Statement from National Museum of Australia Director Dr Mathew Trinca
6 May 2023
The Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III is an important moment in the history of Australia’s continuing relationship with the monarch as our Head of State. The ceremony, which has ancient origins, is both a celebratory and religious occasion which confirms the King in his constitutional role.
This is the first coronation of a British monarch for 70 years, the first since the young Queen Elizabeth II was crowned following the death of her father, King George VI. The following year, 1954, the Queen visited Australia – the first reigning monarch to do so. Over many years following that first historic visit, the late Queen returned to Australia, and in 2000 toured the National Museum of Australia during its construction.
Later, in 2015, the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, visited the Museum in the lead-up to the groundbreaking exhibition Encounters: Revealing Stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Objects from the British Museum.
His Royal Highness Prince Charles signs the National Museum's visitor book, 2015
Prince Charles was the patron of the exhibition in Canberra, and the corresponding exhibition at the British Museum, Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation. Both exhibitions featured First Nations objects from the collections of the British Museum and the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the majority of which had never been seen in Australia since the time of their collection many years ago.
During Prince Charles's visit, he met with representatives of many of the First Nations communities in Australia which were partners in the exhibitions in London and Canberra that year. In particular, Prince Charles was keenly interested in the works of art and other artefacts made by members of those communities for inclusion in the exhibitions. Later, the Prince’s Trust Australia supported the National Museum in establishing its Encounters Fellowships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural workers in regional and remote communities.
Information about His Majesty The King, the coronation and events in Australia
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