I have always been an ardent admirer of the monarchy, what with an English rose as a mother and pioneering Aussie farmers on dad’s side.
Back in 1952, as an 11 year old paper boy it took me over 3 hours to do my normal 45 minute paper delivery round. That was simply because, in those pre-TV days, everyone was waiting for me to arrive with the latest news about the passing of King George VI and the accession of Elizabeth, our new queen. And they wanted to talk about it with their young paper boy.
I have never forgotten that day or the succeeding days, weeks, and months from funeral to coronation… or even the couple of years to that memorable Royal Tour.
I am proud to have lived under such a great head of state as our beloved Queen, that’s right the Queen of Australia. She played her role admirably. A wonderful woman indeed!
Well said Winno! I was about 5 or 6 when the Queen visited Austalia. My parents and siblings travelled almost a whole day over rough bush roads to travel from Mulgildie in Queensland to Rockhampton to see the Queen. Still sticks in my memory. I also remember having devon sandwiches on the way – quite a treat in those days! She willbe sadly missed.
Yea, great memories Kevin! I was a little bit older than you when she first visited and remember waiting for hours in St Kilda Rd in Melbourne waiting for her to go past. We, the kids that is, all had periscopes (I think we must have got them free or perhaps Cole had them very cheap) but they were square tubes about a foot long with mirrors at 45 degrees each end so we could see over the crowd… simple but worked a treat! Although we waited for hours, time went well coz there were always people going up and down the road we could cheer or heckle. And the after-a-few-hours tomato or jam sandwiches which had sorta “leaked” through the bread still tasted pretty good. Ah yes, great memories!