A royal visit is on the cards as part of a program of events to mark the 200th birthday of the NSW Parliament.
The “much-anticipated” tour in 2024 will be the highlight of bicentenary celebrations for Australia’s first legislative body, the NSW Legislative Council, which is now also known as the upper house.
A statement issued by the NSW Parliament did not say which royals will be visiting but there has been previous speculation that King Charles will travel to Australia early in his reign.
“It was during the first royal tour to Australia in 1954 that Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II paid a visit to the NSW Parliament and christened it Australia’s ‘Mother Parliament’,” the statement issued on Tuesday said.
Other likely royals being considered to represent the Crown are the Queen and Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales.
The Prince and Princess of Wales had been due to visit Australia in 2020, but their tour was cancelled as the pandemic hit.
If a royal visit was confirmed, it would be the first since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited in late 2018, months after their Windsor Castle wedding.
However, Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace are yet to comment on the possible visit.
The NSW Legislative Council was established in 1823 and held its first meeting in 1824.
“In celebrating the bicentenary of the Legislative Council, we celebrate its role in our parliamentary democracy,” NSW Governor Margaret Beazley said.
Legislative Council president Matthew Mason-Cox said the establishment of the parliament was “Australia’s magical Magna Carta moment, the first restraint on the autocratic power of the early governors that has evolved into parliament as we know it today”.
A program of events will be held leading up to the 200th anniversary of the council’s first meeting in 2024.
-with AAP
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