Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip to visit Australia

Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip will visit Australia in October.

The 84-year-old monarch and her husband will fly into Perth on October 28 for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and they are expected to see other cities across the country during the tour.

A Buckingham Palace statement said: "The queen and the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Philip) will visit Australia in the autumn. This visit will include the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Perth."

The queen is said to be very excited about her first visit to Australia since opening the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006.

A spokeswoman said: "She is very is very much looking forward to coming Australia. We are not saying whether she will visit other cities at this stage, but that may be announced later."

As head of the Commonwealth, the queen presides over the CHOGM gathering of the "family of nations".

The meetings, held every two years, discuss global and Commonwealth issues.

This will be Elizabeth's 16th trip to Australia as British monarch with the first coming in 1954.