I'm a little less than 10 years younger then our late Queen, and grew up reading of the young princesses, and the rest of the Royal Family In those days, Australia's National Anthem was God Save the King, which we sang at school on certain occasions. When King George VI died in 1952, and the young Queens ascended to the throne, we sang God Save the Queen. Australia now has its own national anthem, Advance Australia Fair. I well remember watching the coronation fireworks display from the shores of Sydney Harbour, right next to the famous bridge.
At the end if 1953 I moved to Lismore, on the far north coast of NSW, and in February 1954 the Queen visited Lismore as part of her first Australian tour. We stood in pouring rain to see her, and I have been a staunch royalist ever since. The next time I saw her in person was at the Trooping the Colour in 1997, when we stood near the Canada Gates to watch the members of the Royal Family leave, and later return, to Buckingham Palace. It was also the 75th anniversary of the RAF, and a flypast of the Red Arrows trailing red, white, and blue, smoke, went right over our heads. I have some great photos of the Queen pointing at the aircraft as they flew past.
It wasn't unexpected, but extremely sad nevertheless, to hear this morning of the Queen's passing, Truly, an end to an era,
Peter.
