A deeply emotional Royal Visit to Australia

The Royal Visit to Australia was supposed to be a normal one with His Majesty The King, Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen, Their Royal Highnesses Gyalsey Jigme Namgyel, Gyalsey Ugyen Wangchuck, and Gyalsem Sonam Yangden Wangchuck meeting with Bhutanese there.

However, the visit turned out to be an extraordinary one. The turnout was very high with around 27,000 Bhutanese turning up in Perth, Canberra and Sydney. 

The meetings were filled with deep emotion, as many Bhutanese were moved to tears by His Majesty’s words and presence. His Majesty was also visibly emotional while connecting with his people in Australia, and such emotions conveyed the profound sense of care and concern, speaking volumes beyond words about His feelings for the Bhutanese community there.

Many Bhutanese in Australia expressed feelings of loneliness despite the growing Bhutanese community there. Unlike the close-knit connections back home, many feel isolated, as individuals are often preoccupied with their own lives, leaving little time for communal engagement. This sense of solitude, even amidst a large Bhutanese population, has been echoed by several on social media.

So having His Majesty there brought about a sense of reassurance, sense of community and a connection to back home. This is why many Bhutanese, young and old, broke down just at the sight of His Majesty, even before His Majesty spoke,

His Majesty did not go with any prepared speeches, but spoke in a conversational manner and that too, touched a lot of Bhutanese, especially where His Majesty referenced the sacrifices they are making in Australia and the children and old parents left back at home.

The presence of Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen and Their Royal Highnesses, who joined His Majesty on the stage and also among the public, gave the gathering a sense of family that many Bhutanese were missing in Australia.

The Royal Visit’s main aims were firstly to meet with the people, secondly to share about developments back home, especially around the Gelephu Mindfulness City, and thirdly to garner feedback and questions from the people.

The QR code was useful for the GMC team to collect a lot of queries and some suggestions which will be useful going forward.

The gathering was also a sort of celebration of Bhutanese in Australia closely resembling the National Day celebrations back home. This may be the norm in Bhutan, but it had a powerful effect for Bhutanese who are in a foreign country, as it was a reminder of their Bhutanese identity and roots, with the powerful symbol of none other than His Majesty and the Royal Family.

The meeting was also highly emotionally charged as the size of the meetings showed the full scope of how many Bhutanese had moved abroad, and while that is a personal achievement for many, at the larger level it brought about a degree of sadness that so many Bhutanese had to move out to secure their livelihood.

The Royal Bhutanese Embassy only has a small team, and so the success of the Royal Visit was also down to the various Bhutanese associations, huge numbers of volunteers, dancers, servers and others who made time from their busy lives and made a lot of effort.

A touching aspect of the Royal Visit was His Majesty telling Bhutanese to acquire skills and earn money, and then come back to Bhutan when they are young, and not only when they are old and retired. His Majesty also highlighted the many changes taking place in Bhutan so that they can come back and use those skills and savings.

Many Bhutanese in Australia came online to say they would come back on finishing their studies or visa stay.

The emotional meetings in Australia not only impacted Bhutanese in Australia, but also Bhutanese back home many of whom admitted to crying looking at the viral videos online.

The visit in its own way showed what it is really like to be Bhutanese, and also how the close ties between the King and his people are so central to Bhutanese identity.

In one of the world’s most modern cities, large numbers of Bhutanese, dressed in traditional attire, gathered to meet the King and the Royal Family. The emotional scene unfolded as many wept, as if reuniting with a beloved family member after a long separation.

Royal Visit timeline

On 12 October, Their Majesties and Their Royal Highnesses met with over a thousand Bhutanese gathered in Sydney to meet their King and Queen, and the Royal Family.

People from across Australia, including Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Tasmania, Armidale, and other cities and towns travelled to Sydney for the occasion.

The Dorji Lopen accompanied Their Majesties for the Royal visit to Australia, bringing sacred relics for the people, who were gathering in unprecedented numbers for the Royal Audiences across cities, to view and receive blessings.

His Majesty The King arrived in Canberra from Sydney on 12 October, and met with the Bhutanese community on 13 October where close to five thousand people gathered in Canberra.

His Majesty expressed happiness on seeing familiar faces after years, and meeting children and growing families.

Their Majesties spent the day interacting with the people, while the Bhutanese community presented various cultural performances.

On the morning of 14 October, His Majesty met with the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, at the Parliament House in Canberra.

Later in the day, His Majesty viewed a presentation on the development of Canberra as a Federal Capital City by the Canberra City Planning and Development officials, and then met with business leaders and friends of Bhutan.

On 16 October, close to 16,000 Bhutanese gathered at Perth’s HBF Park Stadium for the first of two Royal Audiences with His Majesty The King, accompanied by Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen, and Their Royal Highnesses.

Perth is home to the largest Bhutanese community outside Bhutan, and so two Royal Audiences were scheduled in the city to accommodate the large number of attendees.

His Majesty also spoke about the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) and invited questions and suggestions from the community. GMC CEO Mun Leong Liew and his team delivered a presentation on the GMC Master Plan, and discussed how Bhutanese living abroad could contribute to the project.

Cultural performances were held as part of the program, and the event concluded with Their Majesties meeting the people in attendance. Thousands of volunteers, including DeSuups, helped facilitate the event, taking on various responsibilities.

On 17 October, His Majesty granted an Audience to Roger Cook MLA, Premier of Western Australia. The Premier is the head of the government of the State of Western Australia.

He was accompanied by the David Michael MLA, Minister for Mines and Petroleum; Ports; Road Safety, and Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport.

More than 5,000 Bhutanese attended the second Royal Audience with His Majesty and the Royal Family at HBF Stadium in Perth, Australia.

His Majesty spoke about the bond between the King and the Bhutanese people, the sacrifices made by the diaspora, and the Gelephu Mindfulness City project, which aims to help Bhutanese reach their full potential.