The Royals with Roya and Kate - The tour wrapped up!

Episode Date: October 24, 2024

The King and Queen touched down in soggy Samoa on Wednesday, marking an end to the Australian leg of their visit down under. Despite the much publicised protests, can the Palace chalk it down as a success? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com. Talofa lava. Talofa roya. Welcome to the Royals with Roya and Kate in Samoa. From sunny Apia. Although not so sunny Apia, the capital of Samoa. Fake news. It's been very rainy. Soggy. Very soggy again.

Soggy Samoa. Oh dear. Anyway. Why are we here Roya? Well we're here for Chogham and we'll come to that later in the show because there's lots to discuss but Kate before that what do you make of Samoa and will you ever be leaving? I feel like I have to stay until the Sun comes out so maybe. You could be waiting a while. I'll be here a while. We're in a hotel, just a stone's throw away from the coast. And we two stones throw away from the King and Queen. Yeah, we got here on Thursday, early start in Sydney. And then we came to Samoa, where it's the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. We were last at a Commonwealth heads of government meeting two and a bit years ago.

It was actually during the last reign because it was June 2022 before the Queen died. Tail end of the Elizabethan era in Rwanda. And we were both there. We were. And now we're both here. And the King was there at the time representing his mother. Now he's here for the first time as monarch. It will be the first time as head of the Commonwealth as monarch and he is going to speak tomorrow. He's going to

address the delegates which is the reason why we're here but of course before the official Chogham stuff he had a day which was essentially a state visit day so the Samoans welcomed them as king and queen on their shores and we've had a whole day of, in the rain unfortunately, but all sorts of things they've been doing today. They've been really busy and so have we. Most importantly, leading the news,

top line is that incredibly sharp Anderson and Shepard bush jacket outfit he's been wearing. He ditched his suit today, didn't he, the King? He ditched his suit. So throughout this tour he's been wearing sort of variation of suits, well-cut suits and ties, in Australia and also yesterday when we first arrived in Samara. But today... We've seen Casual King. He appeared in a very dapper, sharp, tailored, white bush jacket by the Savile Row tailor Anderson Shepard

with an exquisite blue piping and trim throughout, which was designed and done by the Samoan School of Fine Art. Nice touch. Very nice touch. And he looked- Diplomatic, I mean, we've not seen the royals- Diplomatic and dapper. D.D.

D.D. We've seen the royal women doing that, don't we, with their jewelry, but I think it was interesting to see the king having that kind of nod. He's really made an effort. And what also made us chuckle is, well, it's rare that a royal, male member

of the royal family makes headlines with his fashion choices. It's normally us asking him about what the women are wearing. But what was also interesting today was seeing the entourage and how they were dressed. Because there was a- I was about to say, there was a warning before the king arrived. Because who, well, we know, of course,

all the entourage, the press team and the private secretaries. And we know the of course, all the entourage that, you know, the press team and the private secretaries, and we know the security guards who come around with the king and they're all brilliant and queen. But there was an inkling that perhaps the king would be a bit more dressed down because they always kind of lead the dress code. Well, the male journalists this morning were told, don't need to wear lounge suits. You just need to wear your chinos. Just chinos and shirts today. were told don't need to wear lounge suits. You just need to wear your chinos and open-neck shirt. Just chinos and shirts today, lads.

And they sort of went, oh, okay. Which is normally led from the top, so the dress code normally comes from what the boss is wearing. The boss arrived wearing his bush jacket with blue trim. Yeah, but only after we saw the security guards in their Hawaiian shirts. But not Hawaiian, their Samoan shirts. Samoan shirts, yeah. Which are- But I think if you're, most people Samoan shirts. Samoan shirts, yeah.

Which are- But I think if you're, most people wouldn't know what a Samoan shirt is. So for any listeners who haven't been to Samoa, you can probably imagine what a Hawaiian shirt looks like. It's quite bold, lots of flowers. And we normally see these people quite buttoned up, so it's quite fun to see the security guards.

