'You are not my king.' The moment Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe disrupted King Charles' speech.

Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe has disrupted a parliamentary reception in Canberra for King Charles and Queen Camilla during his first official visit to Australia as a monarch.

As the King wrapped up a short speech addressing MPs and senators at Parliament House, Thorpe, a fierce advocate for Indigenous rights, approached the stage and accused the Crown of committing genocide against Aboriginal people.

Watch: Lidia Thorpe tells King Charles 'you are not our king'. Article continues after video.

"You are not our king. You are not sovereign. You are not our king. You are not sovereign," she shouted.

"You committed genocide against our people. Give us our land back," added the independent senator from Victoria. "Give us what you stole from us — our bones, our skulls, our babies, our people. You destroyed our land. Give us a treaty. We want a treaty in this country."

Security quickly intervened, escorting Thorpe out of the hall, but her protest reflected the deep-rooted tensions due to Australia's colonial past and its enduring connection to the monarchy.

Senator Thorpe was a guest at the event.

She later released a statement, doubling down on her actions in parliament, "The British crown committed heinous crimes against the First Peoples of this country.

"These crimes include war crimes, crimes against humanity and failure to prevent genocide. There has been no justice for these crimes. The crown must be held accountable."

Image: Getty

King Charles spoke quietly with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as they sat on the podium. Security officials stopped Senator Thorpe from approaching further and escorted her out of the Great Hall.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott, who attended the event, expressed his disappointment at the protest.

"It's unfortunate political exhibitionism, that's all I'd say," he said after the event.

Another of the guests, Victoria Cross recipient Keith Payne, was highly critical of Senator Thorpe for disrupting the reception.

"I was absolutely amazed that she got through the door," he said. "That was uncalled for and un-Australian." Payne, who was awarded the highest military honour for his service in Vietnam, was one of the guests who spoke with the King as the royal couple left the reception.

Another guest, businessman Dick Smith, said the disruption was an aspect of Australian democracy.

"I think that's the wonderful part of our democracy — that she's not going to be put in jail," he said.

Smith has known the King for many years, including a meeting in 1982 when Mr Smith landed his helicopter on the grounds of Balmoral Castle in the United Kingdom.

Following on from Thorpe's protest, the controversy continued.

Hours later, a cartoon depicting an image of King Charles being beheaded was posted to Thorpe's social media before being swiftly deleted.

Thorpe, claimed image was uploaded "without her knowledge" and she has now "deleted it".

Writing on X she said: "Earlier tonight, without my knowledge, one of my staff shared an image to my Instagram stories created by another account. I deleted it as soon as I saw. I would not intentionally share anything that could be seen to encourage violence against anyone. That's not what I'm about."

Image: Getty

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also spoke out on the disruption, saying the King was doing a "fantastic job."

"Look, I think the king is doing a fantastic job, an incredible ambassador not just for our country, but across the Commonwealth," he said.

"I think he's doing a fantastic job, and we should remember in the context of health, that he is out there doing his public service notwithstanding, you know, the health challenges he himself has had -so I think he's doing a great job."

The royal couple entered the hall after signing the Parliament House visitor book in the Marble Foyer, arriving to the sounds of a didgeridoo played by Bevan Smith, a local Indigenous man.

They were joined by federal and state members of parliament, eminent Australians and representatives from the King's charities who assembled for the first event of its kind since Queen Elizabeth II attended a parliamentary reception in the Great Hall in 2011.

The King and Prime Minister Albanese led the official party into the hall, while Queen Camilla was accompanied by Albanese's partner, Jodie Haydon.

The procession included Speaker of the House of Representatives Milton Dick and Senate President Sue Lines.

Reception guests included former prime minister John Howard and his wife Janette, horse trainer Gai Waterhouse, mining executive Andrew Forrest, Linfox founder Lindsay Fox, and Olympic kayaker and gold medallist Jess Fox.

The two Australians of the Year, Professor Georgina Long and Professor Richard Scolyer, also attended.

Senior Ngunnawal elder Aunty Violet greeted their majesties and guests with a welcome to country, joined by the Wiradjuri Echoes, a family-run group that teaches Indigenous dancing and culture.

The Australian National Anthem was sung by the Woden Valley Youth Choir in English and Ngunnawal.

In remarks that were televised live, the King paid tribute to the progress Australia had made since his first visit to the country in 1966.

Many of those assembled in the Great Hall raised their mobile phones to take photographs of the royal couple as they left the reception, while others smiled and thanked the King and Queen.

Their majesties walked to the forecourt of Parliament House to greet members of the public before proceeding to other events.

-With AAP

Featured image: Getty