Aussie sisters who lived with King Charles reveal the common family act that shocked him: ‘He couldn’t get past it’

Aussie sisters Jane Tozer and Amanda Boxshall have been able to get to know King Charles III more intimately than most.

In 1966, at 16, the King spent a year in Australia, attending Timbertop outdoor adventure school, a remote campus that forms part of Geelong Grammar School.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Aussie sisters recall living on the family farm with a young Charles.

For the six months he attended the school, Charles would stay at the family dairy farm of Jane, then 11, and Amanda, then six, who were able to share their life with him.

The royal family’s security chose a vacant house on the dairy farm as it was an easy place to keep the then Prince Charles secure, and also had enough room for the king’s large personal staff.

On Monday, the sisters joined Nat Barr and Matt Shirvington on Sunrise, where they described the King as a “normal kid” but did say he was shocked when he witnessed their family eating together.

“Mum and dad and the farm workers all used to just sit at one table and King Charles would come past and he couldn’t believe that people all sit together — that families sit and enjoy meals together,” Amanda said.

During a wide-ranging interview, the sisters revealed they were briefed by the King’s security prior to him moving in, but due to their young ages at the time, it went over their heads.

“We didn’t really understand the whole concept of being royal ... that it brought with it the sort of expectations of respect ... he was a teenager, and we were kids,” Jane said.

“He was just another person on our farm that we chatted to and had a swim with. But he was very friendly. He always had his security with him ... (but) he was really friendly, very curious.

“He would ask a lot of questions, like how did this and that work? Can I help you do this? Can I do that?”

Typically, the sisters said the King liked the outdoors as a child — a passion the monarch still holds.

“(We would go) horse-riding, of course. He’s very into horses ... and just doing kid things ... it was just like this whole new family had moved into our farm life. It was a unique experience.”

The sisters managed to catch up with King Charles in 2018, when he was visiting the Bundaberg Rum Distillery as part of a royal tour. Jane said she was surprised at how much he remembered of his time with the family.

“He remembered mum and dad and asked how they were and all of those sorts of things,” Jane said.

“We laughed about all the things we did on the farm. So, he remembered everything. We didn’t really expect that he would remember all those things. But he did. So yeah, it was part of history.”

Reflecting on their final moments with the King, the sisters described the sweet act by Charles on his last day staying with the family, as the family sat down for a portrait together.

“The day he was leaving we were very sad. Mum made us all beautiful new outfits and he said, ‘no, I want you as you really are’. So, we had to go and get our farm clothes back on. But he, he’s just such a nice person and very funny,” Jane said.