A FORMER professional footballer and human rights campaigner in Australia has rejected an invite to meet King Charles.
Craig Foster earned 29 caps for the Socceroos throughout his career before becoming a human rights and refugee ambassador for Amnesty International following his retirement.
On Friday, Foster posted a letter he had received from New South Wales premier and Australian Labor Party MP Chris Minns and his wife Anna on social media.
The letter invited Foster to a community BBQ “in the presence of His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty Queen Camilla”.
Thanks Anna and @ChrisMinnsMP But, no thanks. I look forward to being ‘in the presence of’ our first Aussie Head of State. When we put our big pants on, as a country. pic.twitter.com/hE08NpM0SZ
— Craig Foster (@Craig_Foster) October 4, 2024
But Foster said he would not be attending such an event until Australia had its own elected head of state.
“Thanks Anna and @ChrisMinnsMP,” he said.
“But, no thanks.
“I look forward to being ‘in the presence of’ our first Aussie Head of State.
“When we put our big pants on, as a country.”
King Charles and Queen Camilla are due to embark upon an “autumn tour” of Australia and Samoa between October 18 and October 26.
The anti-monarchy campaign group Republic are set to hold demonstrations in Sydney and Canberra during King Charles’s visit.
