King set to face protests at summit after being heckled

Charles confronted by Aboriginal Australian senator on visit

- STUTI MISHRA

King Charles faces more protests at the Commonwealth summit this week after being heckled by an Aboriginal Australian senator.

Lidia Thorpe, a critic of the monarchy and campaigner for Indigenous people’s rights, accused the King of committing “genocide against our people”. Before being escorted by security, the independent politician also demanded the monarch “give us our land back ... Give us what you stole from us – our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people.”

The confrontation came as the King prepared to visit Samoa this week for the Commonwealth heads of government meeting, where leaders of some of the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis were expected to call on the UK and other wealthy nations to pay billions in reparations for their historical contributions to the crisis.

Bahamian prime minister Philip Davis said the climate crisis was “truly existential” for many island nations and that the Commonwealth provided the ideal forum to seek justice. “If we cannot find ways to make our countries more resilient to these shocks, we will not survive,” he told The Observer.