And the courtiers. And the courtiers wearing these Hawaiian shirts. So they turn up and then we go, well, you know, what's the king going to be wearing? Normally they're quite buttoned down on what their royals will be wearing until we see them. I don't know why, in case they spill their breakfast down and they have to change and then it becomes a story. Yeah, and then they said, oh, he won't be in his usual attire.

And then out he comes in his bush jacket. We were thinking all sorts of things. He might have been in one of those Samoan sarongs, but no. I was thinking kind of naked torso, Samoan sarong. Maybe last night he'd gone for a massive Samoan tattoo, the sacred art of tattooing, which is a thing. Which did feature today, didn't it? Yeah.

Anyway, anyway. He has been made, one of the main things of today has been made a chief. To add to one of his many, many, many titles. But I think he found it quite touching. So we were in this little village called Moata and it was a ceremony by which he was honored by being granted the title of a high chief.

And the chief from Moata from the village said, you know, this bonds us, now we're bonded in a way that we never have been before. It's a huge honour. It's very rare that they would do something like this. He said, you're now part of us and we're part of you. Yes, it was really touching. And just outside this little village hall where we were, there was this big billboard saying welcome to the king and queen and it had them, pictures of them in the coronation. But it was more like a kind of, like you would see a kind of advertising billboard for Coca Cola or something, it was something like that. And the whole day has been very, well, really interesting. Before he was made a chief, we

were at a very big ceremony. It was a kind of a ritual which is called an Ava ceremony where they present the root, a drink from the Ava plant and there's a kind of solemn ritual that goes along with that and that was at the National University of Samoa. It was very colourful wasn't it? There was all sorts of shrieking and customary ritual and the presentation of the mashing up of the arbor root and which was which was the smell was amazing when they bashed that up in front of us and then all sorts of ritual and they presented it to him and during that ceremony Kate there was some very interesting gifts presented weren't there? We had some fabric, there was some mats, and then there was a giant great dead pig.

We had a slaughtered pig. There was a slaughtered pig that was presented to the King and Queen. And they said, oh, that's great, thanks so much, but we're going to give that back to the community. Unfortunately, you can't take meat back on the plane. So that was the way they kind of got around that one. Yeah, diplomatic. But no, but I think they were touched by the plane. So that was the way they kind of got around that one. Yeah, diplomatic.

But no, but I think they were touched by the whole thing. Diplomatic return to sender. But I think, you know, it is a big deal. And I think they were really, they were touched by the whole thing. The King looks really tired. Like, he does look tired. I mean, he's- What do you think?

Because I don't think we can get around- Well, I think- I don't think we can get around that. The fact that he's had a really long trip. We can go, we'll go backwards in time. We'll talk about Australia in a minute, but seeing him today, I just thought is he doing too much? What did you think? I, do you know what I thought? He looked, he looked, he did look really tired throughout the morning engagements. He looked much perkier in the afternoon when we were doing the sustainable

markets initiative engagement, but maybe that was when you got a bit more tired. I was an SMI event. Possibly a bit more time. Perked myself up with David Lammy though, onto that later. Yes. I think, but it was we were indoors and it was air conditioned, whereas the rest of the day it was all outdoors and extremely hot and humid and raining. So it was about 27, 28 degrees. With like max, max, max humidity. Yeah, I mean it's... Tons of humidity.

We're tired and we're kind of... We're young. Half as age. We're so young. I know, so he's packing it in. Not. Great news. But it was humid. The Queen had a handheld fan with her.

With her cipher, bearing her cipher. Bearing her cipher. I know, that's why I'm getting you for Christmas. I'm getting you a fan with your cipher on it, Kate. Awesome. You said you were gonna get me some merch the other day. Some Republican merch. I'm gonna get you a fan with your cipher on it.

