Gallery: Royal visit: Prince William, Catherine and Prince George visit Australia
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have touched down in Sydney with Prince George to begin their 10-day tour of Australia.
Royal visit itinerary - Australia
- April 16 - Sydney, NSW - Opera House reception
- April 17 - Blue Mountains, NSW - visiting bushfire-affected areas
- April 18 - Sydney, NSW
- April 19 - Brisbane, Qld - RAAF base visit
- April 20 - Sydney, NSW - Easter Sunday church service
- April 21 - Canberra, ACT
- April 22 - Uluru, NT
- April 23 - Adelaide, SA - Meet young Australians at Northern Sound System
- April 24 - Canberra, ACT - Reception at Parliament House
- April 25 - Canberra, ACT - Anzac Day march and service at War Memorial
The Royal Australian Air Force jet carrying the Royal family arrived at Sydney Airport this afternoon where Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, Prime Minister Tony Abbott and other dignitaries were in attendance.
The Royals were treated to a small reception on the tarmac before being whisked away to the Sydney Opera House for an official reception and meet-and-greet.
NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell was not among those welcoming the Royal couple after earlier announcing he was resigning from his position. In his place among the welcoming party was Don Harwin MLC.
About 100 members of the Australian and international media were on the tarmac as the Royals arrived, while members of the public were kept far away behind a perimeter fence.
Their arrival marks the start of the family's first official visit to the country.
Fans hoping to catch a glimpse of the Royal couple arrived at the Opera House forecourt this morning clutching posters, flags, flowers and even small boots for eight-month-old George.
The family will spend the first three days of the tour in the New South Wales capital and visit The Three Sisters, attend The Royal Easter Show and watch surf lifesavers in action at Manly Beach.
The Royal couple will also visit the Blue Mountains, meeting survivors of the bushfires that ravaged the area in October.
Earlier today the Royal couple wrapped up their 10-day tour of New Zealand, recieving a warm farewell during a walkabout in Wellington.
They then spent almost an hour chatting with some of the hundreds of fans who lined the capital's civic square after a tour of the national police college.
Prince George will only be taken to a few specific engagements during the Australian leg of the Royal tour, the family's Kensington Palace residence said.
Throughout the tour of New Zealand, George spent his days out of public gaze in Wellington with his Spanish nanny Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo.
However, Prince George is expected to pay a visit to the bilby enclosure at Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo, where one of the marsupials will be named in his honour.
Royal couple to attend Anzac Day commemorations
The Royal couple will travel to Queensland on Saturday, visiting the Royal Australian Air Force Base at Amberley, west of Brisbane, and attending a civic reception and meet fans at South Bank in the state's capital.
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They will then return to Sydney where they will spend Easter Sunday and attend a church service at St Andrew's Cathedral.
On Monday the family will travel to Canberra before flying to Uluru and meeting Indigenous artists and students at nearby Yulara.
They will then travel to Adelaide and the community of Elizabeth, a suburb created and named after Prince William's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.
The tour will end in Canberra, where the Royal couple will attend the Anzac Day march and commemorative service at the Australian War Memorial before returning to Britain.
It is the Duchess's first visit to Australia, apart from a brief stopover at Brisbane Airport in 2012.
