King Charles III, Queen Camila: Royals meet Indigenous elders at National Centre for Indigenous Excellence

King Charles has been greeted by traditional dancers and met with key Indigenous elders in Sydney on his last full day in the country.

A small crowd gathered outside the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence in Redfern on Tuesday to meet the royal, while Queen Camilla was at another engagement.

On arrival they were greeted by National Indigenous Australians Agency chief executive Jody Broun and regional manager Leon Donovan before being welcomed with a smoking ceremony in the courtyard.

“We’ve got stories to tell and I think you witnessed that story yesterday,” Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council chairman Allan Murray said.

“Welcome to Gadigal land.”

Indigenous Senator Lidia Thorpe confronted the King on Monday during a welcome reception at Parliament House on Monday, before being kicked out.

“You are not our king. You are not sovereign,” she shouted.

Chants could be heard from outside the centre on Tuesday including “You’re on stolen land” and “No pride in genocide”.

The King was then led to meet Beryl Booth, who served his majesty 40 years earlier during another Australian tour.

This time, Aunty Beryl served the king kangaroo pies, before he was rushed off to the sports hall.

She said she had been taught respect and was looking forward to meeting the king.

“I’m honoured to have him here because I grew up with respect,” she said before his arrival.

The King was then greeted by traditional Indigenous dancers from Brolga Dance Academy and the Mui Mui Bedlam dance group alongside a series of NICE staff.

He then went into a private meeting with key Indigenous Elders.

The royal couple will attend a barbecue in Parramatta for lunch before meeting the public at the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday afternoon.

The NSW Police Inspector who was the hero of the Bondi stabbings will be one of the “inspiring Australians” introduced to the King and Queen at the BBQ.

Inspector Amy Scott tracked down, confronted and fatally shot Westfield Bondi Junction stabber Joel Cauchi, who killed six people and injured 12 at the popular shopping centre in mid-April. She has been credited with saving many lives that day.

Their majesties will also meet Noemie Fox, who won gold in kayak cross in Paris, Indigenous entertainer Casey Donovan, writer, artist and comedian Anh Do, and Paralympian swimmer Timothy Hodge. The emcee will be chef Adam Liaw.

The Crescent at Parramatta Park has been turned into a makeshift showground for the lunch event, with food trucks and market stalls. There will be displays of sheepdogs and backyard cricket.

Local produce will be showcased, and the sparkling barbecues will be manned by Surf Lifesavers.

Later on Tuesday, King Charles met the joint Australians of the Year at Melanoma Institute Australia. Professor Georgina Long and Professor Richard Scolyer greeted His Majesty at their facility in Sydney’s inner north shore, where a crowd of around 100 people waited for their arrival. There was no mention of the King’s own recent cancer diagnosis, having announced he was battling an unspecified type of the disease in February. But melanoma survivor Adam Brown and his family met with the King and revealed his stubborn battle to outlive the 12-month lifespan he was given when diagnosed in 2015.

Mr Brown, along with wife Kristy, introduced their children as their “two miracles”.

“That was surreal … he seems genuinely interested,” Mr Brown said afterwards.

The King offered his congratulations to Mr Brown although jokingly wondered why his children were meeting him during school hours.

Prof Scolyer and Prof Long informed the King about their research along with the importance of prevention and early detection in fighting skin cancer.

They showed him scans of what melanoma looked like, although His Majesty opted against having a look down a microscope.

The institute gifted the King a broad-brimmed hat, although His Majesty opted not to try it on perhaps in fear of messing up his hair. Before he arrived, diligent institute staff handed out small bottles of sunscreen to the royals’ waiting fans. Prof Scolyer and Prof Long were named Australians of the Year in January for their life-saving research, which has helped turn advanced melanoma from fatal to curable. Prof Scolyer was diagnosed with brain cancer in May 2023, but has undertaken world-first treatment and his tumour is yet to return.

“That was an amazing opportunity for us to tell the King about what we’re doing here trying to deal with Australia’s national cancer, and to talk about how we’re trying to get to zero deaths from melanoma,” Prof Scolyer said afterwards.

The royals are set to fly out on Wednesday morning.