King Charles visits melanoma clinic in Sydney and meets cancer survivors

SYDNEY (Reuters) - King Charles visited a skin cancer clinic in Sydney on Tuesday where he met cancer survivors and researchers working on cures for the disease.

The visit to the Melanoma Institute Australia was one of the final public appearances Charles made on his 16th official visit to the country, his first major overseas trip since being diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer.

There was no mention of the King's own diagnosis during the visit, where Charles met melanoma survivor Adam Brown and his family. Brown was given 12 months to live when he was diagnosed in 2015.

Brown, along with wife Kristy, introduced their children as their “two miracles”.

The King offered his congratulations to Brown although jokingly wondered why the children were meeting him during school hours.

Charles also met renowned melanoma researcher and brain cancer survivor Richard Scolyer. Diagnosed with brain cancer last year, Scolyer underwent world-first surgery and his tumour is in remission.

Scolyer was joined on Tuesday by fellow researcher Georgina Long. Both were named Australians of the Year in January for their research into melanomas.

"That was an amazing opportunity for us to tell the king about what we're doing here trying to deal with Australia's national cancer, and to talk about how we're trying to get to zero deaths from melanoma," Scolyer said.

Earlier in the day Charles met Indigenous elders in inner-city Redfern, the home of the urban Aboriginal civil rights movement, and was embraced by elder Michael Welsh

The moment was in sharp contrast to Monday when Charles was heckled at Parliament House in Canberra by independent senator and Indigenous activist Lidia Thorpe who shouted that she did not accept his sovereignty over Australia.

The Royal couple will close the day with a fleet review of the Royal Australian Navy in Sydney Harbour.

(Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)