King looks to Australia visit after successful Channel Islands trip amid cancer treatment
Crowds of people lined the streets of Jersey as Charles and Camilla step out for royal visit, ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship reports
The King and Queen have completed the first part of their trip to the Channel Islands, where crowds have braved monsoon-like rain showers to welcome them.
It’s only the second time Charles has been outside the UK since his cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
In Jersey, where he is officially known as the Duke of Normandy, the King and Queen were given an official welcome at an outdoor sitting of the island’s parliament, the States Assembly.
The audience wiped down their wet seats as they heard the Bailff of Jersey welcome the Duke.
The title dates back many centuries to a time when King John lost Normandy to the French in 1204 but the Channel Islands decided to remain loyal to the English (and later British) Crown.
Being able to make a royal visit outside the UK - the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey are Crown Dependencies and not part of the United Kingdom - indicates a return to some stability for the Royal Family.
Doctors treating the King’s cancer have now approved his planned royal tour to Australia in October.
The King and Queen will also visit Samoa for a Commonwealth summit, which will be the King’s first summit as the Head of the Commonwealth.
His doctors have ruled Charles can’t travel to New Zealand, as he had planned, and he will have to limit the number of engagements he can do each day in Australia.
Coupled with the Princess of Wales attending the Wimbledon men’s final at the weekend, the Royal Family looks less fragile than it looked earlier this year.
There was a minor security alert in Jersey however when the King and Queen were touring a local exhibition of island produce and the engagement had to be cut short.
Queen Camilla was seen being hurried out by her personal security staff and rushed into a hotel.
It was later confirmed the alert was a false alarm and the visit programme resumed.
The other moment which was certainly not in the script, was when two of the seven Jersey cows being gifted to Charles decided to make a display in front of Camilla.
As cameras rolled, Camilla laughed uncontrollably as one cow climbed onto the other in a sudden amorous moment.
“That was well-timed,” Camilla said through her giggles.
Jersey declared the day a national holiday and crowds gathered at each of the events in St Helier.
One of the changes Buckingham Palace and the Jersey authorities made was to update a long-held tradition.
Usually a Monarch is presented with two dead ducks when they are given their official welcome. In 2001, even the late Queen Elizabeth looked at the gift in bemusement.
But in a sign of the times, Charles was today presented with two locally-laid duck eggs instead.
This is the Talking Royals - our weekly podcast about the royal family, with ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship and Producer Lizzie Robinson