jubilee

It was Bundaberg’s most fleeting and eagerly anticipated event—the arrival of the newest monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday, March 11, 1954. The Royal Entourage arrived by plane at 11:20 am, and were gone by 1:20 pm, en route to their next regional destination Oakey. Source: www.artsbundaberg.com.au/downloads/file/46/queens-visit-1...

The Queen and Duke flew to Brisbane from Toowoomba on 11 March before flying the next day to Townsville. To get from Townsville to Cairns the Royal couple changed their mode of transport and sailed on the Royal yacht, the SS Gothic. They arrived in Cairns on 13 March at 11.30 am. People waited overnight on the wharf and in the streets to get the best vantage point. The couple’s time in Cairns was very short, however, and by early afternoon the Queen and Duke were back on the Gothic to cruise south to Mackay through the Whitsundays. They left the yacht to view the reef in private through a glass-bottomed boat and spent a free afternoon on Seaforth Island. Source: www.qhatlas.com.au/content/queen-queensland-1954

That time the Queen and Prince Philip popped into Bundy IT WAS the biggest news of the year when newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh came to the Rum City. By Sandra Godwin and Vanessa Marsh THE biggest news of the year - if not the century - was the visit by newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh in 1954. During the nine weeks before the March 11 visit, the NewsMail published no fewer than 57 articles about the impending visit in 40 days. On January 8, there was the news that March 11 had been gazetted as a public holiday. Then there were all the updates on planning: the procession route, the ceremony, decorations, and protocol, as well as the continuing bun fight over who was to be presented to the royal visitors. "If only we had television," was the comment of many Bundaberg people who listened to the broadcast of the Queen's arrival in Sydney on February 3. After two people collapsed and died in the crash as one million people tried to see the Queen in Melbourne on February 24, Bundaberg hotels were asked to regulate the number of people they allowed on their balconies in the interests of safety. To mark the royal visit, the NewsMail on March 10 published a six-page supplement "devoted exclusively to the discovery, development, and aspirations of Bundaberg and district in all its phases, it will constitute an enduring memento of the greatest day in our history". The excitement built to a fever pitch as people prepared for "the greatest thrill of their lives". The city's illumination and decorations were complete, and fine weather was promised. "Nearly 70,000 people from the Wide Bay and Burnett gave Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh an unforgettable welcome in Bundaberg yesterday", the NewsMail read on March 12. The big crowd was so enthusiastic that it cheered the progress of the plane after its departure from Brisbane was broadcast at 10.40 am. Ten thousand people were at the airport. Hundreds had slept there overnight while many others began to arrive and take up their positions long before daybreak. The airport presented a wonderful scene with six mammoth royal airliners and a fleet of 10 royal vehicles occupying the tarmac. The 300 police on duty sweltered in their winter uniforms but did a splendid job. Source: www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/bundaberg/that-tim...