LONDON — LONDON (AP) — King Charles III has announced plans to visit Australia and Samoa next month on a trip that will span a dozen time zones and test the monarch’s endurance as he recovers from cancer treatment.
The October 18 to 26 tour, which Buckingham Palace outlined on Tuesday, marks a turning point for the 75-year-old king.
Charles is slowly returning to public duties after taking a break following his cancer diagnosis in early February. The decision to undertake such a long journey will be seen as a sign of his recovery.
The trip begins in Australia before King and Queen Camilla travel to Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which takes place every two years. Although the tour was first announced in July, no dates had been released at that time.
Charles’ journey around the world comes as he tries to shore up support for the monarchy at home and abroad, two years after becoming king. The stop in Australia marks the first time since Charles took the throne that he will visit one of the so-called Commonwealth realms, the 14 countries outside the United Kingdom where the monarch remains head of state.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has long aimed to hold a referendum on cutting ties with the monarchy and declaring his country a republic. But those plans were put on hold after Australians overwhelmingly rejected a plan to give Indigenous people more political rights in a referendum last year.
Charles will travel to Samoa as head of the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 56 independent nations, most of which have historical ties to Britain
“The King’s visit to Australia will be His Majesty’s first visit to an empire as monarch, while the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Samoa will be the first that the King will attend as Head of the Commonwealth,” it said palace in a statement. “In both countries, Their Majesties’ engagements will focus on themes designed to celebrate the best of Australia and Samoa, and also reflect aspects of the King and Queen’s work.”
