Leaving the Duchess getting ready for an afternoon of racing at Flemington, Prince Charles is busy out and about in Melbourne on day two of the royal tour of Australia.
Temperatures are a little more comfortable — 23 rather than the 38 degrees the royal couple experienced in outback Queensland yesterday for their “bonza barbie” — but typical Melbourne four-seasons-in-one-day showers are interrupting this race day.
Related: Relaxed Charles ‘at home’ in Aussie outback
First stop is the Australian Tapestry Workshop established in 1976, where Ted Baillieu, Premier of Victoria and Victorian Minister for the Arts introduces the Prince to the only tapestry workshop of its kind in Australia and one of only a handful in the world making hand-woven tapestries. He’s greeted by cheering crowds outside shouting “I love you”.
The ATW is collaborating with The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts (PSTA) to create a tapestry woven in collaboration with children from multicultural and disadvantaged backgrounds from the Coolaroo South Primary School (CSPS) — the idea is to promote traditional art and artisanal skills, a topic Prince Charles has frequently personally supported.
Next, another piece of local art for the Prince as he is whisked off to hit the hallowed turf of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
He’s escorted onto the field by Hugh Delahunty Victorian Minister for Sport and Recreation with members of the Victorian women’s cricket team VicSpirit and the men’s team the Bushrangers alongside kids from the Harmony Program, an initiative aimed at promoting fairness and mateship within the sport as well as encouraging inclusiveness.
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Answering a request, the Prince tried bowling, pleading that he had broken his arm in two places. Excuses, excuses. The kids from many different programs including a couple supporting indigenous youth and girls in cricket seemed totally at ease with the avuncular Prince.
