King Charles III's Commonwealth visit to Samoa will highlight climate change ... and dance

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III should be prepared to dance when he visits Samoa this week.

Freddie Tuilagi made sure of that when he visited St. James' Palace recently wearing nothing but a bark cloth wrap and a necklace historically worn by orator chiefs. Charles, in a blue suit and carefully knotted tie, grinned while gamely trying to follow along as Samoa’s honorary consul to the U.K. moved through the steps of a traditional dance.

“He loves it. He said he wants to learn the dance,” Tuilagi said afterward, showing off his moves once again.

Tuilagi, who moved to Britain to play professional rugby, said the 75-year-old king can expect more of the same when he arrives in the South Pacific island nation on Wednesday. Villagers throughout the country of 220,000 people have taken steps to decorate and show how much they appreciate Charles’ visit, he said.

Charles, the symbolic head of the Commonwealth, is traveling to Samoa for a meeting of top government officials from each of the 56 independent nations that make up the organization. At the top of the agenda is the fight against climate change, an issue Charles has championed for decades.

The king can count on Samoans to be receptive. Its islands are at the forefront of the climate emergency, facing increasing threats from rising sea levels, warming ocean temperatures and more intense storms.

The royal visit is attracting global media attention. Many Samoans hope that images of the king and Queen Camilla strolling on the islands’ breathtaking beaches will help attract European tourists and boost the economy.

“It’s an opportunity to showcase our culture, showcase our heritage and how ... proud (of) that we are as a country,’’ Tuilagi told The Associated Press. "To host the king and the leaders of the Pacific, you know, the Commonwealth coming to Samoa is something special for us.’’

Tuilagi said he hopes his demonstration of Samoan dance and song will help the king when he arrives. He particularly hoped that he would make an impression since he wore national dress, which includes leaving the shirt at home.

Think joy. That's Tuilagi's point.

“It’s not every day the king will see a chief from Samoa topless ... at the palace,’’ he said, chuckling.

People from the village of Siumu, Samoa, work on decorating the entrance of their village on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as they prepare for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

People from the village of Siumu, Samoa, work on decorating the entrance of their village on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as they prepare for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

People from the village of Siumu, Samoa, work on decorating the entrance of their village on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as they prepare for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

A car drives on a road decorated with flags and a portrait in the village of Siumu, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as the village prepares for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

A car turns off a road decorated with flags and a portrait in the village of Siumu, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as the village prepares for the arrival of King Charles III. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

People gather together at a meeting place near a portrait of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in the village of Siumu, Samoa, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, as the village prepares for the arrival of the royals. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

FILE - Britain's King Charles III, second from left, and Queen Camilla, third from left, smile as former Samoan rugby player Freddie Tuilagi dances during a reception to celebrate the Commonwealth Diaspora of the United Kingdom, ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa, at St. James's Palace, London, on Oct. 2, 2024. (Adrian Dennis, Pool Photo via AP, File)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — King Charles III ends the first visit to Australia by a reigning British monarch in 13 years Tuesday with anti-monarchists hoping his journey is a step toward an Australian citizen becoming head of state.

Controversy interrupted the visit on Monday when Indigenous independent senator Lidia Thorpe yelled at Charles during a reception that he was not her king and Australia was not his land.

Esther Anatolitis, co-chair of the Australian Republic Movement, that campaigns for an Australian citizen to replace the British monarch as Australia’s head of state, said while thousands turned out to see the king and Queen Camilla at their public engagements, the numbers were larger when his mother Queen Elizabeth II first visited Australia 70 years ago.

An estimated 75% of Australia’s population saw the queen in person during the first visit by a reigning British monarch in 1954.

“It’s understandable that Australians would be welcoming the king and queen, we also welcome them,” Anatolitis said. “But it doesn’t make any sense to continue to have a head of state appointed by birth right from another country.”

Anatolitis acknowledged that getting a majority of Australians in a majority of states to vote to change the constitution would be difficult. Australians haven’t changed their constitution since 1977.

