King Charles given rare Sydney honour as Kate issues powerful tribute: Royal news – live

King Charles is set to be given a rare honour at Sydney Harbour as he kicks off his nine-day tour of Australia and Samoa on Friday.

The white sails of the Sydney Opera House will be lit up for four minutes with images from previous royal visits to mark the arrival of the monarch and Queen Camilla.

This tribute was given the go-ahead by the New South Wales government at an estimated cost of around £50,000.

King Charles last visited Australia in 2018, when he opened the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Taking to the official Kensington Palace Twitter/X account yesterday (15 October), Kate, 42, shared a picture of a candle and wrote: “Baby Loss Awareness Week is such an important moment to support those who have experienced the devastation of baby loss.

“Sending love, strength and hope to anyone affected. #WaveofLight C”

The Princess of Wales has ramped up her return to public duties by making a surprise joint appearance with Prince William to meet the bereaved families of the Southport attacks.

Marking their first joint engagement since Kate’s cancer treatment, the couple privately met the families in Merseyside last week.

The Princess, 42, is said to have attended because she wanted to show her “support, empathy and compassion to the local community”.

“Meeting the community today has been a powerful reminder of the importance of supporting one another in the wake of unimaginable tragedy,” the couple later said in a joint statement.

Steve Davies, who worked for the duchess in Toronto during the early part of her relationship with Prince Harry, told InTouch magazine: “My wife and I got invited to the wedding, that’s how close we became,” he said. “I would work with her again, not a problem at all. She was a good person to work for, and she still is a good person.”

“[Meghan] gets a bad rap for being a not very good person to work with, that she was this evil person in the Royal Family.

“The staff at Buckingham Palace [said they] couldn’t stand working for her,” he said before adding: “[But] nobody had a bad word to say about her [in Toronto].

“Even with the pressure that she was under, she was warm and considerate all the time.”

Earl Spencer has revealed that he is in a new relationship with a “brilliant” archaeologist months after announcing his third marriage had come to an end.

Announcing the news, he explained that they had met when Cat Jarman came to dig up a lost Roman villa on the Earl’s land.

The pair subsequently began a popular history podcast with Reverend Richard Coles called The Rabbit Hole Detectives.

The late Princess Diana’s brother told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Cat Jarman, who is my partner now actually. She’s a brilliant archaeologist.

“It sounds like an Alan Partridge title, but she is Nordic Person of 2024, which is usually handed out to someone like Sven-Goran Eriksson or a composer to be Nordic Person of the Year.”

Earl Spencer was most recently married to Karen Gordon between 2011 and September of this year.

Explaining his motivations for making the show, which follows the launch and first year of his Homewards project, the heir to the throne, 42, said: “I have taken some inspiration and guidance from what my mother did, particularly with homelessness.”

The documentary is set to explain how homelessness can potentially be ended in modern Britain.

The release date for Prince William: We Can End Homelessness has yet to be announced.

The charity’s chair, Alison Brittain, described the change as heralding a new, “exciting” chapter for the charity, which was established almost 50 years ago in 1976 when Charles was still the Prince of Wales.

She added: “As the King’s Trust continues to work for young people in the UK and around the world, we are as committed to supporting young people to build the skills and confidence they need for work and ultimately a brighter future.”

The change was marked by a new logo featuring a white crown in front of a red background. The charity’s name was also changed on official channels.

He made the revelation while on a visit to a football event held by the NFL Foundation in London this morning, where he was gifted a football for Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

William said: “That’s very kind. Never go home empty-handed, that’s a crucial motto of being a parent.

“We’re going to do some practice together, let’s see how many windows I can smash.”

William, 42, did so by attending an event held by the NFL Foundation, which provides inclusive access to the sport to young people aged 12 to 20.

He even had a go at being a quarterback himself and was praised for his impressive throw in a non-contact version of the sport.

The official Kensington Palace Twitter/X account wrote: “@NFLFLAG is fast-paced, inclusive, and designed to inspire and engage young people, developing their confidence and supporting them to reach their full potential.”

Prince William has today shown off his “unbelievable arm” as he tried his hand at American football at an NFL event supporting deprived young people in the UK.

Youngsters shouted “what a throw” when the heir to the throne, 42, showed off his skills at the event at Kennington Park hockey pitch, south London, this morning.

Reacting to William’s role as a quarterback in the non-contact version of American football, Phoebe Schecter, GB women’s flag football captain, said: “Honestly, Prince William was great – his arm strength is unbelievable, when he let that first ball rip I couldn’t believe it.

“Honestly I think if we had better receivers around we would have had multiple touchdowns happening, but his ability to take control of the offence, going into a completely unfamiliar territory really, calling the cadence, receiving the ball, doing a hand-off at one point, making those tactical decisions – it was phenomenal.”

The event was hosted by the NFL Foundation UK, which gives young people aged 12 to 20 opportunities to try out the sport.