I should look forward to that. Yeah, anyway, last time we were on the podcast, we were discussing the national mood around the Australia visit. Yeah. And I think we thought on the podcast, we were discussing the national mood around the Australia visit. Yeah. And I think we thought despite the desire from those in government and a lot of the public to be a republic, there was general excitement to goodwill about the visit. Until the podcast went to air and then something else happened.

An absolute bomb dropped in Parliament House and Canberra. So we, yeah, we were both there. We're in Parliament House in Canberra in the Great Hall. It was a reception. It's all going very smoothly until. It went very smoothly. So he was introduced, he was announced with a didgeridoo. And then there was an elder from the local community who then introduced him to country. Then we had the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, who gave a very glowing and very warm speech, I thought, considering that he's made no bones about the fact that he wants to get rid of the King

as head of state of Australia. Nevertheless, he was very welcome in the country. There was just a flick, wasn't there? Just one reference to the idea of Australia becoming a republic, where he, in this long, warm speech about the king and about the late queen, he said, "'You've always shown the greatest respect for Australians

and the Australian people, even at times where we've been reassessing our relationship with the Crown and reassessing our relationship with the Crown and reassessing our relationship and constitutional arrangements. And that he said that phrase, nothing stands still. Which was a reference to the fact that the country may evolve into a public at some point,

but the rest of it was a very warm speech. Yeah, it was sort of paving the way for an amicable divorce, wasn't it? So then we had the prime minister, then we had the leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton, who said, he was, well, there's gonna be an election before too long in the next few months, I think certainly before next May,

and Peter Dutton is obviously coming up the outside, he wants to win the election, and as leader of the opposition, he thought, what can I do? I'm gonna make my speech funny. And he said, you know, there've been lots of excitement about the impending royal trip before it happened, before the visit.

He said that people have been having haircuts, they've been shining their shoes. They've been ironing their suits. They've been having their shirts pressed. That's just the Republicans. You've told my punch line. Oh! their suits, they've been having their shirts pressed, just the Republicans. You've told my punch line. And then the King gave his speech and it was all about how it had kangaroos, bits and pieces and all sorts of strange things to eat when he was here.

He has repeatedly told us in the many speeches that we've sat through in Australia, that first time he came to Australia was in 1966. So every speech he's given he said I first came here oh nearly 60 years ago in 1966. He keeps saying it's very worrying to think doesn't he? He keeps talking about sort of how he keeps talking about time years and time he gave a in the legislative council the by um bicentennial that he was he was marking in sydney he gave them an hourglass and said that as a joke when they're standing up in parliament they could you know limit their speeches so that people don't wang on too much and then he went to sit down. Everyone clapped and then there was this kind of natural lull

before the next thing in the program happened. And I literally at that point pressed stop on my phone, stop recording. And then there was a shriek from the back of the room. I got a nudge in the ribs from one of our colleagues. And I heard a very loud shriek and suddenly. Yeah, well I was down at the front and suddenly I had my phone in my hand because I'm recording the King's speech and then I just turned it on and started filming this woman then I sort

of spanned back to get the King's reaction because it was Lydia Thorpe who is an elected senator from Victoria who was formerly with the Green Party, now she's an independent. And I was speaking to her in the room before the reception happened. She tipped you the ring, didn't she? She said, I'm gonna tell him what I think, that he's not my king.

I thought, this is a bit tasty. And I thought she meant that when he came along the line afterwards to greet people, she might say it. I didn't really think she would do something like that. And when it happened, I thought, well, she did warn me. And she came, she was wearing her full blown indigenous dress, wasn't she? Yeah.

From our perspective, having sort of been to so many royal engagements over the years and seen those big set piece speeches and those grand settings. And it was, I mean, it was in the Great Hall at Parliament House, it was an enormously grand setting with lots of people there. There was something quite shocking, and I don't mean like shock horror, isn't it terrible?

