King Charles Was Caught Off Guard By an Unusual Royal Fan in Australia
You never know who will turn up!
King Charles and Queen Camilla have encountered massive crowds of Australians during their tour Down Under this week, but on Oct. 21, he met a rather surprising fan who was decked out in full royal regalia for the occasion. Among the droves of royal enthusiasts gathered outside the Australian War Memorial in Canberra was Hephner, a fuzzy white alpaca with a penchant for formalwear.
The dapper alpaca—dressed in a gold crown and tuxedo-like shirt—and his owner, Robert Fletcher, "waited patiently for hours" to meet King Charles, per People. But once his turn came to greet The King, he blew it. Literally.
"This is Hephner, he's a support animal," Fletcher said to King Charles, who reached out to pet the alpaca's fluffy white coat in a video shared by TV journalist Duncan Stone on X. But the 9-year-old alpaca returned the greeting by sneezing all over The King's arm instead.
King Charles gave Hephner a pat before the alpaca sneezed on his arm.
Although he appeared startled, His Majesty took the incident with good humor, laughing as he moved on to shake hands with others in the crowd. "At least he didn’t spit," Fletcher said of his alpaca, who is named after Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, per People.
Hephner does share one thing with King Charles, and that's a passion for giving back to others. According to the publication, the alpaca visits "charities and nursing homes" with his owner and is "well-known throughout the Canberra region for his charitable work."
Hephner looked rather dapper to meet The King.
Along with meeting his fuzziest royal fan, King Charles has greeted plenty of other Aussie fans since arriving Down Under on Oct. 18. The King and Queen visited Sydney's iconic Opera House on Tuesday, Oct. 22, with thousands of people gathered to get a look at the royal couple.
However, The King received a less-than-warm welcome while delivering a speech in Parliament on Monday.
"You are not our king," Aboriginal Australian senator Lidia Thorpe shouted. "Give us our land back. Give us what you stole from us." Thorpe was escorted from the building, with several other Australian leaders, like former senator Nova Peris, calling the incident "embarrassing and disrespectful."
