It's been 11 years since Prince George headed Down Under, but after Australia's prime minister visited the U.K., it sounds like that might change in the near future. Over the weekend, Anthony Albanese met with King Charles at Balmoral Castle, and he made it clear that Prince William and Princess Kate have a "standing invitation" to visit Australia. Following the announcement, royal expert Robert Jobson pointed out that it's unlikely the couple would leave their children in the U.K. for such a long trip—and hinted at when a tour might happen.
"It was wonderful to welcome King Charles and Queen Camilla to Australia recently, who had a very successful visit and His Majesty is very engaged," Albanese told News Corp (via the Daily Mail). "I hope that the Prince and Princess of Wales are able to visit as well and we are hopeful that might occur in the coming period."
Speaking of a potential royal tour, he said, "I’m certainly hoping there will be one, there’s a standing invitation that the Royal Family are always welcome in Australia."
Prince George joined his parents for his first international tour in 2014, visiting Australia and New Zealand.
Speaking on Sunrise on September 29, royal editor Robert Jobson said, "The period, I think, is probably going to be the summer of the U.K. when the kids are not in school. I can't see William and Kate going down to Australia and leaving the kids behind."
Princess Kate herself mentioned bringing Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, to Australia on St. Patrick's Day this year. "George finds it fascinating that he has been to Australia and New Zealand,” she said while visiting Wellington Barracks. "I would like to go back there with them now."
"It's finding time to do that," she added, pointing out that "it's a long flight."
During the couple's 2014 tour of Australia and New Zealand, Prince George was just nine months old, and during one memorable moment, William and Kate took him to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. The images of baby George peeking into a bilby enclosure—and adorably playing with a stuffed version of the animal—won fans' hearts around the globe.
Prince George, Princess Kate and Prince William visited the Taronga Zoo in Sydney during their 2014 trip.
Prince George, Princess Kate and Prince William visited the Taronga Zoo in Sydney during their 2014 trip.
But if George and his siblings head to Australia in the next year, it wouldn't be surprising if they visited Australia Zoo in Queensland, where Robert Irwin—who is an Earthshot Prize ambassador alongside Prince William—works with his mom and sister Bindi.
If the Wales family heads to Australia, it will mark Kate's first international tour since 2022, when she headed to the Caribbean with Prince William during Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee year.
As for Prince Louis, this would be his first-ever international royal tour with his family, as both Prince George and Princess Charlotte traveled to Canada with their parents in 2016 and to Germany and Poland in 2017.
