King Charles III, Queen Camilla thrill thousands of Australians at the Sydney Opera House

King Charles III and Queen Camilla dazzled thousands of cheering supporters as they stepped out at Circular Quay on a glorious Sydney afternoon.

An estimated 10,000 people lined the streets and packed into the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday for a royal to return to one of Australia’s most famous landmarks.

A sniper sat atop one of the Sydney Opera House’s sails. Navy choppers circled, flying a giant Australian flag.

The water in Sydney Harbour was sparkling and the sky was sunny and clear. The perfect day for a royal visit.

A police helicopter drew closer as cheers grew louder. The King and Queen had arrived to meet the adoring public.

Charles and Camilla waved at the thousands as they slowly approached, driving past the public as they made their way to the Sydney Opera House’s entrance.

NSW Premier Chris Minns and his wife Anna Minns greeted King Charles and Queen Camilla as they exited the vehicle, graciously welcoming them to the building visited on many royal visits.

The four walked up the world-famous steps as crowds cheered from the nearby Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. The King turned and waved, delighting those who hadn’t gotten onto the forecourt.

As they reached the top of the steps, the royals were introduced to six waiting special guests.

British actor Dame Joanna Lumley, actor Heather Mitchell, acrobat and dancer Lucia Richardson, singer Jin Tea Kim, artistic director of Bangara Dance Theatre Francis Rings and Sydney Symphony orchestra principal bass clarinet player Alexander Morris greeted the royal couple at the top of the stairs.

“Your Majesty,” Lumley said greeting the royals first. The greeting felt like a reunion of friends with Queen Camilla stopping to chat for some time.

Ms Morris was asked what she had played in recently, telling the King she had recently completed 12 months playing within the Sydney Opera House.

The royal couple were taken to the official guest book, signing their names in black pen on an open page. The couple were shown pages signed by other esteemed guests before continuing on.

The King, Queen, Premier and Mrs Minns walked to the western edge of the top of the Sydney Opera House, where they posed for a photo with the Harbour and Sydney Harbour Bridge behind them.

The King waved towards the harbour as cheers bellowed from punters who caught a glimpse of the royals from Opera Bar on the building edge.

The royals steadily made their way down the steps, not holding onto railing, with arms lifted as they waved at the cheering public.

“Welcome to Australia,” people could be heard saying.

“It’s a privilege to meet you,” one woman said brought to tears by her royal interaction with Camilla.

Camilla paused to meet with children, lowering down to their height in moments young children said they would “never forget”.

As many got the rare opportunity to shake hands with the King, one man was heard saying “It’s lovely to meet you, Your Majesty”.

Tilly Cooper, 13, from Sydney’s Northern Beaches was ecstatic after shaking hands with the king.

“Camilla accepted my gift. This is amazing.”

Young Tilly said it would be a moment she would treasure for the rest of her life.

The king made a conscious effort to meet those of different abilities.

“I love you,” one woman shouted.

“Three cheers for the Queen” another said as “hurray” echoed through the crowd.

The King moved through the crowd, going from side to side as thousands cheered his name trying to catch his attention.

As he swapped sides, hands emerged ready to shake those of a King.

“It’s an honour to meet you”, a group of three teen boys wearing Australian flags said.

A group of Australians broke into a rendition of “God Save The King”, something that drew Charles’ attention. He crossed the path, joining Camilla, and then shaking hands with those who had been singing.

The royals walked over to a group of students made up of pupils from multiple schools across Sydney who performed a vibrant dance routine to the song “Follow Your Dreams” by Ocean Lim.

The King and Queen watched on, applauding the children at the end of their routine, as the young dancers yelled a collective “thank you” to the monarch for watching on.

“King Charles, King Charles,” chants filled the air.

“Thank you for coming to Australia,” yelled another as the King made his way to the end of the walkway.

“It’s time to say goodbye,” Premier Minns was heard saying.

“Thank you for coming,” he said as the two shook hands, Charles’ smile beaming with joy.

A band started to play “God Save The King” as Charles paused, turned and waved goodbye to the thousands who had come out to see him.

As he waved, one last monumental cheer rang out for the King.

The King and Queen made their way over to a nearby boat, ready for their next engagement on the harbour, an inspection of the Navy Fleet.

To cap the day — and their six-day trip to Australia — King Charles and Queen Camilla observed a military display around Sydney’s iconic harbour — dubbed Operation Regal by the Australian Defence Force.

Leaving the crowds of the Opera House behind the royal couple walked toward the Man O’War steps and the Admiral Hudson, a sparkling-white 17.63 metre-long Kingfisher 54 cruiser, built in Brisbane.

The vessel, brandishing the royal standard for the occasion, is part of the VIP boat squadron used for official functions on Sydney Harbour.

As the couple prepared to clamber aboard, they received a stair guard of military personnel.

The guard was drawn from the 1st Regiment, Royal Australian Armoured Corps and the Royal Australian Corps of Military Police.

All carried standards and wore ceremonial service dress — replete with buttons, belts, medals, ribbons, epaulettes and emu-feathered slouch hats.

A small piping party ushered the royals from the wharf to the ship and piped “the still”, a short ceremonial tune.

The water was a touch choppy, but the weather was fine. A gentle breeze of about eight knots swayed the palms, figs and eucalypts on the foreshore.

A hundred or so people gathered on the slopes of the Royal Botanic Gardens, brandishing union flags.

The king briefly stopped to wave, drawing cheers.

Savvy Sydney cruise boat operators had been offering tours to coincide with the royal appearance, priced at $99AUD per person.

They appeared to be outnumbered by police, special forces fast boats and harbour patrols.

Aboard, Charles and Camilla were joined by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, Chief of the Defence Force Admiral David Johnston and Chief of the Navy Vice Admiral Mark Hammond.

Earlier this week Charles, the one-time trainee jet pilot who crashed an RAF plane in remote northwest Scotland was granted honorary five-star ranks in each of the Australian service branches.

In addition to being king of the realm, Charles is now Field Marshal of Australia’s Army, Marshal of its Airforce and Admiral of the Fleet.

The Admiral Hudson gently pulled off into the harbour passing by joggers and surprised onlookers in the park and then sailed past Mrs Macquarie’s Chair where a small crowd had gathered.

It then positioned to observe a flotilla comprised of frigates, destroyers and minehunters -- namely the HMAS Warramunga, HMAS Hobart, HMAS Gascoyne, HMAS Yarra and HMAS Arunta in that order.

The Yarra is a coastal minehunter, of similar class and size to the HMS Bronington, which Charles commanded in the late 1970s as a British navy officer.

As they pulled along each of the vessels the sailors removed their hats and the ship’s company performed a “cheer ship”, removing their hats and shouting “hip hip” three times.

At about 1719 local time a flock of Army and Navy choppers thudded overhead.

The helos — Seahawks, EC-135s and Black Hawks — had travelled from HMAS Watson, on the south heads, and flew westward toward Admiralty House.

Passing Kuttabul naval base about 200 sailors in summer ceremonial whites took off their hats and waved them in a circle, another cheer ship.

Sailing past the Yarra a group of kids on four sailing dinghies looked on in surprise.

The Admiral Hudson pulled onto Admiralty House ant 1740 and the royal party disembarked.

School kids on the law of a nearby house screamed “we love you King”.

A few minutes later a phalanx of four fighter jets screamed across the lapis blue sky.

They included an F/A-18F Super Hornet, an EA-18G Growler, and two F-35A Lightning IIs from the Royal Australian Air Force.

The King and Queen looked on — and the kids went wild.