His Majesty in Mischief Mode: King Charles' Samoa Touchdown Follows Monarch Tossing 'Cheeky' Quip to Rugby Star
King Charles III and Queen Camilla are now on the second leg of their autumn tour with a three-day visit to Samoa where His Majesty will preside over a Commonwealth meeting.
However, before leg two kicked off, the merry monarch got a "gut-busting" laugh when speaking to ex-rugby player Mark Geyer at a Sydney, Australia, barbecue.
His Majesty reportedly asked Geyer what led to his retirement from the physically taxing sport. The rugby star replied the issue was related to his groin.
"I know how you feel!" the King quipped to uproarious laughter from both.
Charles III had a procedure to reduce an enlarged prostate in January. Shortly after the successful procedure, his cancer diagnosis was announced, although staff ruled out prostate cancer while refusing to say where the disease was.
The sovereign is expected to undertake Samoan engagements largely related to climate change before the annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on Friday, October 26.
The monarch's Australia tour was a mixture of good times and a couple of "intense" moments from Aussie anti-royalists, despite recent polls finding Australians largely in support of keeping their monarch from across the world as their leader.
Indigenous Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe, an Independent, "aggressively" shouted down the monarch within Australia's Parliament chamber on Monday, October 21. His Majesty had just finished addressing his Aussie Parliament for the first time as monarch when, from the back of the room, Thorpe shouted, "You are not my King. Give us our land back, give us what you stole!"
The King, who is Australia's head of state and monarch, had just finished saying, "Throughout my life, Australia’s First Nations people have done me the great honor of sharing so generously their stories and cultures. I can only say how much my own experience has been shaped and strengthened by such traditional wisdom."
His Majesty was also greeted by an alpaca dressed to the royal nines, but the four-legged royal fan decided to greet its King by sneezing all over him!
The 9-year-old alpaca named Hephner stole the show with his dapper look, sporting a suit, bow tie and a gold crown adorning his fluffy white fur.
Hephner, whose name playfully nods to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, patiently stood beside his owner, Robert Fletcher, for hours, eagerly awaiting a chance to greet the royal couple during their brief visit to Australia’s capital, Canberra.
"It's a meeting of kings," Fletcher told an outlet.
So apart from some of this pushback, "thousands upon thousands" of Australians were reported to have come out to catch a glimpse of their King and Queen in person for the first time in those roles.
Independent reported on Geyer's remarks.