King Charles and Queen Camilla have signed Australia’s first Bible during a Sunday service at St Thomas’ Anglican Church and have also begun their tour. The trip is the first official overseas trip the King has taken since his cancer diagnosis in February 2024

The service was officiated by the Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Reverend Kanishka Raffel. Afterwards, the royal couple signed a Bible which the King previously signed in 1983 with Princess Diana. 

The historic Bible originally belonged to Rev Richard Johnson, the very first Christian minister in Australia. It has been signed by every monarch to visit the country including Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip.

Before the church service, the King presented the New South Wales state parliament with an hourglass, commemorating 200 years of its upper house.

He told guests it was a “great joy” to visit Australia for the first time since becoming King, and that he wanted to “renew a love of this country and its people which I have cherished for so long”.

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