While Charles checked the alpaca's collar for any sneeze residue, a bystander immediately called out to him, saying, “Take care.”
Britain's King Charles on Monday shared some hilarious stories about his past encounters with Australian wildlife, including brown snakes, leeches, funnel spiders and male ants.
However, he omitted a recent funny incident involving a 9-year-old alpaca named Hefner.
During his visit to Canberra, the 75-year-old monarch spoke to MPs about his memories of Timbertop, a rural grammar school in southeastern Australia that he attended when he was 17. He said the experience was life-changing, saying, “After being born into adolescence and interacting with brown snakes, leeches, and other creatures, I became more rounded, if not slightly more chiseled. He left with a different personality.”
What he didn't mention was an earlier encounter with Hefner, an alpaca wearing a suit and a gold crown, at the Australian War Memorial. Charles reached out to pet Hefner, but the well-dressed Hefner sneezed, covering both the king and his guard. While Charles checked his collar for signs of the alpaca's sneeze, a bystander quickly called out, “Take care.”
A cheese-powered car that talks to plants
The rest of the day was devoted to issues that the monarch cares deeply about, such as conservation and climate change.
King Charles has been a lifelong environmentalist and was once considered a bit unorthodox for his environmental efforts. He even modified his Aston Martin DB6 to run on ethanol made from leftover cheese and wine. He also admitted that he has talked to plants to help them grow.
Charles visited a specially designed laboratory at an Australian public science institution. The lab is used by scientists to study forest fires that frequently destroy large parts of the country.
During his visit, he activated the Pyrotron, a 29-meter-long (95-foot) combustion wind tunnel built to analyze the behavior of wildfires.
We then strolled through the native flower section of the Australian National Botanic Gardens. He spoke about how climate change is threatening Australia's unique plant species.
Read now: King Charles is just a sideshow to Oz
