IT’S WIZARD TO GO BACK TO OZ
King Charles is said to have instructed his travel organisers to speed up plans for a royal tour of Australia in October.
The monarch, who temporarily put on hold his first royal tour of the Commonwealth realm as sovereign, is said to be keen to fire all cylinders and go ahead with the royal visit.
A source told The Sun: “The King is raring to go and keen to get on with the job”.
His plans for the state trip comes as he continues to improve from cancer treatment with aides saying he is “feeling better”. According to the newspaper Charles is “supercharging” plans for the twoweek trip which will also encompass New Zealand and Samoa when he travels to Samoa in October for the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting (CHOGM).”
Buckingham Palace has said the monarch had been feeling stronger and said his doctors are said to be hopeful that he can travel after his successful first public appearance after his cancer diagnosis in Windsor at Easter. A Palace source said: “Any such plans would not be confirmed until nearer the time. Nothing has been ruled in or out.”
Privately it is understood the monarch is “keen to get on with the job” and “hit the ground running”, knowing his reign suffered a setback when surgeons discovered he had cancer in February while undergoing surgery to correct an enlarged prostate. It is understood Charles and Queen Camilla are likely to attend the Trooping the Colour on June 15, which celebrates his official birthday and the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy
on June 8. The King’s aides also shelved negotiations for a visit Down Under when the Queen died in September 2022. It is customary the year after a monarch is crowned for them to visit Australia. A state visit of the king’s favourite commonwealth country is the biggest and most significant royal tour for a British monarch. Queen Elizabeth I visited 16 times, the first visit was in 1954 and finally in 2011.
Meanwhile, Meghan Markle has the “perfect excuse” to decline a rumoured invitation to Britain from none other than the Prince and Princess of Wales, according to a royal expert.
Prince William and Princess Catherine are believed to have asked the Sussexes to bring their children with them the next time they visit the UK, but apparently, Meghan has declined the offer. “Meghan isn’t obviously keen on visiting Britain because she is not popular here. Nor is Harry, but it’s different for him. She’s asked for this,” royal commentator and historian Richard Fitzwilliams told The Sun.
“If she comes there will be a huge amount of adverse publicity because of the way she has acted for the past four years. On top of that, you have the issue of Archie and Lilibet – who are completely blameless.”
Fitzwilliams also said now that the Sussexes lost their bid for taxpayer-funded UK security protection would also be an “excuse” not to visit. “The security would be decided on a case-by-case basis, they would make sure the trip
was secure from the point of view of the UK,” he continued. “I think security could be used as an excuse not to come though.”
“Meghan has every right to come but they have been thrown out of Frogmore Cottage and for a good reason,” Fitzwilliams added.
“Spare and the interviews around it were horrible frankly. She has the perfect excuse not to come over because Harry has lost his security case.”