Lidia Thorpe exploded at King Charles and accused him of committing genocide, shouting ‘f*** the colony’ because he never responded to her requests for meetings over tea and cake.
Senator Thorpe, the Indigenous leader of the Blak Sovereign Movement, made global headlines on Monday when she interrupted a reception at Parliament House in Canberra to shout at the visiting royals.
Dressed in a possum fur coat, the Victorian senator walked down the aisle of the Great Hall and shouted:Give us our country back. Give us what you stole from us. Our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. You have destroyed our country. Give us a treaty.’
As guards began to drag her away, she continued to scream, “This is not your country. This is not your country. You are not my king. You are not my king.”
King Charles reportedly ignored the senator, turned to Queen Camilla and spoke to her until the interruption was over.
Ms Thorpe discussed the situation in an interview with Sky’s AM Agenda presenter Laura Jayes on Thursday, explaining that she has been writing to the king for years asking for meetings.
She never received a response from the palace and decided to take matters into her own hands.
Daily Mail Australia has now received a private letter sent by Ms Thorpe to King Charles in March 2023, before his coronation.
Laura Jayes is pictured on the left during an interview with Lidia Thorpe, right
Pictured: A letter Lidia Thorpe wrote to King Charles in 2023, before his coronation
She wrote: “More than 200 years ago, the invasion of our country declared war on my people, and on the First Nations people of this country. We had no firearms and armies to counter the invasion of your ancestors.
“Since then, our people have felt the impact of the diseases brought to our land, the dispossession, the displacement and the cultural disconnection forced upon us.”
Ms Thorpe said Indigenous people “yearn for peace” and proposed a treaty – similar to treaties with the First Nations people of Canada and New Zealand.
“The Treaty can provide a way forward to address past injustices and pave the way for a better future by addressing the systemic causes of the inequalities we continue to face today,” she continued.
“Sir, in light of your commitment to decolonization, I respectfully request that I meet with you in person, if possible prior to Your Majesty’s Coronation, to discuss the possibility of the Crown entering into a treaty with Australia’s First Nations people.”
The letter was one of many sent by Senator Thorpe to Buckingham Palace. She never received a response.
Senator Lidia Thorpe, 51, launched a foul-mouthed tirade against the king during his visit to Parliament House
Her tirade came during King Charles III’s first visit to Australia as monarch
When Ms Jayes asked why she interrupted Monday’s reception for King Charles, Ms Thorpe said she wanted to bring international awareness to Indigenous Australians.
“We are the oldest living culture in the world and we are the most imprisoned. 24,000 Aboriginal children have been taken from their families, so I wanted to highlight the injustices that are happening in this country,” she said.
“I wanted to sit with the king and have a cup of tea and cake with him,” she said.
“I sent him countless letters – even before he announced he was coming here, I sent him letters saying, ‘Can we meet? I want to talk to you about a treaty. Why hasn’t your kingdom made a treaty with us?’ .
She said the treaty was not about pushing out modern Australians, or “taking your backyard”, but about giving everyone the opportunity to learn from Indigenous people.
There was also a heated exchange when Ms Jayes believed the senator was hitting on her for portraying her as an “aggressive black woman”.
Ms Jayes said: ‘I appreciate you stopping by, I noticed the veiled criticism that may have just been directed at me… You are saying that I am portraying you as an aggressive black woman and that I would not do that to other women. ‘
‘I don’t agree with that, that was not my intention. The fact that you are a woman and that you are black has nothing to do with how I characterize your protest or the treatment of the king – do you accept that?’
Ms Thorpe replied: ‘Yes, and it wasn’t directed at you, so sorry if you’re offended.’
Mrs Jayes said: ‘Oh no, I didn’t do that.’
The senator continued, “It was in general.”
Ms Jayes asked the senator to explain why she believed she was being targeted by the media and her fellow MPs.
“I’m loud, I’m proud,” Ms Thorpe said. ‘I’m the eldest of 150 cousins, I had to be loud and that’s just who I am.
“I’m sorry if you feel hurt by the way I speak, but I’m here forever, I’m not here to divide this country.
‘I can have a say in parliament about many things, but they prevent me from having that say and that makes me heard loudly.’
In the days following her outburst, Ms Thorpe claimed the “bones and skulls” of Aboriginal people are still in the royal family’s possession.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on Senator Thorpe’s outburst.