King Charles‘ life has been laden with drama over the past few months, with the cancer battle and his rift with his estranged son Prince Harry. As if that wasn’t enough, his recent trip to Australia suddenly took a dramatic turn when a woman confronted him with unexpected protests during his speech.
Australia is a Commonwealth country where the King serves as the head of state. However, many have recently contended that the monarch should be removed from the role. The woman, a member of the Australian Parliament, was seemingly of the same view and chose to put forth her opinions in an explosive way, directly to the king. Here’s what happened.
Australian Senator Violently Shouts At King Charles During His Speech
Aboriginal Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe interrupted King Charles’ speech at the Australian Parliament on October 21 and staunchly told him that he was not her king. As this 75-year-old monarch had just concluded his speech to Canberra’s Parliament, Thornton — the senator known for her sharp activism — broke into the powerful outcry against the British monarchy for committing “genocide” and demanded reparations for Australia’s First Nations people.
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“You are not my King, this is not your land!” she shouted from the back of the chamber, according to footage released by ‘The Telegraph‘. As security moved to escort her out, Thorpe continued, “Give us what you stole from us: our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. You destroyed our land, give us a treaty — we want a treaty.”
Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe yells at King Charles after he finished giving a speech at the Australian Parliament:
— Pop Base (@PopBase) October 21, 2024
“You committed genocide against our people, give us our land back! Give us what you stole from us! You are not our King!”
pic.twitter.com/TjKM0nkEk6
Thorpe is a fierce campaigner for an Australian treaty with its Indigenous people, who have been demanding reparations and recognition of the injustices endured by Aboriginal Australians during British colonization. Her protest came at a time when the conversation about Australia’s relations with the British monarchy was growing in nature, especially since Charles ascended the throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022.
King Charles Was Unaffected By The Unexpected Backlash
King Charles seemed calm even after the intervention. Buckingham Palace has not made any direct comment on the protest but reported an “awesome” reception the royal couple received from thousands of their supporters. “The warmth and scale of the reception was truly amazing,” a palace source said.
Undeterred by the protest, Charles continued his royal duties, visiting the Australian War Memorial and meeting with firefighters at CSIRO.
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Tellingly, Charles had only minutes before the protest mentioned the nation’s First Nations people and remarked his respects to “the traditional owners of the lands,” referencing the efforts of the nation toward reconciliation. But Thorpe’s protest hinted at existing tension in regard to Australia’s colonial past and its future as a constitutional monarchy.
While republican sentiment has been simmering under the surface in Australia for decades, opinion polls indicate that support for abandoning the monarchy has really cooled. Only 33% of Australians now favor a republic, and so it appears momentum from the last referendum in 1999 has stalled.
