King Charles and Queen Camilla touched down in Sydney, Australia on Friday evening, then rested on Saturday. I’ll cover their Sunday visit to the Anglican church on Monday, but here’s an interesting note – the church visit was originally supposed to be low-key and quiet, but the courtiers must have been worried that it would too quiet, so they made a specific appeal to Aussies to come out and see Charles and Camilla. As much as there’s a larger conversation about the crown and whether Australia should become a republic, don’t miss the fact that Camilla is not and has never been an asset to her husband. Don’t miss the fact that Camilla will forever live the shadows of more popular royal women:

Queen Camilla’s Australia tour with King Charles “won’t be easy” due to “less agreeable” crowds Down Under, an expert has warned. According to royal expert and historian Dr Tessa Dunlop, with all eyes on the King, it could be a trip that Camilla finds particular difficult.

She explained to the Mirror: “The press corps have flown in and the King has postponed his cancer treatment – everyone is set for Charles’ first tour to Australia as monarch. Headlines have been full of it – the political snubs from Australia’s premiers, to the pared-down itinerary and absence of walkabouts. Will Charles’s 17th visit down under, seal the deal for Republicans or set royal hearts aflutter?”

“With all eyes on the King, there has been less talk of Camilla, who will be touching down as Australia’s new queen. Her gig won’t be easy – she has giant shoes to fill and not just those of the late Queen. Against expectations, it was just over 40 years ago that Australians surprised themselves and fell in love with a fresh royal fairy story – cue the arrival of Charles and Diana on a six week tour in 1983. Staunchly Republican Australian Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, had been hoping that the incoming Prince and Princess of Wales would seal the deal for dumping the British monarchy. Not a bit of it. Crowd surges, overwhelmed police, flags, flowers and gridlocked roads: 1983 saw the start of a brand new phenomenon: Diana-mania.”

“The public’s love was unadulterated – so much so that Prince Charles, who had been trying to woo Australia since 1966, took umbrage. Sadly Diana is long gone, but while here in Britain we have grown fond of Queen Camilla, who has been rehabilitated in our press, in Australia memories of the ‘other woman’ and Diana’s rough treatment at the hands of the royal family are more pronounced.”

But it’s not just memories of Diana that might work against Camilla in Australia, as Tessa explained another factor may hinder her popularity. She added: “Nor has the international fall-out from the Harry and Meghan debacle helped Camilla’s cause. The Sussexes’ departure from the Royal Family followed hot on the heels of their 2018 Australia tour, with Harry subsequently airing ‘wicked stepmother’ tropes and citing Camilla’s ‘dangerous’ connections. The King and Queen, who have not been to Australia since Megxit, will find new dissenters in the pack. Fortunately the trip is short, and positive polling for an committed monarch with cancer bodes well, but beyond the summer sun, Queen Camilla will be on alert for a less agreeable Australia lurking in the shadows.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

It’s especially wild that Charles and Camilla’s tour is the first major Australian since Harry and Meghan’s 2018 tour. The connections, six years later, are so pronounced. Harry and Meghan were wildly popular and Meghan was regarded, internationally, as a bridge to the future for the monarchy, a breath of fresh air, a woman of color who was uniquely situated to modernize a staid and racist institution and drag the colonialist mess into the 21st century. And right after that tour, the Windsors began their campaign to drive Meghan out by any means necessary. Camilla was a huge part of that campaign, just as Camilla’s fingerprints were all over every part of Diana’s misery. I hope Camilla gets booed especially hard in Oz.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.