Featured Image Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images/PA
Topics: Royal Family, King Charles III, Australia, UK News
Mia Williams
Topics: Royal Family, King Charles III, Australia, UK News
King Charles was shouted at by an indigenous politician during a Royal visit, claiming that he had 'destroyed' their lives.
The King was paying his 16th visit to Australia alongside Camilla, which marks his first major foreign visit since being diagnosed with cancer.
On Monday (21 October), the monarch was heckled during his visit to the Great Hall at Parliament House in the capital of Canberra.
It wasn't the first time the King had been met with protestors during his visit, with a group of around 20 activists protesting outside St Thomas' Anglican Church, north Sydney, while Charles attended a church service there.
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They were seen holding banners reading 'decolonise', as well as with Aboriginal flags.
After the King had finished his speech at the Great Hall, saying that he wanted to pay 'respects to the traditional owners of the land on which we meet', Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe couldn't hold back her anger.
After the speech, she shouted: "You destroyed our lives.
“You stole our land.”
She was stood shouting for around a minute, pushing the King for an apology, stating: "You are not our King."
She added: "You committed genocide against our people, give us our land back, give us what you stole from us, our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people."
Once she had said her piece, security guards then carried her out of the venue, and the King turned to quietly speak to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott slammed Thorpe's actions as 'unfortunate political exhibitionism'.
Meanwhile, another indigenous leader who welcomed the Royals to the capital called on them for an apology.
Aunty Serena Williams, from the Ngunnawal people, welcomed the King and Queen Consort by performing a smoking ceremony.
This event occurs at the start of a lot of formal events, in order to welcome somebody of importance to the country.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, she said: "We all have roles and responsibilities, and I have roles and responsibilities to my people.
"And I think an apology would be beautiful."
She was asked directly if the King should apologise for the colonial wrong doings of the past, to which she said: "Yes. Because we have to acknowledge our past."
Australia's capital Canberra sits on Ngunnawal land, which was inhabited by First Nations people who have now lived there for more than 20,000 years.
A palace source told Reuters the King and Queen were grateful for the thousands of people who came to see them during their visit and 'are only sorry they didn't have a chance to stop and talk to every single one'.
They added: "The warmth and scale of the reception was truly awesome."