King Charles III and Queen Camilla receive warm welcome at Sydney church service despite protesters

King Charles III and Queen Camilla have received a warm welcome in North Sydney – and we're not just talking about the weather.

Large crowds of royal watchers – and some protesters – gathered outside St Thomas' Anglican Church to catch a glimpse of the royal couple as they headed inside for a church service in their first official public engagement of their five-day Australia tour.

Cheers and a sea of waves greeted Charles, 75, and Camilla, 77, as they stepped out of their vehicle and quickly entered the church, where they sat through a service.

Watch the video above.

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Wearing a resplendent straw hat, Camilla and her husband, who was wearing a pale grey suit, greeted The Archbishop of Sydney, The Most Reverend Kanishka Raffel and The Bishop of North Sydney, The Right Reverend Chris Edwards, as well as children from the local Sunday school, before heading inside.

After the service, to a chorus of "Hip hip hooray!", the royal couple greeted those who had been waiting since the early hours to see them, something royal editor Russell Myers has said is the most important aspect of their tour in Australia.

"I think they're really looking forward to getting out and about and meeting as many people as possible," Myers said on Weekend Today this morning.

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In photos: King Charles and Queen Camilla's Australia tour

"Of course, you've got the box-ticking of a royal tour, you've got to meet the Prime Minister, the Governor General. We're going to do a bit of that today, but it's all about meeting the people," he said.

"I think it's very important for him to be seen out, shaking hands, meeting people. And that's part of the tour.

"They really want to do that."

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Charles and Camilla landed in rainy Sydney on Friday night, and, after a day of rest on Saturday – during which neither of them attended Everest Day at Royal Randwick, despite theories to the contrary – are expected to carry out a series of engagements across Sydney and Canberra in the coming days.

Their itinerary had to be scaled back due to the fact that Charles was diagnosed with cancer in February, and he paused his treatment to be able to come Down Under for his first tour of a Commonwealth Realm as monarch.

The royal couple will depart Australia for Samoa on Wednesday.

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