Ben Roberts-Smith turns up to receive a medal from King Charles despite court findings that he took part in war crimes

Fallen military hero Ben Roberts-Smith – who spectacularly failed to clear his name of war crimes charges – has received a special honor from King Charles III at a formal ceremony.

Mr Roberts-Smith attended the event at Government House in Western Australia on Thursday with his parents, where he received a Coronation Medal for King Charles III, which the monarch said should go to all living Victoria Cross recipients.

Despite receiving that honour, Mr Roberts-Smith suffered a stunning loss in a marathon last June a defamation case in which a federal court judge ruled that war crimes allegations made against him by nine newspapers were “substantially or contextually” true.

These claims included that as an SAS commander, Roberts-Smith kicked an Afghan prisoner off a cliff in September 2012, ordered the execution of an amputee and was involved in three other executions of unarmed prisoners.

Mr Roberts-Smith was awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia, Australia’s highest military honour, after his actions at the Battle of Tezak in 2010.

He was spotted outside WA Governor Chris Dawson’s residence on Thursday.

Also present was his father, retired Major General and former High Court judge Len Roberts-Smith.

It was unclear whether Mr Dawson was involved in the incident and he declined to answer questions about it.

Ben Roberts-Smith is seen outside Government House in Western Australia where he received a coronation medal from King Charles III

The office of Governor-General David Hurley, a former chief of staff of the armed forces, said in a statement that the decision to award the medals was made by Buckingham Palace and that Australia’s royal representatives were not involved.

Prime Minister Antonius Albanese also made it clear on Saturday that the decision to recognize Roberts-Smith was made by the king and not his government.

“This was the palace’s decision to give all recipients of the Victoria Cross an additional award,” he said in an interview with Channel 9’s Weekend Today.

‘There are currently legal proceedings on these issues. Given the government’s involvement, it is important that there is no interference.

“But it certainly wasn’t a government decision.”

Queensland Governor Jeannette Young tweeted a photo of herself with recipients of King Charles III’s Coronation Medal in her state.

She said the presentation was “in accordance with His Majesty the King’s wishes that living Australian recipients of the Victoria Cross, the Victoria Cross for Australia, the George Cross and the Cross for Gallantry would also receive it.”

King Charles III’s Coronation Medal has been awarded to all living Australian recipients of the Victoria Cross, the Victoria Cross for Australia, the George Cross and the Cross of Valour

Nine newspapers quoted an anonymous serviceman as saying that Roberts-Smith might not be able to accept the medal in person or might decline it, in recognition of the controversy that now haunts him after losing in federal court last year.

In that ruling, Judge Anthony Besanko found that all of Nine Newspapers and Federal Capital Press’ claims, which Roberts-Smith said were defamatory, are true “substantially or contextually.”

Judge Besanko also found that the allegations of domestic violence were “contextually true”, even though the evidence of Mr Roberts-Smith’s former mistress, Person 17, was “not reliable enough to conclude that there was an assault”.

However, the judge said the allegations, together with the claim that the ex-soldier was hypocritical for posing as a DV campaigner, were “contextually true”.

The judge ruled there was “substantial truth” in Roberts-Smith’s claims that he pushed an innocent villager off a cliff in Darwan, southern Afghanistan, and then ordered his execution.

There was also ‘substantial evidence that Mr Roberts-Smith had shot dead an unarmed Afghan with a prosthetic leg and had ordered a young soldier at the Taliban compound Whiskey 108 to shoot an innocent villager to ‘bleed the newbie’.

Mr Roberts-Smith has appealed the findings. Hearings were held in February and a ruling is expected shortly.

The incidents are believed to be under the scrutiny of the Afghanistan Inquiry, an inspector-general of the Australian Defence Force’s Department of Defence (IGADF).

Known as the Brereton Report, it investigates allegations of possible breaches of the law of armed conflict by members of the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2016.

So far, one SAS soldier has been charged with war crimes.

Australian Defence Force Chief Angus Taylor has recommended to Defence Minister Richard Marles that a group of special forces commanders be stripped of their medals over the units’ misconduct.

The failure of Roberts-Smith’s defamation case, aimed at clearing his name, followed 110 days of explosive hearings and cost a total of $25 million.

It has thrown his hopes of returning to the corporate world and as a motivational speaker into doubt.

Mr Roberts-Smith has been ordered to pay legal costs and will be ordered to pay the very large legal bill from his victorious accusers, Nine Newspapers and Federal Capital Press.

As a Victoria Cross holder, Mr Roberts-Smith attended the coronation of King Charles III in 2022, despite objections from the Australian government.

Mr Roberts-Smith was also ordered to pay legal costs for the publishers he sued for defamation