With her protest before the king, Lidia Thorpe bursts the warm bubble of nostalgia around the royal visit | Karen Middleton

Charles and Camilla entered the Great Hall from a door behind the stage - not from the foyer, down the centre aisle, and past Thorpe. Now we may know why

• King Charles heckled by Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe at Australia's Parliament House
• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

As soon as Lidia Thorpe RSVP'd to the royal reception at Parliament House, it would have been clear to those in charge of protocol that there was probably going to be a protest.

Perhaps this was why the king and queen and their hosts entered the Great Hall from a door behind the stage and not straight ahead from the foyer, down the centre aisle and right past where Thorpe, dressed in a possum-skin cloak, had taken up an early position at the front of a group of waiting MPs.