King gives hourglass to New South Wales Legislative Council to mark bicentenary

The King joked about the passing “sands of time” after presenting an hourglass he dubbed a “speech timer” to an Australian assembly.

Charles could not resist setting the sand in motion after gifting the time piece to the parliament of New South Wales (NSW), celebrating the 200th anniversary of its upper house.

The presentation came after the King and Queen went on a meet-and-greet with members of the public as they began the first full day of their Australian tour by attending a church service in a north Sydney suburb.

The King, who attended commemorations marking the 150th anniversary of the Legislative Council in 1974, said in a speech to guests: “Democratic systems must evolve, of course, to remain fit for purpose, but they are, nevertheless, essentially sound systems, as I said in this building 50 years ago.

“When underpinned by wisdom and good faith, democracy has, I believe, an extraordinary capacity for innovation, compromise and adaptability, as well as stability.

“Moreover, strong parliamentary systems, like the one we celebrate on this special occasion, are fundamental to the democracies that serve today’s diverse societies; and are even more vital, given the ever-changing natural, social, economic and technological environment.”

Handmade by the Goldsmiths’ Centre in London, the hourglass stands on a cedar base with the wood supplied from the King’s Highgrove home.

Charles made the guests laugh with a quip about time: “With the sands of time encouraging brevity, it just remains for me to say what a great joy it is to come to Australia for the first time as Sovereign, and to renew a love of this country and its people which I have cherished for so long.”

Before Charles and Camilla joined the churchgoers at St Thomas’ Anglican Church, its Rector Michael Mantle made them laugh when he told them: “Jesus said you will not know the day nor the hour when the King will come.”

When the couple first arrived they met some of the younger members of the congregation at the church door as a group of protesters could be heard shouting “not my King” but were drowned out by shouts of “hip hip hooray”.

The Rector’s wife Ellie Mantle had ushered the children out to meet the royals and brought a rugby ball, cricket ball and stuffed koala, gifts for the King’s grandchildren Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

She said: “It’s a great honour for us as it’s the first opportunity for the public to see the King and Queen.”

After the service the royal couple went outside the church to shake hands with the well-wishers, who numbered around two hundred people, with some waiting since 5am to catch a glimpse of the royals.

Charles spotted an old friend, his former polo teacher Sinclair Hill, described as Australia’s greatest player of the sport.

He was joined by his wife Wendy Hill who was kissed on both cheeks by Charles and said afterwards: “He is a lovely man and the fact that he has not been well and still came… The effort he puts in to talk to all these people. I thought he looked terrific.”

Around 100 metres away was a small group of around a dozen people, all supporters of First Nations resistance to colonisation, who held up a large banner with the word “Decolonise”.

Wayne Wharton said: “We are asking King Charles respectfully to begin the process of decolonisation, to join with the Australian government and negotiate with the Aboriginal people for reparations for the illegal settlement and colonisation of so-called Australia.”

Kanishka Raff, Archbishop of Sydney, officiated during the service which featured hymns and prayers and said afterwards: “This church has a family connection with His Majesty because his great grandfather as a teenage boy laid the cornerstone.”

He added: “It was lovely for this local church to be able to welcome the sovereign King Charles and Queen Camilla to join us in worship today. We are absolutely thrilled.”