King Charles III and Queensland

King Charles III, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, has been heir apparent to the Crown since the age of three. He has visited Queensland on seven official tours during 16 visits to Australia and has a strong connection with our state and Australia.

The King first visited Queensland in May 1966, when the then 17-year-old was in Australia studying at Geelong Grammar’s Timbertop school in Victoria. As part of his holidays he travelled to Queensland, visiting Cairns, Eidsvold and Gayndah.

King Charles III’s first official visit was in 1974 when he was serving as a Naval Officer on the HMS Jupiter. His subsequent visits were in 1977 as part of The Queen’s silver jubilee celebrations,  in 1979, 1983,  and 1994 for a private visit to K’gari (formerly Fraser Island), and 2012. His last visit was with The Queen Consort in April 2018 as part of their official duties for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Illumination of Queensland monuments and buildings

To acknowledge the significant occasion of  the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III as the new constitutional monarch of Australia, on Saturday 6 May and Sunday 7 May 2023 historic and culturally significant Queensland buildings were illuminated in purple—a colour synonymous with royalty.

National activities

There were numerous events across Australia to mark the coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen including:

• illumination of significant buildings and monuments across Australia in Royal Purple on 6 and 7 May 2023
• flying of the Australian National Flag, Australian Aboriginal Flag and the Torres Strait Islander Flag on 6 and 7 May 2023
• on Sunday 7 May 2023, a National 21 Gun Salute was conducted by Australia’s Federation Guard on the forecourt of Parliament House in Canberra, and followed by a flypast by the Royal Australian Air Force.

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