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Representatives of the UQ Senate, staff and students gathered at short notice in March 1954 to catch a glimpse of Prince Philip, as the Duke of Edinburgh made a whirlwind tour of the St Lucia campus. The informal UQ visit was a late addition to the 1954 royal tour of Australia, during which Prince Philip joined Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, on her first tour of Australia as British monarch. Prince Philip arrived at UQ shortly after 6 pm on 17 March and spent about one-and-a-half hours at the University, where he was received by Queensland Deputy Premier John Duggan, Chancellor Dr. Otto Hirschfeld, and Vice-Chancellor John Story AO. The Duke was then escorted to the John Darnell Art Gallery, where he was presented with a souvenir of bound photographs of UQ buildings, before moving to the library, where he met and greeted about 50 student union representatives. The visit concluded with a stroll through the Great Court cloisters to the Geology building, where Prince Philip stopped to admire a collection of minerals, murals, and seismographs Source: alumni.uq.edu.au/contact-magazine/article/2021/04/remembe... The photo may not be related to this article, yet it was just in addition to describing some details of the Royal visit to Queensland.

By tradition, the British monarch is crowned using St. Edward’s Crown, the oldest and heaviest crown in Britain that is still being used today. Like most of the crown jewels, the crown dates to the restoration period. It was made in 1661, based on the design of a medieval crown that bore the same name. That original crown was sold during the interregnum, following the execution of King Charles I, and the new one was made following the restoration of King Charles II. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, placed St. Edward’s Crown on Elizabeth’s head during one of the most memorable moments of the coronation ceremony. The crowd shouted “God Save the Queen!” three times as the crown touched the monarch’s head. This was the one and only time that the Queen wore this particular crown. It is only used for coronations, and it is kept at all other times in the Tower of London. At the end of the coronation ceremony, the heavy St. Edward’s Crown is swapped out for the lighter Imperial State Crown. The Queen wore the latter as she departed from the Abbey, and for the official photographs and balcony appearances that followed. The Imperial State Crown was made in 1838 for the coronation of Queen Victoria, based on the design of earlier crowns. While St. Edward’s Crown is the coronation crown, the Imperial State Crown is the “working” crown—the one, for example, worn by the Queen at almost every State Opening of Parliament during her reign. (There were two exceptions to this rule: two monarchs, Victoria and Edward VII, were actually crowned with the Imperial State Crown during their coronation ceremonies. Source: www.thecourtjeweller.com/2022/09/the-queen-a-life-in-jewe...

The logistics of a Royal Visit are necessarily complicated and a great deal of time was spent on the program, security, and transport arrangements. Everything was planned down to the minute. Traffic arrangements for the 1954 Royal Visit to Queensland were the sole responsibility of and were arranged by, the Commissioner of Police. At 2.30 p.m. the Royal Progress will leave Eagle Farm Airport on a signal from the State Director at 6 m.i.h. for Exhibition Grounds (Route 1, Map 1) via Lamington Avenue, (2.36) Nudgee Road, (2.40) Kingsford Smith Drive, (2.57) Breakfast Creek Road, (3.03) Ann Street, (3.11) Brunswick Street, (3.16) Lower Gregory Terrace where Cars 1 and 2 will accelerate to provide an interval of 75 yards between Car 2 and the Royal Car. A Mounted Escort will take up a position in the lead of and to the rear of the Royal Car. Cars 4 to 15 inclusive will reduce speed to enable the rear of the Mounted Escort to take up a position. The Motor Cycle Escort will detach itself from the Progress and rejoin the Progress at the corner of Roma and Makerston Streets. The Queen and her entourage of 38, landed in Brisbane at 2.15 pm on March 9, 1954. The Royal Progress took the Royal couple from the Airport to the Exhibition Ground; the Shrine of Remembrance and then onto Government House. The Queensland Police Motorcycle units were top and tail of the procession until it reached Lower Gregory Terrace, at which the Police Mounted unit slotted into a lead and followed the royal car through the streets of downtown Brisbane. The Motorcycle Unit picked up the tour at Roma Street and lead it out to Government House. Source: mypolice.qld.gov.au/museum/2021/09/14/from-the-vault-quee...