King Charles is faced with another major headache ahead of his royal tour Down Under and this time it involves a piece of cake.
The monarch will head to Australia in two days, alongside Queen Camilla, but he is bracing for a major snub as no state premiers are expected to attend his welcome ceremony in Canberra on October 21.
But now he’s embroiled in a fresh row over the nation’s favourite cake – a Lamington – after he reportedly refused to try it.
All six of the country’s state premiers – Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia and Southern Australia – cited other engagements and said they could not attend the King’s welcome ceremony.
But one of them took another swipe at the King and accused him of turning down a Lamington, according to the Sun.
Queensland premier Steven Miles claimed that he and Charles visited a children’s hospital in 2018 and that’s when the now-monarch declined the chocolate and coconut sponge cake.
He told the outlet: “I’ve got a bit to do here in Queensland so I won’t be able to make the party with the King.
“But I did host him last time he was here in Queensland so I’m sure he won’t take it personally.
“I took him to the children’s hospital and we had a really great day there.
“The highlight was the children had made Lamingtons and he looked at me and I said ‘we’ve got to eat it’.
“And he said ‘I will not’, so I ate the Lamington. He declined the Lamington but I ate it for him.”
The latest snub against the British Royal Family has been criticised by the pro-royal Australian Monarchists League, whose spokesperson, Bev McArthur, called it a “slap in the face” for Charles.
She told the Herald Sun: “All premiers and ministers have sworn allegiance to our monarch, Charles III, and it is a monumental insult that they now spit in his hand extended in friendship.
“This is a historic opportunity to unite Australia, to focus on charitable work and to give back to communities. Yet our immature politicians are clearly choosing to play politics.”
