Anthony Albanese has met King Charles at Balmoral Castle, attending a private audience with the monarch at the historic estate in Scotland.
On the second full day of his visit to the UK, and before visiting Liverpool for the Labour party’s annual conference, the Australian prime minister flew from London to the Scottish Highlands to meet the monarch.
Albanese and his partner, Jodie Haydon, presented the king with a framed photo of his visit to Australia with Queen Camilla in October 2024.
The royals are pictured signing the visitor’s book at Parliament House in Canberra. The frame is made from genuine Australian timber.
Albanese had previously met the king in London when he attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. Albanese also visited for the king’s coronation in May 2023.
On Friday, after meetings with the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the opposition Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, Albanese said he was preparing to meet the king.
“It will be quite a privilege to go up to Balmoral tomorrow, I’m looking forward to it,” he said at Stoke Lodge, the official residence of the Australian high commissioner in London.
“Protocol means that we’re not supposed to talk about these meetings before they happen, and our high commissioner here will ensure that that occurs by halting the press conference if I talk about those details.”
A longtime supporter of an Australian republic, Albanese would not be drawn on when Australians could consider cutting ties with the monarchy. “That’s a matter for the Australian people, but I respect his majesty,” he said.
In Australia, the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, criticised Albanese’s 11-day visit to the US and UK, suggesting the prime minister was “swanning around” at taxpayers’ expense.
He attended a progressive political conference in London on Friday, before a visit to No 10 and meetings with the leaders of Canada and Spain. He also met the former Labour prime minister Tony Blair.
On Sunday (UK local time) he will become the first Australian prime minister to address the UK Labour party conference.
“Albanese is in the UK as the Australian prime minister, not the leader of the Australian Labor party,” Ley said. “He shouldn’t be swanning around on the taxpayer dollar at Labour political conferences hanging out with his leftwing mates.
“What does it say to the people of the UK that the Australian prime minister is deliberately participating in domestic political events? That is not diplomacy, it is partisanship.”
Ley said Albanese should explain the cost of the trip, given it included political activities.