There was just something quite sort of extraordinarily dramatically confrontational about it, because you and I have never seen anything like that on a royal engagement. And certainly I think that under the late Queen's reign, I'm not sure that would have happened. And so to kind of see it like playing out that King and Queen were both sitting on the stage with the Prime Minister of Australia and other dignitaries and they were just sitting there pretty sort of silent taking it in as

Lydia Thorpe was shouting to them, at them, and an entire room in the Great Hall, "'You are not my king. "'This is not your land.' "'Bleep, bleep, bleep, the colony.' "'Bleep, bleep, bleep, several other things.'" Accusing the king of genocide, stealing babies. It was extraordinary.

It was very real anger. And I think, had it been a member of the public on the street, that would have been one thing, stealing babies. It was extraordinary. It was very real anger. And I think, had it been a member of the public on the street, that would have been one thing. But to be in, you know, a quote unquote kind of safe space with elected politicians, I thought it was really shocking. And I thought it was really extraordinary. And she actually had quite a bit of a say

before the security guards kind of shuffled her off. And I spoke to some Australian journalists afterwards and they said that they thought, oh, you know, she's always doing this sort of thing. She likes to pull pranks. So this was the woman who, when she was sworn in, she raised her fist in the air and mockingly swore an oath of allegiance to the king when she was sworn in as a senator.

So she's got form for this, but for, well, from my point of view, and I think yours too, from what you're saying, it was really very shocking because we don't see anything like that. We don't see the King confronted in this way in those settings. No, you don't. I mean, we've seen eggs being hurled at him on engagements, which actually just sort of just missed him. From the crowd. Yes. So things like that. But this was much more, it just felt much more kind of dramatic, much more pointed.

It traveled around the world. I mean, within minutes, all the networks in Australia, the American networks, you know, UK channels were all reporting it. It was, and you knew, you knew from that moment onwards that no matter how the rest of that day went,

that was the story. That was going to dominate the coverage because it was like King confronted on hugely high profile visit. It was big. Yeah, and even though the Australians kind of went, oh, wow, you know. Because they just rolled their eyes, didn't they?

Some of them rolled their eyes. Some of them were angry. Some of them were embarrassed. So the elder who had actually welcomed Charles to country, Violet Sheridan, she said afterwards that she was embarrassed on behalf of her indigenous community because she had welcomed him to country. And that was disrespectful. And that by doing this outburst, by heckling him in that manner, Lydia Thorpe had disrespected

that indigenous welcome to country that she had given on the stage. So it was really nuanced, but the anger is very, very real. And I think this is a country where last year there was this referenda which was talked about before on The Voice, which was this idea that there would be more of a direct route for parliament and justice and being represented at the heart of government for the indigenous communities.

And that referendum collapsed. There was Anthony Albanese bringing it through. He was left shame faced because people voted no and Australia rejected that. Interestingly, Lydia Thorpe rejected it too because she didn't think that the voice referendum went far enough. Some people thought it went too far. So it didn't work. Yeah, she said it would be. Albanese is still, I don't know if his premiership will ever recover from that.

We'll find out in the next election whether Imam Peter Dutton will win or not. But this anger still is simmering away. The issue is by no means resolved. And the following day, the king was at the national center for indigenous excellence, which again, was another kind of moment. And I think I could just see all the courtiers

just tense up because as soon as he got there, he was greeted by a chap called Alan Murray, who's an indigenous leader, an elder uncle, Alan Murray, as he's known in the community. And he said, you know, we've got a story to tell. And I think you heard that story in Canberra yesterday. And I think, you know, and we want sovereignty. And he was, he, you know, he said to the king,

you know, we want sovereignty. Australia is a country that doesn't have a treaty. This is what Lydia Thorpe's campaigning for. There should be a treaty, you know, between the indigenous groups and the government. Canada's got one, New Zealand's got one, Australia doesn't have one yet. And it's all this unresolved issues. She's saying, your family, King, got rich off the back of all the genocide that happened

