February 1 - 28, 2025: Issue 639

 

The King and I on the Hawkesbury

Prince Charles on the Hawkesbury with Timbertop Housemaster Roderick West (1933–2016) in May 1966. Chris is in the dark top with white stripe down the side at the back. Photo: Chris Hendrikson


Chris Hendrikson, Whale Beach SLSC Life Member and from the family who owned and ran the Whale Beach Kiosk from at least early 1945, shares this photo from his family albums, from 60+ years ago.

Chris states this is Prince Chares at a fishing camp course on the Hawkesbury in May 1966. Official records state then 17-year-old Charles visited in May 1966.

Details seem to be that on May 25 1966 when King Charles visited the Hawkesbury Agricultural College or the Broken Bay Fitness camp. Chris, still a youngster then himself, had earned money to attend a ‘fishing camp/education course’ there.

Chris can be seen, second from the left, in the background.
He smilingly calls this picture ‘the Kind and I’ nowadays and explains he was quite young, and had earned the money to attend the course on the Hawkesbury.

This proof of King Charles in photographic form while still young himself, along with anecdotal recalled by former Pittwater MP Rob Stokes of Prince Charles staying at Newport during his holidays, will be welcome news to Peter Bodman who set the news service the task of finding out more in October 2020. 

The Hon. Rob Stokes, former Liberal MP for Pittwater states:
''It was a headmaster who Prince Charles would stay with.  His name was Rod West, and his wife was Janet.  
Rod was a housemaster at Timbertop before becoming Principal at Trinity in Sydeny.  They lived in Goodwin Street Newport.  
While Rod was a Liberal, his daughter, Katherine, went to Ravenswood in Gordon and is now a Labour MP in the House of Commons!''

Thanks Rob!

Peter recalled his decades of holidaying at The Basin during the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s and of rumours Prince Charles was staying in the cottage there and had been seen 'mucking about in boats on the estuary' at the same time... or spotted just enjoying being here.

How very Pittwaterian of this future king!

With Peter’s recall, and Chris and Rob’s proof, it seems our King most certainly did spend time in the best part of Australia, decades before his second visit to Pittwater in January 1988, 22 years later.

Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, in Sydney. Date taken: 25 May 1966

Most of the future king's education was in British boarding schools, but in 1966 he was sent to Timbertop, a campus in rural Victoria.

During the school holiday break he visited Sydney after having spent time in Papua New Guinea in the first half of May 1966.

Prince Charles, now King Charles III, made his 16th trip to Australia in 2012 with Camilla, Queen Consort to mark the Queens Diamond Jubilee, taking in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. 

He returned in 2015 and again in 2018, this time the Royal Tour was to open the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.  HM also visited Bundaberg to celebrate Prince’s Trust Australia’s Low Glow campaign with Greenfleet and Disney ANZ, and convened His Trust’s Great Barrier Reef roundtable on Lady Elliot Island with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.


Prince Charles and Princess Diana at Bayview wharf on January 31st 1988, courtesy Brian Friend OAM, formerly Pittwater Water Police. Photo: Brian Friend OAM

In the Spring of 2024 King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited Australia again. 

“What a great joy it is to come to Australia for the first time as Sovereign, and to renew a love of this country and its people which I have cherished for so long.” - King Charles III

NSW Premier Chris Minns invited members of the public to join Their Majesties at the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday, 22 October, which will be followed by with an impressive Fleet Review and fly past by the Australian Defence Force on Sydney Harbour.

Members of the public were invited to the Sydney Opera House Forecourt for the special event and the chance to meet The King and Queen. 

The afternoon event [at 4.20pm] was followed by a Fleet Review on Sydney Harbour including an Australian Defence Force fly-over. Their Majesties, accompanied by the Governor-General, Chief of the Defence Force and Chief of Navy, conducted a review of His Majesty’s Australian Ships Hobart, Warramunga, Arunta, Gascoyne, and Yarra, which were anchored in the Harbour.

A Royal Fleet Review was also part of the experience for the first Royal visitor to Australia, Prince Alfred in 1868. 

The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club was named for this first member of the Royal family to visit Australia, when the club members still sailed on Sydney Harbour and to Pittwater. The then named Prince Alfred Yacht Club Foundation members formed up their yachts on the harbour to greet the visitor as he sailed in.

However, King Charles and Queen Camilla didn't make it to Pittwater last Spring - the furthest north they went was to attend a Sunday Service at St Thomas' Anglican Church in North Sydney. 

Later that morning, The King visited New South Wales Parliament House where he made a speech to mark the bicentenary of the NSW Legislative Council.

King Charles III founded the youth charity The Prince's Trust in 1976, sponsors The Prince's Charities, and is a patron, president, or a member of over 400 other charities and organisations. 

He has advocated for the conservation of historic buildings and the importance of architecture in society. A critic of modernist architecture, Charles has worked on the creation of Poundbury, an experimental new town based on his architectural tastes. He is also an author or co-author of a number of books.

An environmentalist his whole life, he has supported organic farming and action to prevent climate change as the manager of the Duchy of Cornwall estates, which has earned him awards and recognition from environmental groups.

And that's just a shortlist of works accomplished.

HUGE thanks to Chris Hendrikson for sharing his 'King and I on the Hawkesbury' photo - I'm sure this has brought back a lot of fond memories for many of us - even those who only met King Charles for the first time late last year.

The photo is the Whale Beach Kiosk and beer garden in 1948. From Henrikson Family Albums.

More in:

Many Whale Beach people of today would know Chris Hendrikson (Hendo), who grew up, literally, on Whale Beach and has been a long-term supporter of the Whale Beach SLSC. This photo from 2020 shows three long-term residents and families of Whale Beach in the Hendrikson, Webster and Ferguson men:

Palm Beach RSL Sub-Branch representatives and Members - PBRSL Director Chris Hendrikson, PBRSL Sub Branch Vice President Bryan Webster, PBRSL Sub Branch Committee Member Bob Head PBRSL President Mark Ferguson OAM and Lynette Ferguson. photo: A J Guesdon/Pittwater Online News.