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Royal visit to Australia tipped for 2024

The Prince and Princess of Wales at a Blue Mountains school on their last Australian visit, in 2014.

The Prince and Princess of Wales at a Blue Mountains school on their last Australian visit, in 2014. Photo: Getty

The NSW parliament has confirmed a “much-anticipated” royal visit to Australia is on the cards, but the identity of who in the British monarchy will come has not been released.

The tour has been slated for 2024 as part of a program of events to mark the 200th birthday of the NSW Parliament and would be the highlight of bicentenary celebrations in Sydney.

It would be the first visit from the royal family since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle came in late 2018, months after their Windsor Castle wedding.

A statement issued by the NSW Parliament did not say which royals would be visiting but there has been ongoing speculation that King Charles will travel to Australia early in his reign.

If so, he would be the first English king to set foot on Australian soil.

Queen Elizabeth II was the first and only reigning English monarch to visit Australia in her tour of 1954 when she was 27 years old.

At the time, her eight-week schedule was the single-biggest event ever planned in Australia.

“It was during the first royal tour to Australia in 1954 that Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II paid a visit to the NSW Parliament and christened it Australia’s ‘Mother Parliament’,” the statement from the NSW parliament issued on Tuesday said.

The Queen at the New South Wales Parliament in Australia in 1954. Photo: Getty

A royal opening of State Parliament was performed by Queen Elizabeth II in 1954 and 1992 and Prince Charles in 1974.

Recent media reports state that then-Prince Charles met with the President of the NSW Legislative Council Matthew Mason-Cox in the days before the Queen’s death on the subject of a visit.

“He was delightful and has such a passion and a high regard for Australia,” The Daily Telegraph reported Mr Mason-Cox as saying.

“After all he went to school here, surfed Bondi Beach, he’s right at home.”

There has also been speculation the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Catherine, could bring their children to Australia before the 2024 event.

The royal couple had been due to visit Australia in 2020, but their tour was cancelled as the pandemic hit.

However, Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace are yet to comment on any possible visits.

Australia’s first legislative body, the NSW Legislative Council was established in 1823 and held its first meeting in 1824 and is now also known as the upper house.

“In celebrating the bicentenary of the Legislative Council, we celebrate its role in our parliamentary democracy,” NSW Governor Margaret Beazley said.

Legislative Council president Matthew Mason-Cox said the establishment of the parliament was “Australia’s magical Magna Carta moment, the first restraint on the autocratic power of the early governors that has evolved into parliament as we know it today”.

A program of events will be held leading up to the 200th anniversary of the council’s first meeting in 2024.

-with AAP

Topics: NSW
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