A Look Back at Royal Tours of Australia, from Queen Elizabeth’s Historic Visits to Meghan Markle’s Pregnancy Announcement

Ahead of King Charles and Queen Camilla’s visit kicking off Oct. 18, here are some of the royal family’s most memorable trips there

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visit Bondi Beach on Oct. 19, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. Photo: Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage

When Queen Elizabeth visited Australia for the first time in 1954, she was only two years into her history-making reign that would ultimately last 70 years until her death on Sept. 8, 2022. Queen Elizabeth, then Princess Elizabeth, had been en route to Australia as part of a larger royal tour on Feb. 6, 1952 when she found out, at just 25 years old, that her father King George VI died unexpectedly while Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip were in Kenya.

When she finally did make it Down Under on Feb. 3, 1954, she became the first British monarch to step foot on Australian soil. When her son and heir, King Charles, visits Australia on Oct. 18 alongside his wife Queen Camilla, he will be only the second British monarch to visit the Commonwealth realm — and the first British King.

When the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Australia for the first time, they stayed from Feb. 3 to April 1. According to Australia’s Centre of Democracy, it is estimated that close to 75% of Australia’s population saw the Queen in person on her 1954 visit alone.

Queen Elizabeth is escorted by Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies leaving a banquet at Parliament House, Canberra in 1954.

“Royal visits are a part of the history of national pride in Australia. This was especially the case for the 1954 tour,” according to the Centre. “For Australia, the visit was a chance to promote the post-war development of the country, while for the Crown, it was a chance to strengthen alliances throughout the Commonwealth countries.”

It would be nearly a decade before they returned, visiting again in 1963, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2002, 2006 and, for the final time, in 2011.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.Hulton Royals Collection

Both Prince Charles and Princess Diana had been to Australia independently — the then-Lady Diana Spencer even made a private visit to the country in February 1981, less than one week after Prince Charles proposed. They married that summer (July 29, to be exact) and the then-Princess of Wales made history in 1983 when she insisted that their nine month old son, Prince William, accompany her and her husband on their tour of Australia beginning March 20, 1983. The visit, which made its way into season four of Netflix’s The Crown and the subject of a documentary called Charles and Diana: 1983, encompassed more than a month across Australia and New Zealand.

An article from PEOPLE at the time said that “The couple’s travel agenda holds a number of unprecedented events for the princess, who is making her first official overseas visit.” Though there was originally trepidation about how Diana would fare while on tour, it turned out that her star eclipsed that of her husband.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana pose before the Australian Monolithic Rock during their tour of Australia.Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images

“The prince was embarrassed the crowds so favorably favored her over him,” Sally Bedell Smith wrote in her biography Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life. “For her part, Diana was upset by the disproportionate interest in her, especially when she realized that it was disturbing Charles. She collapsed under the strain, weeping to her lady-in-waiting and secretly succumbing to bulimia. In letters to friends, Charles described his anguish over the impact ‘all this obsessed and crazed attention was having on his wife.’ ”

Princess Diana’s eventual biographer Andrew Morton said that the Australia tour “was a terrifying baptism of fire … Just 21, the newly minted royal was petrified of facing the crowds, meeting the countless dignitaries as well as the fabled royal ‘rat pack,’ the media circus who follow the royals around the globe.”

He later wrote for The New York Post that “the tour was utterly traumatic. Back in the privacy of her hotel room, she cried her eyes out, unable to handle the constant attention. … It didn’t help that Prince Charles, the former top of the billing, was reduced to a walk-on part, the crowds groaning when he came to their side of the road during their many visits. As Diana told me, ‘He was jealous. I understood the jealousy but I couldn’t explain that I didn’t ask for it.’ ”

In biographer Sarah Bradford’s book Diana, she quotes a bodyguard who said the Princess of Wales’ reception in Australia was comparable to Beatlemania.

Princess Diana traveling in a stagecoach in Ballarat, Australia on April 15, 1983.Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty

Diana’s persistence that William join her and Charles warmed the hearts of Australians, PEOPLE previously reported. “Bringing William is what made it really different. There was a huge amount made of Diana being a breath of fresh air and [so] modern. It was enormous,” said Jane Connors, author of Royal Visits to Australia.

