Her Majesty, the Queen, in Oz!

The Queen receives a bouquet of flowers from Canberra schoolchildren after arriving at Fairbairn air base yesterday to begin her tour. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Riding the royal waves

BY MEGAN DOHERTY

20 Oct, 2011 01:13 PM

The Queen has worn shades of lavender and silk orchids to visit the million blooms of Floriade in Canberra’s Commonwealth Park. In bright sunshine with magpies pecking at the lawn, a crowd of nearly 900 invited guests waved, cheered and flew the Australian flag as the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were escorted by head gardener Andrew Forster and ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher.

The royal couple stopped to inspect the Victory Garden which had fruit and vegetables reminiscent of an Australian backyard from World War II, a conflict in which the Queen’s mother was such an inspirational force.

I'm no Monarchist but that does not mean I do not like and respect dear old Lizzie and it's great to see her back in Oz again. As a 12 year old, I was one of tens of thousands of school children who lined up to greet the young and beautiful queen on her first tour in 1954. We all thought it was exciting but a day off school while we were bused from Hunter's Hill to North Sydney Oval and back again was, I reckon, the greatest delight we got from her visit.

The 'pomp and ceremony' is greatly reduced and a visit to Sydney is off the agenda because of the horrific security problems (and costs) that would cause! Apparently this time HRH is contributing to her own security costs - hence the 'low key' visit - and that put Sydney to the sword!

28C at 6.00pm would have been a 'warmish' welcome for her after an eighteen hour flight from a rather dreary London climate! LOL!