King Charles had an unexpected encounter with an alpaca while on a royal walkabout in Canberra during his tour of Australia.
Among the crowd of more than 1,000 well-wishers at the Australian War Memorial on Monday, Oct. 21, Hephner, a 9-year-old alpaca, stood out with his regal attire: a suit, bow tie and a gold crown perched atop his fluffy white head.
Hephner, named in honor of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, waited patiently for hours alongside his owner, Robert Fletcher, to meet the royal couple during their one-day tour of the Australian capital. “One king meets another king,” Fletcher told reporters.
As King Charles and Queen Camilla embarked on a 30-minute walk to greet the crowd, Charles stopped to pat the alpaca. Just as Charles went to pat his head, Hephner sneezed on him, catching the King—and the surrounding crowd—off guard. Charles pulled back, laughing at the unexpected turn of events.
“At least he didn’t spit,” Fletcher quipped.
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Fletcher, who hails from Goulburn, New South Wales, uses Hephner as a support animal for charities and nursing homes, making the alpaca well-known throughout the Canberra region for his charitable work.
Hephner was given permission to stand on the grounds of the Australian War Memorial for a rare chance at a royal greeting.
Canberra, known for its republican leanings, showed a strong turnout for the royal visit, despite recently extending the term of the Labor-Greens government.
Later in the day, Charles faced another unexpected moment when he was heckled by an Australian lawmaker during a visit to Parliament.
Charles had just taken his seat after delivering a speech to the Australian Parliament in Canberra when a senator’s voice rang out from the back of the chamber. Lidia Thorpe, an Aboriginal Australian politician, first accused the monarchy of “genocide,” before demanding, “Give us what you stole from us: our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people,” videos from the event shared by U.K. newspaper The Telegraph showed.
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“You destroyed our land, give us a treaty — we want a treaty, we want a treaty with this country,” she continued.
As she was being escorted out, she kept calling out, “This is not your land, This is not your land. You are not my King, you are not our King.”
Charles was reportedly unfazed by the protest and Buckingham Palace spokespeople had no comment on the protest.
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Also on Monday, Camilla joined a discussion on on family and domestic violence in Australia, one of her key initiatives back home in the U.K. The royal couple also took part in a tree planting ceremony.