Charles, Diana and William left Australia on April 17 and headed off to New Zealand, where they remained for two weeks before heading back to London on April 30.

While other royals like Princess Anne and Prince Edward and Sophie, now-Duchess of Edinburgh, have visited Australia, perhaps the two most memorable visits of the modern royal era were undertaken by Prince William, Kate Middleton and a young Prince George — who, at nine months old, was the exact same age his father was when he visited the country 30 years prior. The three were in Australia from April 16 to April 25 — significantly shorter than Charles, Diana and William before them, and did the reverse order of visiting New Zealand first (from April 7 to April 16) then Australia, rather than Australia then New Zealand as was done in the 1983 trip.

Kate Middleton and Prince George on their royal tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2014 alongside Prince William, not pictured.

Prince William and Kate Middleton walk from the top of the stairs of Sydney’s iconic landmark Opera House on April 16, 2014. AFP/Getty
Prince George’s Cute & Fun Royal Tour Gifts

While there, little George got to visit the Taronga Zoo in Sydney with his parents, where he visited his namesake — George the Bilby! The future king “squealed with delight” when he met the real-life animal, PEOPLE reported, but had a different reaction when presented with the stuffed toy version of the marsupial — he threw it on the floor. “He does love it, honestly,” dad Prince William clarified.

That wasn’t the only stuffed animal George received as a gift while on tour in Australia. He received a stuffed wombat by the family of three’s Australian hosts, Lady and Sir Peter Cosgrove. (William’s nickname as a little boy was William the Wombat, so the gift was packed with meaning.)

“He is obsessed with wombats at the moment,” Kate reportedly said while on tour. “He is really into them.”

Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince George visit the Nightlife display at Taronga Zoo, view a Bilby and officially name the Prince George Bilby Exhibit on April 20, 2014. Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock

George was also apparently into sweet potatoes at the time, but not long flights — he got grumpy! — or jet lag. George took three days to get over his jet lag, William said while visiting, revealing his son “was a bit jet-lagged and it was a bit hot for him.”

“Although George made only a handful of appearances with his parents, he stole the show with every outing,” PEOPLE previously reported.

Kate Middleton, Prince George and Prince William on their royal tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2014.

Prince William and Kate Middleton on their royal tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2014.

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited Australia in October 2018 — the first stop on a 16-day, four-country tour that included visits to Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand — they brought with them an exciting announcement: Meghan was pregnant with their first child! The same day they touched down in Sydney, palace officials made the announcement; Prince Archie would be born on May 6, 2019, nearly seven months after their visit Down Under.

“I’m very excited to show her this incredible country of yours,” Prince Harry said of Meghan in footage captured by Nine News Australia.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex watch a performance during their visit to Macarthur Girls High School on Oct. 19, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. Phil Noble – Pool/Getty

“We’re both absolutely delighted to be here,” he continued. “Thank you for the incredibly warm welcome and the chance to meet so many Aussies from all walks of life.”

Harry added, “We also genuinely couldn’t think of a better place to announce the, er, upcoming baby,” Harry said, looking over to Meghan. Appearing slightly nervous, Harry added, “whether it’s a boy or a girl.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at Kingfisher Bay during their visit to Fraser Island on Oct. 22, 2018. REX/Shutterstock

The Australian Governor-General and his wife presented the couple with their first official baby gifts. “That’s so cute, it’s our first baby gift!” Meghan said as she received a fluffy stuffed kangaroo (complete with a baby joey!) and fleece Ugg booties.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in Australia in 2018.Getty Images

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex talk to members of OneWave, an awareness group for mental health and wellbeing at South Bondi Beach on Oct. 19, 2018 in Sydney, Australia.Chris Jackson – Pool/Getty

Harry and Meghan also visited Sydney’s Taronga Zoo, where they met two new koala moms and their joeys before visiting the Sydney Opera House. Later in the visit, the two visited Bondi Beach, and Prince Harry enjoyed a world-famous view after scaling the 1,000-plus step Sydney Harbour Bridge to raise the Invictus Flag, officially ushering in the 2018 Invictus Games, held from October 20 to October 27, 2018.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle meet a koala named Ruby and its koala joey named Meghan after the Duchess of Sussex during a visit to Taronga Zoo in Sydney on Oct. 16, 2018. DEAN LEWINS/AFP/Getty