queenelizabethii

Queen Elizabeth II visited the Queensland Parliament on numerous occasions, including: In 1954, the Queen became the first reigning British monarch to visit Australia with her husband Prince Phillip. During this tour, she visited the Queensland Parliament on 9 March for a State reception at Parliament House, and the following day for a parliamentary luncheon. Source: www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Global/Her-Majesty-The-Queen

A significant proportion of the Australian population saw the Royal couple during the tour. It was an extraordinarily popular event. The Queensland itinerary featured Brisbane on 9-10 and 16-18 March, and the regional cities Bundaberg and Toowoomba on 11 March, Townsville on 12 March, Cairns on 13 March, and Mackay and Rockhampton on 15 March. The Queen traveled 2600 km by plane, and the Townsville–Cairns–Mackay legs on the Royal yacht. Despite the distance, the Queen’s trip never took her inland from the Queensland coast further than Toowoomba, but many Queenslanders traveled inland to see their Queen. Elizabeth II commented that ‘what has impressed me the most was the long distances people traveled to see me. From Brisbane, the couple visited Bundaberg, Toowoomba, and, briefly, Oakey on 11 March. This journey included a 640 km flight and a 100 km car trip. People all over the state traveled to the major regional centers to catch sight of the Queen. In Toowoomba, schoolchildren rode milk trucks, and adults traveled in trucks and buses to see the Royal couple for only a fleeting moment. The federal government's Royal Visit commemorative book published just after the tour described one of the highlights of Toowoomba as the royal couple witnessing 'the grotesque, age-old ceremonial of the corroboree performed by full-blood Aborigines who have traveled from the Northern Territory for the occasion.' Source: www.qhatlas.com.au/content/queen-queensland-1954

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...