King Charles and Queen Camilla have signed a historic bible on their trip to Australia, over four decades after the monarch signed the same book with Princess Diana.
The King is on his first foreign trip since his cancer diagnosis and took a day of rest before beginning his tour on Sunday.
Attending a church in a north Sydney suburb, the King signed a bible brought over with the First Fleet.
However, it wasn’t the first time the King had done so and his signature was visible, alongside Princess Diana’s, from a trip the couple took in 1983.
Other royals, seemingly including Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, and Prince William and the Princess of Wales, had also signed the page.
Image: King Charles III turns the hourglass he gifted the parliament. Pic: PA
Also on the first day, the King joked about the “sands of time” as he expressed his joy at being back in Australia talking to politicians.
The monarch presented an hourglass – a “speech timer”, he called it – to the parliament of New South Wales to mark the 200th anniversary of its upper house.
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“With the sands of time encouraging brevity,” the King quipped, “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.”
It seems he could not resist setting the hourglass’s fine sand in motion as he gifted the time piece to the parliament.
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Image: The King called it a “speech timer”. Pic: PA
“Democratic systems must evolve, of course, to remain fit for purpose, but they are, nevertheless, essentially sound systems, as I said in this building 50 years ago,” he said.
“When underpinned by wisdom and good faith, democracy has, I believe, an extraordinary capacity for innovation, compromise and adaptability, as well as stability.”
Image: A young girl wearing a toy crown among those hoping to catch a glimpse of the King. Pic: PA
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Before the service at St Thomas’ Anglican Church, its Rector Michael Mantle made those gathered laugh when he told them: “Jesus said you will not know the day nor the hour when the King will come.”
When the couple first arrived they met some children at the church door as a group of protesters could be heard shouting “not my king” but were drowned out by shouts of “hip hip hooray”.
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What do Australians think of King Charles?
The Rector’s wife Ellie Mantle brought a rugby ball, cricket ball and stuffed koala, gifts for the royal grandchildren Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
“It’s a great honour for us as it’s the first opportunity for the public to see the King and Queen,” she said.
Image: King Charles looks at a packet of Tunnock’s Teacakes. Pic: PA
Afterwards, the King and Queen spent time shaking hands with well-wishers outside and the monarch even spotted an old friend among the faces – his former polo teacher Sinclair Hill, described as Australia’s greatest player of the sport.
He was joined by his wife Wendy Hill who was kissed on both cheeks by Charles and said afterwards: “He is a lovely man and the fact that he has not been well and still came… The effort he puts in to talk to all these people. I thought he looked terrific.”
Around 100m away a small group of people, all supporters of First Nations resistance to colonisation, held up a large banner with the word “decolonise”.
Wayne Wharton said: “We are asking King Charles respectfully to begin the process of decolonisation, to join with the Australian government and negotiate with the Aboriginal people for reparations for the illegal settlement and colonisation of so-called Australia.”
King’s first foreign trip since cancer diagnosis
The King is, we know, having to pace himself on this tour.
After a day of rest on doctors’ orders, he started his Sunday in Sydney at church, joining the congregation at St Thomas’ in the city’s north.
There was a slight moment, when the King and Queen were asked to sign a historic bible, brought over with the First Fleet. On the same page, just a bit higher up, were the signatures of Charles and Diana from their trip in 1983.
Today was the first chance for Australians to meet their monarch and outside the church crowds had gathered early.
They seemed pleased to see him, one woman commenting how he’d made the effort despite being ill.
Across the road a smaller crowd of protestors shouted, “not my king”. They’re part of an indigenous rights campaign.
As for the Australian Republic Movement, we found them not protesting, but having beers in a bar. Same message, just a different approach.
The King’s address to politicians and dignitaries at the Parliament of New South Wales was well-received.
But at times today he looked tired. This is his first major foreign trip since his cancer diagnosis.
And Sunday was his first public outing. But with just three brief engagements it certainly set a slower pace to this quick visit.
A short speech, a gentle start, and then an afternoon off.
A large-scale Russian attack through the night into Sunday injured at least 11 in Kyiv and killed three people in towns surrounding the capital.
There were attacks elsewhere as well, including drone strikes in Mykolaiv, where a residential building was hit.
Image: An apartment building destroyed after a Russian attack in Mykolaiv. Pic: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
‘Massive’ attack
In Kyiv, the city’s administration warned “the night will be difficult”, as people were urged to remain in shelters.
The city’s mayor Vitaliy Klitschko described it as a “massive” attack.
He said: “Explosions in the city. Air defence forces are working. The capital is under attack by enemy UAVs. Do not neglect your safety! Stay in shelters!”
It came after at least 15 people were injured in attacks the night prior.
