It was the beginning of a love affair between the future King Charles and one of the most iconic beaches in his realm, Bondi.
As a 17-year-old schoolboy, Prince Charles first graced the golden sands of Sydney’s Bondi Beach on a wintry day in late May, 1966.
It was blowing a gale and even the prince remarked to the 16 North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club lifesavers who formed a guard of honour to welcome him that they must be freezing in their swimsuits.
Charles watched a demonstration of surfing techniques, chatted with lifeguard Jim Turney and was greeted with a march-past by club members, all organised by Kerwin Maegraith.
A life member at North Bondi and a newspaper cartoonist with connections to the royal family, Maegraith had been negotiating the visit for months while Charles was attending school in Australia.
Charles would later describe his time at the Geelong Church of England Grammar School, at its Timbertop campus, as his happiest and the most formative of his education.
Prince Charles, aged 17, visited Bondi Beach for the first time and enjoyed a relaxed visit which ended up with his being given a traditional surf lifesaver’s patrol cap to wear
At Bondi Beach in 1966, Kerwin Maegraith tied a North Bondi lifesaver’s surf cap on Charles’ head, risking royal protocol, but the schoolboy prince took it in good humour
After the forbidding Gordonstoun School in Scotland, which he dubbed ‘Colditz in kilts’ after he was bullied there, Charles enjoyed a camaraderie and shared sense of humour with his Aussie schoolmates.
On that day at Bondi, Maegraith injected warmth into the occasion by tying a North Bondi lifesaver’s surf cap onto the prince.
Coloured patrol caps are a mandatory part of the surf lifesaver’s uniform to make them easily distinguishable in the surf, but tying one on to a future king’s head risked royal protocol, especially almost 60 years ago.
Maegraith’s grandson David told Daily Mail Australia that his larrikin grandfather’s ‘crowning’ of the future king ‘reflected the relaxed Australian spirit’ – and Charles took it in the good humour with which it was intended.
Schoolkids mob Charles at Bondi on a chilly day in May 1966 when the 17-year-old prince made his first visit to the iconic Sydney beach during his stay in Australia
Charles enjoys a swim in the surf at Bondi Beach, during his 1981 tour of Australia
‘The moment positioned the club as a cultural bridge between Australia and the monarchy, blending two traditions – Australian surf lifesaving and the British monarchy’s deepening relationship with the country,’ Mr Maegraith’s son said.
At Bondi, Charles spent a couple of hours on the beach, got his feet wet, was mobbed by a group of schoolchildren and took a plane back to Timbertop, where he was farewelled a month later with a rousing ‘Three Cheers… for the pommie bastard’.
The visit foreshadowed his future returns to Bondi Beach over the decades before his eventual coronation.
In 1974, Charles enjoyed the first of many swims at Bondi Beach and revisited Geelong Grammar.
Charles tried his hand at surfing thw Bondi break in 1977 during an extensive tour of Australia on behalf of the Queen during her Silver Jubilee celebrations.
In 1981, three months before his marriage to Princess Diana, he returned again and took a dip along with his bodyguard, John McClean.
Charles has returned to Bondi several times. On his Diamond Jubilee Tour in 2012, he strode the sands in a suit rather than take a dip, and watched an NRL community football on the beach exhibition match.
Prince Charles runs in the surf at Bondi as he takes time off during his official 1981 Australian tour, three months before his marriage to Princess Diana
Kerwin Maegraith’s joke cartoon of ‘crowning’ Prince Charles with a surf lifesaver’s patrol cap
Bondi Beach was one of his son, Prince Harry’s first stops on his 2018 tour with his new bride Meghan.
On this much-anticipated 17th trip to Australia, his first as monarch, King Charles has events in Sydney and Canberra, including a barbecue in western Sydney and a naval fleet review on Sydney Harbour.
After flying into Sydney on Friday evening, King Charles and Queen Camilla have Saturday designated as a personal rest day, factored in to accommodate his health post cancer treatment.
Will they slip down to Bondi for an ice-cream and a dip? The royal couple are both honorary life members of the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club.
Club President Liz Webb told Daily Mail Australia that ‘Bondi Surf Club would love to welcome King Charles back to the Bondi Surf Club on his trip to Australia, and we would also love to welcome Queen Camilla for the first time.
‘Our Bondi Surf Club has a rich history of welcoming royals and it would be a great honour to our members and our Board to host them both.’
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