“It’s tricky, isn’t it? We’ve got that hurdle, of course,” Anatolitis said.

Constitutional lawyer Anne Twomey said an Australian republic was not something that Charles, 75, need worry about in his lifetime.

She said the failure of a referendum last year to create an “utterly innocuous” Indigenous representative body to advise government demonstrated the difficulty in changing Australia’s constitution.

“It’s just that on the whole people aren’t prepared to change the constitution,” Twomey said.

“So a republic, which would be a much more complex constitutional question than the one last year, would be far more vulnerable to a scare campaign and to opposition,” she said.

“So unless you had absolutely unanimous support across the board and a strong reason for doing it, it would fail,” she added.

Philip Benwell, national chair of the Australian Monarchist League, which wants to maintain Australia’s constitutional link to Britain, said he was standing near Thorpe at the Canberra reception when she started yelling at the king and demanding a treaty with Indigenous Australians.

“I think she alienated a lot of sympathy. If anything, she’s helped to strengthen our support,” Benwell said.

Thorpe has been criticized, including by some Indigenous leaders, for shouting at the king and failing to show respect.

Thorpe was unrepentant. She rejected criticism that her aggressive approach toward the monarch was violent.

“I think what was unacceptable is the violence in that room, of the King of England praising himself, dripping in stolen wealth, that’s what’s violent,” Thorpe told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “The violence is from the colonizer being in that room asserting his authority, being paid for by every taxpayer in this country.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wants Australia to become a republic but has ruled out a referendum during his first three-year term. But a referendum remains a possibility if his center-left Labor Party wins elections due by May next year.

Australians decided in a referendum in 1999 to retain Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. That result is widely regarded to have been the consequence of disagreement about how a president would be chosen rather than majority support for a monarch.

Sydney University royal historian Cindy McCreery suspects Australia is not yet ready to make the change.

“There's interest in becoming a republic, but I think what we may forget is that logistically speaking we're not going to have a referendum on that issue any time soon," McCreery said.

“I, as a historian, think that it's probably not realistic to expect a successful referendum on a republic until we've done more work on acknowledging our ... complicated history,” she said.

“Becoming a republic doesn't mean that we've somehow thrown off British colonialism. It hopefully has meant that we're engaging with our own history in an honest and thoughtful way,” she added.

Charles's trip to Australia was scaled down because he is undergoing cancer treatment. He arrives in Samoa on Wednesday.

Britain's King Charles III receives a hug during a visit to the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence on Tuesday Oct. 22, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Lisa Maree Williams/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's King Charles III, center, is assisted by New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, left, while Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese walks behind during his visit at the Homes NSW Cowper Street development in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, Pool)

Britain's King Charles III wears a protective hat as he visits the Homes NSW Cowper Street development in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, Pool)

Members of the public wait for Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla to arrive to attend the Premier's Community BBQ on Tuesday Oct. 22, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Brook Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP)

Members of the public wait for Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla to arrive to attend the Premier's Community BBQ on Tuesday Oct. 22, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Brook Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP)

Members of the public wait for Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla to arrive to attend the Premier's Community BBQ on Tuesday Oct. 22, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Brook Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP)

Members of the public wait for Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla to arrive to attend the Premier's Community BBQ on Tuesday Oct. 22, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Brook Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's King Charles III, left, and Queen Camilla arrives to attend the Premier's Community BBQ on Tuesday Oct. 22, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Brook Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's King Charles III watches a performance by the Mui Mui Bumer Gedlam group during a visit to the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence on Tuesday Oct. 22, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Lisa Maree Williams/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's King Charles III, right, visits the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence on Tuesday Oct. 22, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Lisa Maree Williams/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's King Charles III, right, watches a performance by the Brogla Dance Academy group during a visit to the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence on Tuesday Oct. 22, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Lisa Maree Williams/Pool Photo via AP)

King Charles III, center, participates in a traditional smoking ceremony conducted by community representatives from the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation during a visit to the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence on Tuesday Oct. 22, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Lisa Maree Williams/Pool Photo via AP)