Canberra, July 15 (IANS): Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla will visit Australia in October, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed.

Albanese on Monday said he and Governor-General Sam Mostyn will welcome the king and queen to Australia in October for Charles III's first visit to the country as sovereign.

It will mark the first visit to Australia by the reigning British monarch since Queen Elizabeth II visited Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth in 2011, Xinhua news agency reported.

Prior to his coronation, King Charles visited Australia 15 times in an official capacity -- most recently in 2018 when the Commonwealth Games were held on the Gold Coast.

Albanese said in a statement that preparations are underway for the king and queen to visit the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales.

"I am honoured to welcome the king and queen on their first royal visit to Australia later this year. They are always welcome visitors," he added.

To coincide with the announcement of the visit, the federal government on Monday released the official Australian portraits of the king and queen, in which King Charles wears the sovereign's badge of the Order of Australia and Queen Camilla a brooch that was gifted to Queen Elizabeth II during her first visit to Australia in 1954.

After visiting Australia, the king and queen will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement that the couple will not visit New Zealand due to health reasons after King Charles was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer earlier in 2024.