with the indigenous communities. When the UK came over, it's still, Australia's still paying the price, you know? Up in the north of the country, there's, you know, there's still lots of issues of equality and how to get educational rights and access to those indigenous communities. So it's a really, it's a sore, it's an open wound,

it feels like in some parts of the community. And Charles represents to some people that to some people, that history. So I looked at it and thought about it and digested it and just thought, with all of that said, which is absolutely right and valid and live, I thought for me it was very fascinating because throughout this trip, both in Australia and in Samoa, King has in a subtle way but a very pointed way I think referenced his mother at certain points in speeches and in a couple of conversations sat on the ground and I think there's part of me that thinks he

does that because obviously you know Australia was very dear to her and the Commonwealth was very dear to her and, you know, she was widely respected across both Australia and the wider Commonwealth. But I also think, you know, it got me thinking this trip is a sort of test for both Australians and the wider Commonwealth. We're here at Chogham that a lot of Australians and people across the Commonwealth who not necessarily realm members, most of the Commonwealth are non realm members, you know, say they are Republicans, but they were also Elizabethans. And this trip is a big test to see whether Australians and the wider Commonwealth will soon consider themselves Carolians. And I just felt,

however you think Lydia Thorpe went about getting her message across, whether that was disrespectful and overly dramatic or and showboating, I don't think that would have happened when Elizabeth was Queen. I agree. I don't think Lydia Thorpe or her equivalent would have done that to the late queen. And I think that's just interesting and makes me think, you know, we know the age of deference is gone in terms of the monarchy. We saw, I think we started to see that after the Caribbean tour with William and Kate a couple of years ago that went quite wrong and generated a lot of negative coverage around it because there were sort of mishaps here and there on that. But also the Jamaican Prime Minister said we're moving on in front of the British money before he'd even let them sit down. I just think, you know, it's of

course with rain change, so many other things change too. But I felt there was something very symbolic about the violence almost of that proclamation from Lydia Thorpe to King Charles, that you just wouldn't have seen someone do to the late queen. I mean, the next day we had somebody arrested for saying the same things. Then they had an investigation launched by the police for vandalism against the Queen Victoria statue in Sydney.

They were trying to find out who had done that. But I think, yeah, I think you're right. I mean, it does make you think, what's the future of royal tours? They're not, you know, as someone that wrote in the paper that it was a really high stakes tour it had to work because they weren't going to be able to find out you can do all the research in the world but you're not going to find out until you're on the

ground how the king is thought of by the government yeah how he's welcomed by the government and I don't think that was entirely completely clear to the palace until he arrived yeah the second thing they said was that how... I'm not sure it still is clear. You know, Albanese put on a perfectly plight show but you still had, you know, not all the state premiers at that reception. We had none of the state premiers at the reception. Six states in Australia didn't send their premiers. So they played nice to a point.

They did play nice to a point. And I think that's what they didn't know how they would be received. Even Sam Mostyn, the governor general, who was a known Republican, was welcoming them. So you've got, first of all, how the government would receive them, which was unknown. Second of all, what the legacy, or as we talked about, the transition was treated. So did the affection for the late queen pass over to the new king? And then third of all, and probably most importantly, how the public would receive Charles.

And they got the answer to that on that final day at Sydney Opera House. We talked about being soaking wet. We got to Sydney. The sun came out for Charles and Camilla and my goodness that final day where it was like it would have looked like a busy day for a politician nearing election day because he was on a building site wearing a hard hat, he was playing with a baby, he was turning sausages on the barbecue, he was watching sheepdog trials, he was doing it on the barbecue he was he was he was watching sheepdog trials he was doing it all did he ever say it is that a sandwich yeah no he didn't eat anything but we did I know I had one of the