Russia claimed it also faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday, and that it intercepted and destroyed around 100 of them near Moscow and across Russia’s central and southern regions.
Image: A municipality worker cleans up after a Russian drone strike on Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Russia ‘dragging out the war’
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine continued a prisoner exchange, marking a rare moment of cooperation in the war.
Amid the most recent attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated his calls for sanctions on Russia.
Russia “fills each day with horror and murder” and is “simply dragging out the war”, he said.
Image: A resident looks at an apartment building that was damaged in a Russian drone strike. Pic: Reuters
“All of this demands a response – a strong response from the United States, from Europe, and from everyone in the world who wants this war to end,” Mr Zelenskyy added.
Every day “gives new grounds for sanctions against Russia”, he said, and each day without pressure proves the “war will continue”.
Ukraine, meanwhile, is ready for “any form of diplomacy that delivers real results”.
Nine of a doctor’s 10 children have been killed in an Israeli missile strike on their home in Gaza, which also left her surviving son badly injured and her husband in a critical condition.
Warning: This article contains details of child deaths
Alaa Al Najjar, a paediatrician at Al Tahrir Clinic in the Nasser Medical Complex, was at work during the attack on her home, south of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, on Friday.
Graphic footage shared by the Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence shows the bodies of at least seven small children being pulled from the rubble.
Rescuers can be seen battling fires and searching through a collapsed building, shouting out when they locate a body, before bringing the children out one by one and wrapping their remains in body bags.
In the footage, Dr Al Najjar’s husband, Hamdi Al Najjar, who is also a doctor, is put on to a stretcher and then carried to an ambulance.
The oldest of their children was only 12 years old, according to Dr Muneer Alboursh, the director general of Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas.
Image: Nine children were killed in the strike. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” he wrote in a social media post.
“In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted – Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”
Image: Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
British doctors describe ‘horrific’ and ‘unimaginable’ attack
Two British doctors working at Nasser Hospital described the attack as “horrific” and “unimaginable” for Dr Al Najjar.
Speaking in a video diary on Friday night, Dr Graeme Groom said his last patient of the day was Dr Al Najjar’s 11-year-old son, who was badly injured and “seemed much younger as we lifted him on to the operating table”.
Image: Hamdi Al Najjar, Dr Al Najjar’s husband who is also a doctor, was taken to hospital. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
The strike “may or may not have been aimed at his father”, Dr Groom said, adding that the man had been left “very badly injured”.
Dr Victoria Rose said the family “lived opposite a petrol station, so I don’t know whether the bomb set off some massive fire”.
Image: Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
‘No political or military connections’
Dr Groom added: “It is unimaginable for that poor woman, both of them are doctors here.
“The father was a physician at Nasser Hospital. He had no political and no military connections. He doesn’t seem to be prominent on social media, and yet his poor wife is the only uninjured one, who has the prospect of losing her husband.”
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Nineteen of Gaza’s hospitals remain operational, all of them are overwhelmed with the number of patients and a lack of supplies
He said it was “a particularly sad day”, while Dr Rose added: “That is life in Gaza. That is the way it goes in Gaza.”
Sky News has approached the Israeli Defence Forces for comment.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began when the militant group stormed across the border into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251 others.
Israel’s military response has flattened large areas of Gaza and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
The head of the UN has said Israel has only authorised for Gaza what amounts to a “teaspoon” of aid after at least 60 people died in overnight airstrikes.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said on Friday the supplies approved so far “amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” adding “the needs are massive and the obstacles are staggering”.
He warned that more people will die unless there is “rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access”.
Image: A woman at the site of an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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Gaza: ‘Loads of children with huge burns’
Israel says around 300 aid trucks have been allowed through since it lifted an 11-week blockade on Monday, but according to Mr Guterres, only about a third have been transported to warehouses within Gaza due to insecurity.
The IDF said 107 vehicles carrying flour, food, medical equipment and drugs were allowed through on Thursday.
Many of Gaza’s two million residents are at high risk of famine, experts have warned.
Meanwhile, at least 60 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight.
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Ten people died in the southern city of Khan Younis, and deaths were also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.
Image: A body is carried out of rubble after an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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‘Almost everyone depends on aid’ in Gaza
The latest strikes came a day after two Israeli embassy workers were killed in Washington.
The suspect, named as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois, told police he “did it for Gaza”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney of fuelling antisemitism following the shootings.
Mr Netanyahu also accused Sir Keir, Mr Macron and Mr Carney of siding with “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers”.
Image: Palestinians search for casualties in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
But UK government minister Luke Pollard told Sky News on Friday morning he “doesn’t recognise” Mr Netanyahu’s accusation.
Earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu said he was recalling negotiators from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 others.
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The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.