King Charles seemed to stumble upon his words while addressing the crowd at a barbecue in western Sydney on Tuesday.
‘God almighty, they’ve got two pages on this bloody thing,’ he said to laughs from the crowd while flicking through the pages of his speech.
After a few seconds of confusion, he managed to get his address back on track, and said the occasion was particularly special as he had never visited Parramatta before.
About 500 people had gathered to meet the King and Queen at Parramatta Park on Tuesday, where the royal duo even tried their hand at grilling sausages.
‘It’s a particular delight to taste this top tucker,’ he said.
‘It is no wonder, I think, that Sydney is world-famous for its cuisine, whether its smashed avo, a pav or a cab sav.’
Charles also thanked those who joined him for the ‘barbie’ on Tuesday.
The King and Queen were invited to help with a traditional Aussie barbecue by Scott McCoy, 42.
McCoy, manager of Black Bear BBQ restaurant in Sydney and better known by the nickname ‘Chop’, McCoy said it was ‘an honour’ to have some royal helpers.
Chop said: ‘I’m still shaking. It was great.’
While the King and Queen declined a chance to taste any of the sausages, which included lamb, beef, pork and vegetarian variations.
Chop said the Queen was instructed to use the tongs ‘the Aussie way’ to turn the ‘snags’ (sausages) by clicking them twice before using them.
Chop said that the King and Queen thought the sausages were amazing’ and that they ‘could tell they were great without trying them’.
Murray Wilkinson from Mudgee had brought a handful of his 16,000 Merino sheep to demonstrate to the King and Queen the art of working with sheepdogs. Along with him were Colt, five, an Australian Kelpie and Meg, six, a UK Border Collie.
Mr Wilkinson, who also has 3,000 head of cattle, said: ‘I am going to demonstrate to them how we work the dogs and will then get them to jump up on the sheep’s backs.
‘It took me about three weeks to train Meg and about a year to train Colt. The girls do tend to pick it up quicker.
‘It’s a great honour to have been asked. I did my apprenticeship for 14 years with the Packers and I know there is some cross over there.
‘It’s been a tough time for the industry. International prices have been dropping.
Things are levelling up but it’s been tough so it’s good to show off our industry.’
The King and Queen watched Colt being put through his paces behind unfortunately the sheep got confused by the large group of photographers and cameramen standing in the pen and it took several attempts to get them in.
‘Too many people!’ Charles gestured and laughed. He smiled at Meg, who sat waiting on a barrel, desperate to join in.
Colt eventually managed it, barking with annoyance at the livestock and running across their backs.
Mr Wilkinson said afterwards: ‘It was a bit frustrating as the media moved which confused the sheep. He could have done it very quickly but it took him several attempts.
‘The king still said he was impressed, though, and talked about how wonderful it was. He was saying how well the sheep looked and the price of wool.’
– Rebecca English, Royal Editor in Sydney
