The King and Queen shined in the bright sunshine as they arrived for a church service on their first full day of engagements in Australia.
The royal couple, who yesterday enjoyed a sad day after their grueling flight, were greeted with loud cheers from the hundreds of supporters gathered as they arrived at St Thomas’ Anglican Church in Sydney’s north on Sunday morning.
However, the king alluded to his inevitable jet lag as he signed a Bible commemorating the occasion, joking: “What day is it?” and chuckling, before moving on to sign the prayer book.
Outside the church, a small group of anti-monarchy protesters gathered outside under a large “decolonization” banner about 100 meters away, but failed to spoil the joyful atmosphere.
They used a megaphone to shout their support for indigenous rights and waved Palestinian and Lebanese flags.
A handful of locals frustratedly shouted “get lost” and “get a life” as they walked by, while one man told them: “Be grateful you live in a free society where you can argue across the street.”
Fans waiting inside the church grounds to shake hands with the King and Queen described the ongoing republican debate as “boring”.
After the King and Queen arrived, protesters were drowned out by shouts of “hip hip hooray” and blocked from view by hundreds of camera phones held aloft.
The King and Queen shined in the sun as they arrived at a church service on their first full day of engagements in Australia.
The royal couple, who yesterday enjoyed a sad day after their grueling flight, were greeted with loud cheers from hundreds of gathered supporters as they arrived at St Thomas’ Anglican Church in Sydney’s north on Sunday morning.
The audience held signs that read “Welcome home, Your Majesties.”
Charles, 75, and Camilla, 77, spoke to primary school-aged children from Thomas’ Sunday school group who were full of excitement to meet Their Majesties.
‘Are they here?’ a boy shouted excitedly.
Then one shouted in delight: ‘I touched the King!’ and ‘I’m famous’. “He was so good, he was so kind,” one girl said.
Camilla, dressed in a pale green Anna Valentine dress and straw hat, received a corsage before being greeted by the Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Reverend Kanishka Raffel and the Bishop of North Sydney, the Most Reverend Chris Edwards.
Inside, the archbishop highlighted the true story of St Thomas to the Reverend Michael Mantle, rector of the parish of North Sydney.
Beginning by welcoming the royal guests, he said: “It is a huge honor for us to welcome you to our church this morning.”
The theme of the service was ‘The Good News About Jesus’ and featured the hymns Rejoice, the Lord is King, Count, My Soul and Divine Love, All Loves Excel.
Throughout the service, a lone flute could be heard from outside playing ‘God Save the King’.
Speaking afterwards, professional flutist Minah Kim said she only learned the piece this morning while standing on the grass outside St Thomas’.
At the conclusion of the hour-long service, the King and Queen were wished safe travels for the rest of their journey before heading to the front where they signed Australia’s first Bible and a book of common prayer.
Australians formed a crowd outside the church to greet King Charles and Queen Camilla on Sunday.
The audience held signs that read “Welcome home, Your Majesties.”
All members of the Royal Family have signed the Bible, which belonged to the Reverend Richard Johnson, the first Christian minister to Australia, on previous royal visits.
The late Queen Elizabeth signed it in 1954 during the first visit of a reigning monarch to these shores, and the archbishop said the Bible “represents a significant history of this church and nation.”
Leaving to loud applause from the hundreds gathered on the lawn in front of the church, the King saluted before approaching to speak to the public.
Some supporters said they had started queuing at 5am to get a prime spot to see the couple, and others in the crowd came especially from other parts of Australia.
Charles told one person, “It’s a beautiful day,” while several others shouted, “We love you.”
One person told the Queen: “Hello, I hope your plane journey is improving” before the couple spoke about the dangers of long-distance travel.
“It’s the same thing when we come to the UK,” Helen Hetrelezis told Camilla.
The supporter had arrived at the church at 7:45 am with her brothers to try to see Their Majesties.
“We talked about her visit, I asked the queen about her stay and she said she was really enjoying Sydney,” Hetrelezis said.
They spent 15 minutes meeting the hundreds of members of the public gathered to welcome Their Majesties, and even asked their security if they could approach the crowd gathered outside the church before leaving.
Benjamin was delighted to meet the King and said it was “a once in a lifetime opportunity, I feel grateful to have got to meet him.”
He added: ‘The King passed by and I shook his hand and he asked me where I lived and I told him Kirribilli. He said what a nice suburb.
As they moved through the crowd, spontaneous rounds of three cheers erupted from the crowd and people continued to shout and cheer.
Abigail Smith, 10, in her Scout uniform, gave the King a special gift.
She said: ‘I drew a picture of a kangaroo and gave it to him.
King Charles and Queen Camilla spoke to Sunday school members outside the church.
Her Majesty was accompanied by Queen Camilla during the service at St Thomas’ Anglican Church in North Sydney.
‘He said ‘you’re very kind.’
‘I did it because the kangaroo is an Australian animal.
“I think he liked it.”
Dozens of well-wishers presented gifts to Their Majesties, including Tunnock tea cakes, kangaroo jerky and bouquets of flowers.
The Queen has requested that all flowers be taken to Admiralty House, where they will stay during their stay in Sydney.
Mrs. Usher, who was standing next to the piper, said excitedly: “I shook his hand.
“I am absolutely delighted that he is here in our danger zone.
“He appears to be in excellent health.”
Valerie Malinowski, 75, joked that she had a “crush” on Charles since they were both 15, but had never met him before.
“We want you to feel welcome,” he said. “Sometimes there is a lot of negativity, but he is very welcome and very loved.”
Also in the crowd were Sinclair and Wendy Hill, old friends of the King who hosted him at their home in Australia.
Prince Philip asked Mr Hill, who is described as Australia’s best polo player, to teach young Charles, and they have maintained a warm friendship ever since.
Mrs Hill, whom the King greeted with a kiss on each cheek, said afterwards: “He is a lovely man and the fact that he has not been well and yet has come… The effort he makes to talk to all this people”. I thought it looked fantastic.”
Afterwards, the Archbishop said: “It has been a great pleasure and privilege to have Their Majesties with us here at St Thomas’, in Sydney’s north.
‘This church has a family connection with His Majesty because his great-grandfather as a teenager laid the foundation stone.’
He added: “It was wonderful for this local church to be able to welcome Sovereign King Charles and Queen Camilla to join us for today’s service – we are absolutely thrilled.”
‘There has been a great feeling.
‘People are very happy to see them and they received a very generous and warm welcome.
“And Their Majesties were also very generous in greeting many people shortly after their jet lag.”
The church gave royal visitors gifts including a rugby ball, a cricket ball and a toy koala to take home for Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.