Australians will have the chance to glimpse the King and Queen when the royal couple touches down for a whirlwind tour later on Friday.

The trip is the monarch’s first Australian visit taking the throne after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022.

The King and Queen, then Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, previously visited Australia in 2018 for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

On Friday night, the Sydney Opera House sails will be lit up for the royals’ arrival before the couple is kept busy with formal dinners, wreath laying, fleet inspecting and hand-shaking during a five-day tour.

The public will have multiple chances to glimpse Australia’s new monarch as he and the Queen visit Sydney and Canberra landmarks while also making time for community events.

The Australian Monarchist League’s Damien De Pyle said it would be a privilege for the nation to welcome the King back to Australia.

“It’s obviously a very special country for him … which is highlighted by the fact that this is the first Commonwealth country he’s visited since becoming King,” he said.

The King and Queen will rest on Saturday, with official duties starting on Sunday. They will include a church service and a visit from Governor-General Sam Mostyn and NSW Governor Margaret Beazley.

However, there is speculation that Sydney’s Royal Randwick racecourse could be graced with an appearance from the couple on Saturday for the $20 million Everest, the world’s richest horse race outside the United Arab Emirates.

On Monday, the King and Queen will travel to Canberra, where they will lay a wreath at the Australian War Memorial before receiving an official welcome at Parliament House.

The royals will also meet Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, plant a tree and tour the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Fans will be able to see them about midday at the For Our Country memorial, which commemorates the military service of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

Sydneysiders will be able to see the King and Queen at the Opera House on Tuesday about 4.30pm.

Australian Monarchist League volunteers will hand out flags for fans to wave at the Opera House .

“Some media love to portray monarchists as collectors of tea towels, cups and saucers,” the league’s national chair Philip Benwell said.

“The AML is not about that but about the serious business of defending the Australian Constitution and Crown.”

However, according to research commissioned by the Australian Republican Movement, 40 per cent of Australians are unaware the British monarch is also Australia’s head of state.

Albanese floated a possible referendum for Australia to become a republic if his government was returned for a second term. The idea has been shelved after last year’s failed referendum to establish an Indigenous voice to federal parliament.

The royal couple will also visit the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence in Redfern and and attend a community barbecue in Parramatta, before embarking on a review of the Royal Australian Navy fleet.

The King and Queen depart Australia for Samoa on Wednesday morning.

It is the first trip Down Under by a reigning monarch since 2011, when Queen Elizabeth visited Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth.

The King has had 15 previous visits to Australia.

-AAP