THOUSANDS of staunch monarchists (and a few stickybeaking republicans) piled into Sydney’s Martin Place to catch a glimpse of Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall today.
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The proposed changes, which would allow dual nationals to be stripped of their Australian citizenship – including retroactively – if they are convicted of acts of terrorism, are due to be presented soon to Parliament.
Making a somewhat awkward visit to Australia’s capital, Britain’s Prince Charles has met Australia’s new Prime Minister, Mr Malcolm Turnbull, who has spent decades leading the effort to end the nation’s ties to the British monarchy. Two days before the groping incident Duchess Camilla was photographed pointing a rather large knife at the heir-to-the throne while touring a winery in South Australia.
“We’re just on a committee trying to remind people of their traditions”, one said.
Turnbull also appeared to give the republican movement, once his pet project, a lower priority than the economic issues facing Australia, saying “opportunities for constitutional change are somewhat more challenging than the opportunities for strong economic growth”.
Turnbull wrote “it was hard to believe that Prince Charles could ever be accepted as king”.
The royal couple then went their separate ways for engagements, including a visit by the duchess to food supply charity OzHarvest and the prince to Macquarie Group for an emergency services roundtable.
During the day Camilla visited the Victoria Barracks home of the Royal Australian Corps of Military Police to mark the Corp’s 100th anniversary which will be celebrated next year. She had a chance to shake hands with him and tell him that her birthday falls on the same date.
During a seemingly innocuous visit to a winery in Australia on Wednesday, the royal grabbed hold of a knife on display and menacingly brandished it towards photographers.
Charles and Camilla reportedly travelled to New Zealand three years ago.
“We look forward to the day when members of the Royal family make the trip as our equals and not Australia’s current and future rulers”.
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The number of people in employment jumped by 58,600, which was nearly four times more than the 15,000 expected, the Australian Bureau of Statistics report showed.
