1966

Bondi was abuzz with excitement on May 26, 1966: 17-year-old Prince Charles (Now King Charles III) was to attend a surf carnival held by the North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club.

His Royal Highness had arrived in Australia in January that year to study at Geelong Church of England Grammar School’s rural outpost, Timbertop, in Victoria. It was Charles’s first trip outside Europe.

Timbertop is a physically challenging campus, where the curriculum included cross-country expeditions in blistering heat, wood-chopping and spending freezing nights outdoors in a sleeping bag. The Prince later described it as ‘the most enjoyable part of my whole education’.

During a term break from school, Charles visited Bondi Beach to attend a surf carnival, one of 50 official engagements he undertook while in Australia. Despite cold conditions and strong winds, he watched displays by lifesavers including a march past, rescue and resuscitation demonstration, swimming races and surf ski and surfboard events.

The late Charlie Christensen, then president of North Bondi SLSC, recalled his royal encounter with Prince Charles: ‘He was so interested and curious back then, he wanted to know all about the surfboards, how the paddles worked and how people got in and out of them.’

In a 2017 biography, Charles revealed the friendly attitude of Australians helped him get over his natural awkwardness. ‘I took the plunge and went over and talked to people. That suddenly unlocked a completely different feeling, and I was then able to communicate and talk to people so much more.’ On August 1, 1966, Prince Charles returned to the UK a different person.

It appears the heir to the British throne cannot keep away from Bondi whenever he comes on royal visits. On his 2012 trip to Australia, Charles met 92-year-old Charlie Christensen for a second time and watched a touch football match on the sand between National Rugby League stars and indigenous youth.

A spokesman for the Prince confirmed his fondness for the beach: ‘It is the people who live, work and play around Bondi that make it such a special place.’

Images courtesy the North Bondi Life Saving Club and the Waverley Library Local Studies Collection.