Prince William and Princess Catherine could be set to make a historic royal tour announcement to Australia after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese invited the Waleses and their three children Down Under.
Mr Albanese extended the standing invitation to William and Catherine during a 90-minute meeting with the monarch at Balmoral Castle on Saturday.
The Prime Minister and his fiancée Jodie Haydon travelled from London to Scotland to visit the King on the second day of their three-day UK trip.
Shortly afterwards, the Prime Minister expressed hope the Prince and Princess of Wales, along with Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, would visit Australia for the first time in more than 10 years.
“I’m certainly hoping there will be one, there’s a standing invitation that the royal family are always welcome in Australia,” Mr Alanese told News Corp outside Crathie Kirk church in Scotland.
“It was wonderful to welcome King Charles and Queen Camilla to Australia recently, that had a very successful visit and His Majesty is very engaged and I hope that the Prince and Princess of Wales are able to visit as well and we are hopeful that might occur in the coming period”.
Excitement about the royals heading Down Under has already reached fever pitch on social media, with Aussies preparing for the historic visit.
“Would love to see this as a family trip down under in Australia!” one person wrote on X.
“That would be lovely for the children!” another person said.
“Another Royal Tour to Australia with William and Catherine and their three children would be amazing,” a third person said.
William and Catherine, then the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, last visited Australia in April 2014 for a ten-day tour with baby George.
The family’s whirlwind itinerary included engagements in the cities of Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide, as well as a trip to Uluru.
Charlotte and Louis have never visited Australia.
Speaking after Mr Albanese’s announcement, Channel Seven’s Sunrise Royal Editor Robert Jobson said the Wales family tour could occur in June or July 2026, aligning with the summer school holidays in the UK.
“The period, I think, is probably going to be the summer of the UK when the kids are not in school,” Mr Jobson told the program on Monday.
“I can’t see William and Kate going down to Australia and leaving the kids.
“Kate hasn’t really done a foreign trip of any significance since 2022, so this is a major trip for her.”
For the Princess, the impending trip would be her first major expedition overseas since she and William visited the Caribbean regions of Belize, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, as well as Denmark, in 2022.
William and Catherine were set to visit Australia to meet with affected areas, responders, and survivors of the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires, but the tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their latest invitation from the Prime Minister follows Charles and Queen Camilla’s arrival in Australia for a five-day tour in October 2024.
The trip saw thousands of Australians come out in force to catch a glimpse of the King and Queen in both Canberra and Sydney.
Their visit to the Australian War Memorial and the Sydney Opera House were scenes which will remain in the Australian zeitgeist for decades.
On the weekend, Mr Albanese also dismissed plans for a referendum on an Australian republic after his meeting with Charles.
“I think I’ve made it clear that I wanted to hold one referendum while I was Prime Minister, and we did that,” he told the ABC, referencing the 2023 Voice referendum.
The Prime Minister presented King Charles with a framed photograph of the royal couple’s October 2024 visit to Australia.
The Balmoral visit followed an earlier engagement with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, during which Mr Albanese brought Mr Starmer a four-pack of beer with his own face on it—Albo’s Pale Ale.