sausages that Camilla cook Camilla doesn't know that she cooked a sausage for me but Camilla if you're listening it was delicious thank you. You'll get a book out of that. And then he did a speech and it was so hot and I was wearing like I've got my fact 50 slapped all over me and a hat on and my sunglasses he didn't have a hat on he's a man who's paused his cancer treatment at the age of 75 and he was tired from the long haul trip. He fluffed his lines in that. Oh, no. He did fluff his lines. He lost where he was. He said, Oh, this bloody thing. But I'm not surprised it took its toll because that day was

unbelievably busy. I mean, he went bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, all the way through the day, engagement after engagement after engagement. He, he turned it out, he turned it on, he turned it out. I couldn't, I was, I've seen him, you know, people talk about how he's a hard worker and they think, oh yeah, well it's easy, you just get driven around in a car and shake people's hands, it's like, he worked it.

Like it really, I think the trip really mattered to him. He wanted to do all those things. There was certainly after that outburst at Parliament House, there would have been mild to moderate panic at the palace. Exactly, like huge anxiety. Okay, yeah, huge anxiety. I think-

Not panic, but I think they were anxious. I think they were concerned that that was going to dominate the rest of the trip. Yeah, they didn't want a 30 second outburst by someone who's known as a prankster. They were told that the king was unruffled by it and determined that that one thing shouldn't affect. I think he was unruffled by it. I mean this is a man who years ago was shot at on stage while giving a speech in Sydney. Yeah.

With blank shots. But he did turn it around with all the sort of positive reaction to him. I think he was unruffled but I think the machine went... The machine was ruffled. reaction to him. I think he was unraveled but I think the machine went, whoa, okay, what this matter, this, this visit matters a lot. We need to make sure it works, you know, people get the message. So those last images of them sort of leaving, you know, leaving Australia was Charles and Camilla in their sunglasses looking quite, you know, pretty cool down by the Opera House. So we split up at this point to make sure we could cover all the bases. So you were at the Opera House and I was on a boat in Sydney Harbour.

So what was happening your end? So my end, they came down the steps of the Sydney Opera House and there were... Crowns had been like coming in for quite a few hours actually. Some of them had been there since very early in the morning. 5am. And they lined either side of the sort of walkway and they walked all the way down it from, well I suppose the harbour all the way to the other end.

And the Aussies weren't taking any, sorry to interject, but the Aussies weren't taking any risks, were they? Because everyone had to go through airport style security. Yeah, to make sure there were no eggs flying or any of that. So you're going in, you're sort of finding in. And they came through and took them a long time to walk down because they both, they did the classic sort of split.

Camilla went one side, Charles went on the other side. And the crowds were just so delighted to see them. I mean, there were a lot of them. And handing them loads of gifts and flowers. And you know when you sort of, it takes much, much longer than a sort of designated walk about or opportunity to meet the people. Not allowed to call it walk about.

So we now have to call it. Oh, don't call it walk about. Sorry, sorry, opportunity to meet the people. It took a long time for them to walk down because people were just absolutely, every single person was determined to say hello or tell them an anecdote about, you know, when they'd seen the king however many years ago or and you could see...

A surprising number of people did have anecdotes about either meeting the king or meeting the late queen. Yeah. They were very, they seemed pretty touched and delighted and a bit surprised that that many people turned out. Well, I had a couple in outside Parliament House who were from Southport and they lived in Australia and they said to the King, thank you so much for going to Southport and acknowledging the people. And there was another, you know,

and then you speak to people in the crowds and then I just walked along a couple of meters, there was a woman who said to the King, oh, we had a gin and tonic together in 1992 or something like that. And her husband had been in the military and she'd been invited to some reception and they'd shared a gin and tonic

and she had a fond memory of that. And then as they got off at the steps at Admiralty House, the fly pass went over. Camilla and the king were given baseball caps as a gift from the military saying HMTK for His Majesty the King and HMTQ for Her Majesty the Queen. And then Camilla just thought, you could see how exhausted they were because Camilla just suddenly took off her shoes and walked up the steps holding them. She just had enough for the day. She was just like, I'm done. I'm done. I'm out. We were done too, weren't we? It's like someone coming back from the club at 2am, you take your high heels off. Yeah, I'm done. I'm done. I'm out. We were done too, weren't we? It was like someone coming back from the club at 2 a.m.

