King Charles III, who’s making headlines about his possible abdication after Queen Margrethe’s announcement to leave the throne for his son, is set to take big step later this year amid ongoing speculations.

The monarch and his wife Queen Camilla will visit Australia before ending the year, Anthony Albanese, the country’s prime minister, has confirmed.

Camilla and Charles will visit the country as part of a long-haul trip in late October,  when they attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Samoa.

The decision is being considered a major step from the King amid increasing speculation that Australia will become a republic.

A government spokesman told The Australian newspaper that “the prime minister enjoys a warm relationship with the King and looks forward to welcoming His Majesty to Australia later this year.”

The visit will be the King’s first to Australia since his accession and the first by a ruling monarch since Elizabeth II in October 2011. Charles last visited Australia in 2018, as the Prince of Wales he opened the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

The most recent opinion poll, held just after Prince William and Harry’s father ascended to the throne following Queen Elizabeth II’s death, suggested that 46 per cent of Australians favoured a republic, while 54 per cent preferred the current system.