King Charles Won’t Be Following in Son Prince Harry’s Surfing Footsteps While in Australia: ‘If I Was a Younger Man’

Mar. 15, 2025

King Charles and Prince Harry attend the “Our Planet” global premiere the at the Natural History Museum on April 4, 2019 in London, England.Photo:John Phillips/Getty

John Phillips/Getty

King Charleshas made several quips about his age since arriving in Australia for a royal tour alongside wifeQueen Camilla.

The King, 75, joked on Sunday, Oct. 20 that it was “slightly worrying” to have realized it had been nearly 60 years since he first visited Down Under while delivering his first speech during this tour of Australia. Charles gave an hourglass speech timer as a gift to Parliament the same day — a token given, as he said while presenting the gift, “in the spirit of marking the passage of time.”

“With the sands of time encouraging brevity, it just remains for me to say what a great joy it is to come to Australia for the first time as sovereign, and to renew a love of this country and its people which I have cherished for so long,” he added.

President of the Legislative Council, Ben Franklin (right), watches as King Charles turns an hourglass he is presenting as a gift to mark the Bicentenary of the New South Wales Legislative Council, during an event marking the anniversary at New South Wales Parliament House, on Oct. 20, 2024 in Sydney, Australia.Aaron Chown/Pool via Getty

Aaron Chown/Pool via Getty

Time and his age seemed to be top of mind for Charles throughout the visit, which kicked off on Friday, Oct. 18 in Sydney. While greeting well-wishers on Sunday,Hello!reports that Joe Ackland of Melbourne asked the King “if he would be going to go surfing or swimming on Manly Beach,” Ackland said. The King’s response? “He said, ‘If I was a younger man,’ ” Ackland continued.

Van Bastolaer said that the surfing excursion happened at Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch, a man-made wave facility in Lemoore, California.

“In tahiti, we still call you Prince harry but at surfranch, it’s my Brother,. It was an honor to have you surf with me &@kellyslater@michaelanders_at@kswaveco,” Van Bastolaer wrote onInstagram, tagging photographer Todd Glaser and three other accounts.

When Prince Harry andMeghan Marklerelocated from the U.K. to her home state of California in 2020, it was reported that she bought him surf lessons as a birthday present when he turned 36.

In the past, Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, have met with groups that use surfing as a mechanism to promote positive mental health. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex saw the work ofWaves for Changein Cape Town, South Africa during their royal tour of the country in 2019, and learned visiting Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia during their royal tour there in 2018.

Queen Camilla, 77, has called her husband King Charles “probably the fittest man of his age I know,” but swimming and surfing wasn’t the only activity the King felt he could no longer participate in. Now in his mid-70s, the King also announced earlier this year that he had been diagnosed with cancer. As such, the King is traveling to Australia and later Samoawith two doctors, and reports emerged before he and Camilla departed for Oceania that he would“pause” his cancer treatmentswhile on their royal tour, which concludes on Saturday, Oct. 26.

Thankfully, further injury didn’t occur while at the Australian National Botanic Gardens after Charles tripped slightly down a path of uneven stairs at the garden’s Rainforest Gully.

The King was walking with the head of the gardens, Dr. Rebecca Pirzl, when the monarch missed a step leading down to a viewing platform, according to theDaily Express.

He had a sense of humor about the minor gaffe, saying, “That was not what I expected.”

The Rainforest Gully is one of the most popular attractions in Canberra, theDaily Expressreported, and it hosts a number of plants from the diverse rainforests of Australia’s east coast, from Tasmania to Queensland.

As he and Queen Camilla made their way up rocky steps in the Rainforest Gully, they did so “cautiously,” theDaily Expressnoted.

Since arriving late Friday night, the King and Queen took a rest day on Saturday, Oct. 19 before engagements in Sydney on Oct. 20, from attending a church service as St. Thomas’s Anglican Church to making remarks at the New South Wales Parliament House. On Monday, Oct. 21, the couple traveled to Canberra, where, in addition to visiting the Australian National Botanical Gardens, they also visited the Australian War Memorial and the National Bushfire Behaviour Research Laboratory.

King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive for a visit in Canberra at Defence Establishment Fairbairn, Canberra Airport on Oct. 21, 2024 in Canberra, Australia.Tracey Nearmy/Getty

Tracey Nearmy/Getty

On Tuesday, Oct. 22, the King and Queen will be back in Sydney and are expected to visit the Sydney Opera House and review the Royal Australian Navy fleet while there. The King is also expected to visit with two cancer researchers to learn about their award-winning work treating melanoma before departing for Samoa on Wednesday, Oct. 23 and the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (CHOGM) there. The King is head of the Commonwealth association of 56 nations, and CHOGM is held every two years.

In all, the King and Queen are expected to pack 36 engagements into eight days, with the palace saying that theengagements in both countries“will focus on themes designed to celebrate the best of Australia and Samoa, as well as reflecting aspects of the King and Queen’s work.”

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King Charles and Queen Camilla depart following a service at St. Thomas’s Anglican Church on Oct. 20, 2024 in Sydney, Australia.Dean Lewins - Pool/Getty

Dean Lewins - Pool/Getty

“It’s fantastic to be here,” the King said, perThe Sun. “I am so pleased to be back.”

source: people.com