Royal news live: King Charles given rare Sydney honour after ‘snub’ as Kate Middleton issues powerful tribute

Want to dine like a King? Diners are going to be given the chance to experience an 18th century feast in the King’s favourite room at Dumfries House.

Charles takes most of his evening meals in the Pink Dining Room while staying at the Scottish stately home in Ayrshire.

Now his charity, The King’s Foundation, is offering a new private dining experience, allowing members of the public the opportunity to enjoy a three-course meal, authentic to the 1700s and served by a traditional butler, in the royal chamber.

Guests will eat at the King’s table – but not in the presence of the monarch – beneath the 35kg Murano glass floral chandelier, which was painstakingly reassembled after being found in the basement in more than 100 pieces nearly 20 years ago.

Menus will be based on 18th century dishes, such as poached salmon, fish soup, and manchet bread for starters, followed by roasted venison and beef, parmentier potatoes and a juniper sauce, and lemon and pistachio syllabub, bread and butter pudding, and apple and almond trifle for dessert.

Sir Trevor McDonald has recalled how Prince Phillip’s driving as “slightly mad” when he was given a tour around Sandringham years ago.

The veteran broadcaster described his car journey with the then Duke of Edinburgh whilst filming the 2008 documentary The Duke: A Portrait of Prince Phillip.

“I am not allowed to say this publicly, but I thought his driving was slightly mad,” he told Cheltenham Literary Festival.

“I remember he was extraordinarily generous in giving me his time like this. But he put me in this super duper thing we are driving around, it was around Sandringham so there was nothing in his way and he would stop to wave to people who worked there and so on.

“But then we drove into a puddle of mud and he went ‘how did this bloody thing get here, why can’t I get this out’, and I thought I mustn’t say ‘because you just put it in there’.”

As the King gears up to begin his nine-day tour of Australia this week, his arrival is expected to be met with a wave of both support and opposition.

Every single state premier has turned down invitations to attend his royal reception in Canberra during the trip, and anti-royalist groups have launched a campaign dubbing the trip a royal “farewell tour”.

The republican movement calls for an end to the monarchy’s role in modern Australia - but what is the royal family’s connection to the country?

Australia is a constitutional monarchy, with the King acting as its head of state. However, the monarch does not have a role in the day-to-day running of Australia and appoints the governor-general, who is their representative, on the advice of the prime minister.

The Australian Constitution gives certain powers to the governor general to act on behalf of the King, such as giving Royal Assent to laws passed in parliament.