Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has gatecrashed the King’s official welcome at Parliament House, yelling “you are not my king” and “treaty now” in a packed Great Hall.

Thorpe’s interruption came as the King finished his speech on Monday afternoon.

She walked up the aisle, towards the stage, yelling: “You stole from us … You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty. We want a treaty in this country.”

Thorpe was stopped from reaching the stage by an official and escorted out by security officers.

“This is not your land. You are not my king. You are not our king,” she yelled.

It followed an earlier scuffle between the senator and police at the Australian War Memorial. Thorpe had led a small group of Indigenous protesters who chanted “always was, always will be Aboriginal land”. 

“Everything that we suffer in this country is because of that colonial invasion,” she said.

Meeting Hephner

Also at the war memorial, the King had another close encounter, this time with a suit-wearing alpaca named Hephner.

Hephner and his owner Robert Fletcher were among the throngs who turned out to welcome the King and Queen to Canberra on Monday.

For the King, it was perhaps a little closer than he might have liked. Hephner – who had also donned a cardboard crown for his day out – let rip with a mighty sneeze as the royal finger wagged in his direction.

“Bless you,” the King said.

The unlikely confrontation was caught on film by royal pool cameraman Duncan Stone, who shared the footage to X.

The alpaca and his handler were among hundreds of well-wishers who flocked to the memorial in Monday’s sunshine to welcome the royal couple, who jetted in from Sydney for a full day of engagements.

Loud cheers and renditions of God Save the King greeted them as they hove into view along Anzac Parade.

The couple privately paid their respects at the Australian War Memorial commemorative area, laying a wreath and floral tribute before moving to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander memorial, For Our Country.

However, the ACT heat was too much for some royal watchers. An ambulance crew was called to help one woman who became unwell while waiting in a prized position in line to meet the royals.

The King, sporting a navy suit and a bevy of military medals, and Queen, in her white silk dress, spent more than half an hour shaking hands and chatting with the gathered onlookers – some, like Hephner, wearing commemorative crowns and others offering bouquets of flowers.

Among those on hand to welcome their majesties was 94-year-old Evelyn Botha. As a schoolgirl, she presented a bouquet of roses to Princess Margaret – the King’s aunt – during a visit to her homeland of Scotland. A few years later, Evelyn’s sister Olga presented a similar bouquet to the then Princess Elizabeth.

Another in the crowd was Cliff Chapman from Fremantle. Sporting a kilt and a seal-skin sporran, Chapman said he was on holiday and had decided to stand in the Canberra sunshine to catch a glimpse of the King and Queen.

Asked why he was the only person in the crowd wearing a kilt, he said: “I thought it would stand out a bit.”

From the war memorial, the royals headed to Parliament House for the ceremonial welcome hosted by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

They also met more of the public there before they were to split up for the remainder of the afternoon.

The Queen was to attend a discussion on family and domestic violence while the King was to receive Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. The royal couple would later reconvene to plant a tree at Government House.

On Wednesday, they head to Samoa where the King will open the annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

-with AAP