You take your high heels off. She was, yeah, we were done too. But I think, yeah. So as she took her shoes off, would she have mulled on a job well done and a successful Australian trip or not? I think yes. I think overall, I think they can be pleased with that.

But it's a lesson for future that they know that there are some significant issues a bit like Kate and William in the Caribbean that we're in a world where they present a former colonial age. Despite all the King's speeches and despite the fact that he gave a speech in Parliament House talking about the wisdom, you know, the timeless wisdom of indigenous communities. He can still moments after giving a speech like that be heckled by someone for, you know, being accused of genocide. What do you think? I think, yes, it will be seen as successful to a point, but I think, yes, it's gone well. But I think that a lot of people will remember

this trip to Australia for that protest in Parliament House. And I think if you step back and think about why, possibly why that happened and when it happened and under which monarchy it happened, I think that opens your, makes me think about the future. Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend.

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Exploring Irish ghost stories and haunted Irish history. Listen to these Acast shows wherever you get your podcasts. Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com. podcast everywhere. AKS.com. So Commonwealth heads of government meeting get to go into a conference room.

Pumped. Pumped. But that but but though we say that we're pumped Charles is giving a very, very, you know, important big speech isn't he as his first heads of Commonwealth meeting as monarch as the head of the Commonwealth, not just representing his mother as he has done for so many years. And there's a lot at play here at the moment. There's, you know, a lot of live controversy around member states, around the issue of reparations. And we've had, you know,

Keir Starmer has been desperately trying to shut that down before coming out to Chogham, and he's here now as we speak, he arrived today. And, you know, that's a live issue, and will be, and the King knows that. And we heard him, you know, touch on it in Kigali a couple of years ago, when he talked about, not apologizing for things for the issue of slavery, but sort of saying these things should never have happened. And, you know, the speech he makes here is pretty seismic in terms of setting out his vision for what he wants to achieve, tackle, have discussed, everything from climate change to conflict.

Yeah. But then... But up to a point, because I think for the first time he doesn't have the freedom that he once did. So I think he's going to be consciously uncontroversial. I think he's going to set his vision out as he always has draw on his late mother and her association with the Commonwealth and then set out his his stool as well about moving forward democracy, listening, how things can change, but relationships and bonds remain

despite whether people remain Commonwealth realms or not. And despite the fact that this was set up as a historic community family of countries, which now encompasses a third of the world's population, it has changed considerably. There are countries that are joining that don't have any colonial ties to Britain historically. So the body is changing, the way in which it's the body is changing, the way in which it's

being used is changing, but I think the King will draw and underline what he believes, which is the fact that it's more significant now than ever with all the challenges that are being faced in the world. So whether that be conflict in the Middle East, whether that be climate change, whether that be what future the young people have in the workplace, all the things that matter to Charles, I think he's going to say there's going to be this sort of a non-controversial message that we're better together. But actually, this Commonwealth heads of government has shown that the Commonwealth is not entirely together. It is slightly divided because we've got the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa,

they're not here. Instead, a rival party, Putin's invited everyone to a rival party. He has, they're heading off to Russia for a BRICS meeting. And to be fair, Narendra Modi very rarely comes to Chogham so Modi's absence isn't so surprising Ramaphosa's is. There's something interesting in the Boris Johnson memoirs about a conversation that Boris indiscreetly reveals with the late Queen and in his memoirs he says he talked to the Queen about India and she said well the thing about India is I was told years ago

that they would always side with Russia, and they will never change. And I thought that was really interesting. But we don't have Justin Trudeau here either, the Canadian Prime Minister, who is typically a great ally of the UK, at Chogham, in all matters Commonwealth. And of course he's having-

