King of hearts

Australia holds a special place in the heart of our new King. By David Furse-Roberts.

At a packed state funeral for Sir Robert Menzies in Melbourne’s Scots Church on 19 May 1978, a dashing young prince in his naval uniform rose to give one of the readings. Representing his mother, HM Queen Elizabeth II, the future King of Australia read from the apocryphal text of Ecclesiasticus with its exhortation to “Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us.” In a very real sense, his reading represented not simply a formality of the funeral service, but a touching tribute to Australia’s departed leader and Commonwealth statesman.

By the instigation of Prime Minister Menzies, the young prince had first set foot on Australian soil to spend two terms at Melbourne’s Geelong Grammar School in 1966. His fond experiences at the School’s rural campus, Timbertop, imbued him with a lifelong love and affection for Australia. The good humour and egalitarian nature of his fellow classmates impressed the future King as he happily felt like just “one of the boys”.

Reflecting years later on his stay in Australia, the King recalled: “I learnt an enormous amount in Australia and discovered just how direct and friendly and straightforward and so often blunt Australians are … But with such an incredibly good sense of humour.”

With the accession of King Charles III to the throne, our country is fortunate to have a King with an instinctive affinity for Australia and Australians. From boarding at Timbertop in 1966 to opening the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018, the King is no stranger to our shores, having visited Australia 16 times to share in our moments of national mourning and celebration. In 1981, Australia honoured his dedication to our nation by appointing him a Knight of the Order of Australia.

In his long life as heir apparent, the contribution of Charles III to Australia has been eminently practical as well as ceremonial. In 2013, His Majesty established his own charity in Australia that eventually became known as the ‘Princes Trust Australia’. Committed to empowering people to overcome personal hardship, the charity seeks to help young people prepare for the world of work, inspires veterans and their families to pursue entrepreneurship, and champions resilient sustainable communities. 

Taking pride in the success of his charity in Australia, the King remarked:

It is no exaggeration to say that Australia and Australians have held a very special place in my heart ever since I came to this country. It is for this reason that I am so proud of the progress that the Prince’s Charities Australia has managed to make in such a remarkably short space of time.

The Princes Trust Australia initiative speaks not only of the King’s bond with Australia, but of his personal character and the kind of Sovereign he will be. A deeply public-spirited man of humane instincts, Charles III is a dedicated philanthropist who serves as the patron, president, or member of some 400 charities in addition to his royal duties. The most famous of these is the Princes Trust, which he founded in 1976 to help disadvantaged young people with self-esteem, mental health and employment. In his compassion for the less fortunate, he walks not only in the footsteps of his late mother but also in a long line of British philanthropists such as Lord Shaftesbury, Sir Moses Montefiore and Elizabeth Fry.

A world statesman in his own right, the new King will continue his mother’s dedication to nurturing the Commonwealth of Nations. Like HM Elizabeth II, Charles will cherish the common British heritage of the Commonwealth yet celebrate the cultural diversity of its many member states. He will similarly esteem it as an association dedicated to advancing the ideals of peace, freedom, human understanding and friendship.

The King’s care for our natural environment is of course well known, even decades before climate change activism became a mass movement. His commitment to protecting the environment is impelled by his deep love of nature and the outdoors, as well as his conservative instincts to preserve all that is unique and beautiful in the natural world.

Similarly, with the built environment, where unsightly developments too often mar our streetscapes, the King is also an enthusiastic conservationist. With an eye for beauty, class and elegance in architecture, the Prince has been a longstanding champion for preserving the historic public buildings, churches, bridges and private homes that grace our villages, towns and cities.

As a traditionalist with a fondness for the King James Bible and Book of Common Prayer, the King will continue to be ‘The Defender of the Faith’, but not to the exclusion of other faiths. While loyal to the Christian doctrines of the Church of England, Charles III will uphold religious freedom for all and affirm the place for citizens of all religious creeds, or none, in the United Kingdom and its realms.

Inheriting his parents’ and grandparents’ devotion to duty and service, a quality he also shares with his sister Anne, the Princess Royal, our new Sovereign will serve Australia, Great Britain and the Commonwealth with grace and decorum. In his first public speech as King, he promised that:

I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the Constitutional principles at the heart of our nation. And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the Realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life.

In executing this pledge, the King will bring both a reverence for tradition and warm public empathy to his reign as Charles III, the very personal qualities he exhibited amply throughout his long public life as Prince of Wales. May God Save the King!