A group of Indigenous Australians has met the King at London’s Australia House to mark the 40th anniversary of the handback of the Uluru National Park.

The monarch attended the commemoration at the diplomatic mission in central London, where he met nine Aboriginal representatives and owners of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which the King visited in 1983, accompanied by his then-wife, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, and Kata Tjuta, also known as The Olgas, are some of central Australia’s most iconic landscapes.

Included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, they are sacred sites of the Anangu people. They reclaimed ownership of the land after the Australian government handed back the title deeds on October 26, 1985.

The celebration on Thursday (local time) included a traditional dance and song performance by the nine Anangu Traditional Owners – some of whom had never previously visited Britain.

“When you heard us singing our song, it’s from our grandmothers and grandfathers,” said Sammy Wilson, whose words were translated into English by fellow Anangu representative Harry Wilson.

“That place has always been ours, from a long way back.

“Our land is sacred. That is the song we were singing.”

The Anangu people have lived in the area around Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park for more than 30,000 years, the Australian High Commissioner to the UK Stephen Smith said in his commemoration speech.

Alison Carroll, who also spoke with Wilson as an interpreter, said: “In the past, when I was young, the Queen and the King before her, they did have ownership of Australia.

“But now, we’re in the process of saying, some of the lands has to come back to Aboriginal peoples and that needs to be given back in a process of, you know, a sense of ownership where we belong.”

Asked whether they would like the King to visit Uluru again, Harry Wilson, Alison Carroll and Sammy Wilson smiled and gave a thumbs up, adding: “Yep, we would like him to come and visit.”

Smith first welcomed the King to Australia House before they went into the building’s Downer Room, where Anangu representatives Rueben Burton, Craig Woods, Sammy Wilson, Alison Carroll, Rita Okai, Selina Kulitja, Rene Kulitja, Tapaya Edwards and Harry Wilson shook hands with him.

The monarch also gifted a decorative plate, created by Scottish slipware potters Fitch & McAndrew, to the Anangu community.

In a video message addressed to the King and played to the audience at Australia House, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked him for “taking this opportunity to meet with the traditional owners ahead of what is a deeply significant anniversary”.

“It was a milestone in Aboriginal land rights in Australia and a powerful moment in the story of our continent,” he said.

“Around the world, Uluru is instantly recognised as Australian.

“In Australia, it stands as a monument to our people’s love for the country and their determination to see justice done.

“It is indeed a deeply spiritual place.

“Thank you to the Anangu community for making the long journey to share your rich cultural history with their UK friends.”

The King’s visit to Australia House on Thursday was his first as monarch. His last was in November 2018, when he was accompanied by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Following the Uluru Handback in 1985, Anangu people signed an agreement to lease the park back to the Australian Parks and Wildlife Service, establishing a 99-year joint management arrangement.

-AAP