Well, I think that's a misstep on his of course he's having a trickier time at home on the home front but still. Well Keir Starmer's here, like you said David Lammy, go on tell us about you were with David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary. Oh David Lammy, yes, so David Lammy, so I was doing an engagement with the King this afternoon for his sustainable markets initiative, the SMI,

which is a, you know. What is that? Some people may think that that's not the most exciting thing in the world, but to the King, it is very, very important. So the SMI, Sustainable Markets Initiative, was set up by the King when he was the Prince of Wales a few years ago, and it's an initiative to bring

the public sector and the private sector together to boost investment in things tackling climate change and green investment in the green economy. And it's been very successful. And there was a meeting this afternoon of lots of business leaders and CEOs of the vice president of SpaceX there and all sorts. Anyway, he looked very, I'd say animated, the King at that. Yeah, he would have liked that. That's his vibe. Bit of air conditioning and a bit of SMI chat.

And as I was ear-wigging with my note pair, trying to listen into what the King was saying to these various business luminaries, I found myself sort of just taking a step to one side and finding myself looked up and there was David Lammy. And I said, oh, sorry, First Secretary. I seemed to have accidentally joined a lineup standing next to you. Anyway, he thought this was quite funny and was very friendly and jazzy.

He didn't get the memo though, did he, this morning? So he was at the Ava ceremony, but he did not get the memo about Hawaiian shirts. He was there in his usual lounge. But he had, by the time of the SMI. Ah, too late. He was wearing a very jazzy black and white patterned Samoan shirt thing going on.

Do you think he sent an aide out to a shop to buy one? Get me a jazzy shirt! The kings of the bush jacket! I think he was looking around in that arva-ceremonie this morning and went, oh dear. He looked much more jazzy. Did not get the memo. He looked much more jazzy. Did not get the memo. He looked much more jazzy at the SMI, I can tell you.

Brilliant. Now, we know that lots of you out there have enjoyed our semi-permanent segment, Will's Week. Not much has been going on this week with Will's because when the King and Queen or other members of the royal family go on overseas tours, You've got to zip it. Other members of the royal family, they stay quiet.

So they go a little bit. Why? So as to not overshadow what's going on on an overseas tours. You've got to zip it. Other members of the Royal Family, they stay quiet, so they go a little bit. Why? So as to not overshadow what's going on on an overseas tour. Right. So they don't want to steal the limelight. They don't always get the memo, but most of the time. Anyway, so this week, we haven't heard as much from William

as we would normally. But the end of the week is gonna finish very strong for Will's week. Wow. Can't give too much away. Where can we read all about it in the Sunday Times? You'll be able to read all about it very strong for Will's week. Wow. Can't give too much away. Can we read all about it in the Sunday Times? You'll be able to read all about it in the Sunday Times this week. Can't wait.

And it's quite good. It is good. And linked to that, we've got a very, very special guest coming on next week's podcast. Oh, is that next week? Yes, yes, yes. So we're all sounding very cryptic listener. Oh yeah, so it's linked to the Sunday piece and then if you keep listening then you'll find out what we're talking about and then you can hear us talking about what we're talking about. But basically, World's Week is going to finish strong. Looking forward to it.

Next up, Cape Town. Well thank you so much for listening to our Samoan adventure. Yeah, thanks for coming with us on our trip, dear listeners. Down under Australia and Samoa. Thanks, Roya. It's been an adventure. Thanks, Kate. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. Céline Dion. My dream to be an international star. Could it happen again? Could Céline Dion happen again? I'm Thomas LeBlanc and Céline Understood is a four-part series from CBC podcasts and

CBC News, where I pieced together the surprising circumstances that helped manufacture Celine Dion, the pop icon. Celine Understood. Available wherever you get your podcasts. Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com