On morning television, Julie Bishop’s narrative about King Charles being “funny” was received with uncomfortable silence; nonetheless, the interviewers ultimately saw the humour.
Ms. Bishop was sharing her experiences with Today Show presenters Karl Stefanovic and Ally Langdon based on her interactions with King Charles while serving as both his Australian chair and a former foreign minister.
The next British monarch, according to Ms. Bishop, “has a self-deprecating sense of humour and is quite hilarious.”
Ms. Bishop followed that with a story to support her assertion.
‘An instance is the Port Vila Hospital visit we made when in Vanuatu in 2018.
I was carrying a little child who extended his hand to Prince Charles, who was holding a cup of tea at the moment, and Prince Charles scooped up a bit of tea as if he were going to give it to the young child, Ms. Bishop said, imitating the King with the tea spoon.
I asked Prince Charles, “What are you doing?” as I turned to face him.
Come now Julia, a silver spoon never harmed anybody, he remarked.
Ms. Bishop then turned her attention back to her interviewers while grinning eagerly.
When the camera returned to Stefanovic and Langdon, they both had a frozen expression as though they were uncertain of how to respond.
After a few uncomfortable seconds of stillness, Stefanovic started laughing out loud.
He told Langdon, “See, I told you she’d have amazing things.”
Maybe you have to be present.
While Vanuatu was recovering from a storm, Ms. Bishop, who was at the time Australia’s foreign minister, spent four hours there with King Charles.
He also bought a gift for Queen Consort Camilla, and Ms. Bishop disclosed that she was needed as a shopping consultant.
We chose a hat and a woven basket, and then we scrambled to locate some local money to pay for them, which he eventually accomplished, according to Ms. Bishop.
“I’m sure they are at one of the royal palaces,” you say.
Ms. Bishop said that via her work with Charles’ charitable organisation, The Prince’s Trust, she had gotten to know him well.
He is tremendously well-informed, quite brilliant, and asks a lot of questions, according to Ms. Bishop.
She also mentioned the King’s “keen and profound passion in all things Australian,” which was shown by his time spent attending school in Geelong and his 16 trips to Australia.
She recalled how the King had been in touch with her in order to discover a community that the organisation might assist during the horrific Australian bushfires of 2019.
They finally settled in Stokes Bay, a settlement on Kangaroo Island, which is located near South Australia.
According to Ms. Bishop, the Trust, which the then-Prince of Wales founded with his £7,400 ($8,600) severance payment from the Royal Navy in 1976, has aided in the establishment of 100 veteran-owned businesses.
The organisation, which now has operations in Canada and New Zealand, aids youth and individuals working to build a sustainable future.
King Charles would be “a brilliant and refreshingly contemporary ruler,” Ms. Bishop said on Monday night’s 7.30 ABC programme.
Ms. Bishop thought King Charles had previously attended to an audience with Australia’s acting high commissioner in London.
That shows how important Australia is to him, she added.
Ms. Bishop once again praised King Charles, claiming to have had “a lot of personal time” with him while serving as head of the Prince’s Trust.
After all, he has been preparing for it for many, many years, so I think he has a very thorough grasp of the part he must play, Ms. Bishop said.
“He has a great feeling of responsibility and devotion, having personally experienced his mother’s rule.”
King Charles, who is renowned for his environmental advocacy as the Prince of Wales, will continue to be “passionate” about such problems, according to Ms. Bishop, but he will follow Queen Elizabeth’s lead by remaining politically silent.
He has previously said that he is aware of the distinction between being the Prince of Wales and the king, according to Ms. Bishop.
He has already shown a strong sense of constitutional obligation, and in my opinion, he will remain above the political fight.
That doesn’t mean he won’t stay enthusiastic about these issues; in fact, I anticipate he will keep working on them via the Prince’s Trust, of which he will continue to serve as president.
“I am certain that he fully knows his tasks and obligations.”
Ms. Bishop was certain that Australia would not become a republic right away after the death of Queen Elizabeth.
This term of the Labor administration won’t see a republican referendum, Ms. Bishop said.
The Prime Minister Albanese understands he needs an electoral mandate to bring up such a matter, thus it is evident.