Pacific island nation for Commonwealth summit
King Charles set to dance again on Samoa tour
King Charles should be prepared to show off his dance moves on his two-day whirlwind visit to Samoa.
Freddie Tuilagi made sure of that when he visited St James’ Palace recently wearing nothing but a bark cloth wrap and a necklace historically worn by orator chiefs.
Charles, in a blue suit and carefully knotted tie, grinned while gamely trying to follow along as Samoa’s honorary consul to the UK moved through the steps of a traditional dance.
“He loves it. He said he wants to learn the dance,” Tuilagi said afterward, showing off his moves once again.
Tuilagi, who moved to Britain to play professional rugby, said the 75-year-old king can expect more of the same when he arrives in the South Pacific Island nation on Wednesday.
Pacific Island State questions exclusion from Commonwealth meeting
The Pacific island of Niue has questioned why it was excluded from this week’s Commonwealth leaders meeting, with its prime minister calling for change.
Following its celebration of 50 years of self-government on Saturday, King Charles issued a congratulatory video.
Known informally as the Rock of Polynesia, Niue was settled by Samoans in 900AD and has a population of around 1,500.
Yet as Samoa hosts the 75th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where leaders and officials from 56 countries with roots in Britain’s empire are gathering in the Pacific for the first time, Niue, a realm of New Zealand, was not invited.
“There is no use being Commonwealth family yet we can’t attend these meetings. It’s a bit weird,” said prime minister Dalton Tagelagi in an interview.
“We have put through questions on how to become a member.”
The remote island, 635km (400 miles) south of Samoa, was sighted in 1774 by British explorer James Cook. He named it Savage Island, and Niue became a British Protectorate 126 years later.
Charles and Camilla ‘can’t wait’ to arrive in Samoa
The King and Queen have said they “can’t wait” to arrive in Samoa for a state visit and experience the “warmth” of the country’s ancient traditions.
Charles and Camilla ended their six-day tour of Australia and boarded a Royal Australian Air Force (Raaf) plane bound for the Polynesian nation.
Samoa’s prime minister Afioga Fiame Naomi Mataafa will be waiting to greet the royal couple when they step off their jet for the final leg of their overseas trip.
Soon after the Raaf plane took off the couple posted a message on social media under their names.
They said: “As we head towards Apia, we can’t wait to visit Samoa for the first time together and to experience the warmth of ancient traditions with your remarkable people. Feiloa’i ma le manuia!
- Charles R & Camilla R”
The tweet included a few words in Samoan loosely translated as “looking forward to meeting the Samoan people”.
Alpaca sneezes on King Charles during walkabout in Australia
One of the most light-hearted moments from the Australian royal tour saw an alpaca sneeze on King Charles III as he greeted crowds on a walkabout in Canberra.
Owner Robert Fletcher brought nine-year-old alpaca Hefner to meet the monarch outside the Australian War Memorial.
Hefner was calmly waiting — wearing a crown and a gold bow tie — before leaving the King “in disbelief” with a sneeze after Charles stroked his nose.
Mr Fletcher said: “The King just looked in disbelief. But it’s just who Hefner is. He is an alpaca after all.
“He doesn’t bite and he doesn’t spit. He’s always on his best behaviour anyway.
“And he is a pro-monarchy alpaca.”
In pictures: Charles and Camilla conclude Australia trip
King Charles’ visit to Australia ‘draws' smaller crowds compared to Queen’s 1954 tour
A prominent member of the Australian Republic Movement has pointed out that the late Queen Elizabeth II drew larger crowds on her first visit to the country as monarch than King Charles did.
Esther Anatolitis, co-chair, said while thousands turned out to see Charles and Camilla at their public engagements, the numbers were larger when his mother Elizabeth 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 Australians in a majority of states to vote to change the constitution would be difficult. Australians haven’t changed their constitution since 1977.
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