While yesterday was a national day of mourning, today's condolence speeches have been full of the stories that each of us in this place has heard around our electorates over the past fortnight as people remember their interactions with the Queen with affection. My mum remembers, as a young teenager, being bussed from Temora to Wagga Wagga in 1954 to see the Queen. She was one of tens of thousands who travelled from all across the New South Wales Riverina, and she remembers it being a hot day, but she certainly got a glimpse of the Queen. Years later, I recall standing on the side of the road with my cousins, at an uncle's house, waving as the Queen drove through the Northern Beaches. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh during their 1986 visit to Australia, lining up with other journalists for a brief interaction and covering the Canberra leg of the royal visit.
Across Macquarie, everyone has their story. In the Hawkesbury, there has been much reminiscing about the Queen's visit to St Matthew's church in Windsor, an Anglican church designed by Francis Greenway that the Queen visited in April 1970. She reportedly examined the 1822 silver chalice and plate given to the church by King George IV. Rector Chris Jones dedicated a service to Queen Elizabeth on the Sunday following her death, and along with the congregation I was delighted to see some of the photos of that very historic visit.
The Blue Mountains has its own visit to speak of: the royal visit to Katoomba and Leura in 1954. Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived, on the royal train, at Katoomba, which had been painted blue for the occasion. It's estimated 75,000 people lined the streets of Katoomba as the procession travelled by car to Echo Point, a spectacular setting for any civic reception. Apparently, crowds at Echo Point—where you see the Three Sisters and look across the Jamison Valley—were hanging on the outside of the safety rails and, all around the clifftop, sitting on boulders so they could get a view of the royal party. Fully understanding that the visitors should be allowed time to enjoy the view, a very canny mayor let formalities run for only five minutes.
The Queen was quoted at the time as saying, 'My mother has often told me of the rare beauty of this mountain country, and today I have been delighted with it myself.' Her mother had visited, with the Duke of York, in 1927, lunching at the famous Carrington Hotel, taking in the views and then heading to Jenolan Caves. The photos of the 1954 visit show the royals with Clive R Evatt, the then state minister for art and education and the brother of 'Doc' Evatt; and with Clive's daughters, now recognised as Justice Elizabeth Evatt and Penelope Seidler—so a very prominent party. A well-loved photo locally is one of the Queen departing from Leura on the royal train.
Those are some of the memories of locals, and of course there are many more, such as the Queen presenting Australian polo players with the Coronation Cup in 2005 after they defeated England. The photo is in the Windsor Polo Club, with the winning jerseys, and the Queen is smiling, in spite of her team not having been successful. Di told me the story of how, as a little girl in New Zealand, she lined up to meet the Queen when she visited her school, a memory refreshed by all the discussion that there's been about the way the Queen interacted with the Commonwealth. There were memories of older Australians who could recall the death of her father and how they felt when they heard that a young woman would be the Queen. These memories were shared at the lovely Richmond St Andrew's Uniting Church service and afternoon tea earlier this week. There have been countless gems from moments of her 16 visits to Australia.
There's no doubt that, after 70 years, the affection and respect for Queen Elizabeth runs deep. In the condolence book in my office, Thomas wrote:
To His Majesty, King Charles III and Members of the Royal Family,
I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
She was an inspiring presence who carried out her duties with dignity, grace and care.
She has been a huge part of my life and I will miss her dearly.
There is sadness for many that this chapter in our history has closed, although there are clearly some mixed emotions. But it's an honour to be able to pay respect to Queen Elizabeth II.
