Which member of royalty was shot at twice in Sydney, Australia in 1994?

The member of royalty shot at twice in Sydney, Australia, in 1994 was Charles, Prince of Wales. On 26 January 1994, during an Australia Day celebration at Sydney’s Darling Harbour, 23-year-old university student David Kang rushed toward the stage and fired two blank shots from a starting pistol as Charles prepared to speak.

The incident was alarming but did not physically injure Charles: the pistol contained blanks rather than live ammunition. Kang was quickly tackled by people nearby, including security personnel and officials. Charles remained composed and continued his speech shortly afterward, telling those around him that he was not upset by the incident.

Kang’s protest concerned the treatment of Cambodian asylum seekers held in Australian detention camps. He had previously written to Charles about the issue and used the dramatic interruption to attract attention to it. He was later convicted and received a community-based punishment.

A common mix-up is to confuse this event with the 1868 shooting of Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria’s son, which also occurred in Sydney and involved a real firearm. In the 1994 incident, Charles was then the Prince of Wales; he became King Charles III in 2022.