did the queen visit australia in 1963

Royal Visits to Australia

Between 1954 and 2011, Her Majesty The Queen visited Australia 16 times.

His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh accompanied Her Majesty on each visit. Together they visited every state in Australia and the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory.

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet published details of the Royal Visits to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in 2022. More information about Australia's Platinum Jubilee celebrations is available from the Trove archive of the The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee 2022 website

Royal Visit programs

In partnership with the National Library, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has shared digital copies of its collection of official Royal Visit programs.

Royal Visit programs on Trove

Latest news

Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla to visit Australia in October 2024

Summaries of royal visits.

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 3 February – 1 April 1954

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 18 February - 27 March 1963

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 30 March – 3 May 1970

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 17–22 October 1973

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 27–28 February 1974

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 7–30 March 1977

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 24–28 May 1980

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 26 September – 12 October 1981

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 5–13 October 1982

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 2–13 March 1986

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh and Separate Program by His Royal Highness The Prince Edward: 19 April – 10 May 1988

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 18–25 February 1992

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 17 March – 1 April 2000

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 27 February – 3 March 2002

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 12–16 March 2006

Royal Visit to Australia by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: 19–29 October 2011

The Royal Watcher

Queen in australia, 1963.

The  Queen  and Duke of Edinburgh  completed their five-week Tour of Australia on this day in 1963, at the end of a two-month Commonwealth Tour of Fiji, New Zealand , and Australia, which was their first joint visit to Australia since the 1954 Commonwealth Tour , with their next being  the  Captain Cook Bicentenary Tour in 1970 .

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The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh visited Canberra, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Brisbane, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Darwin, Kununurra, Koolan Island, Broome, Geraldton and Perth between February 18th and March 27th, travelling mostly on the Royal Yacht Britannia.

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The highlight of the Queen (wearing the Vladimir Tiara and Cambridge Emerald Parure ) and Duke of Edinburgh’s visit was a spectacular State Reception hosted by Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies at the Parliament House in Canberra, following a Dinner at Government House.  

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In Adelaide, the Queen (in Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara , Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace and the Duchess of Gloucester’s Pendant Earrings ) and the Duke of Edinburgh attended a Dinner at Government House before attending a Royal Music Festival in Elder Park, tracing in the Royal Barge across Torrens Lake.

The Queen (wearing Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara , Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace and the Duchess of Gloucester’s Pendant Earrings ) and Duke also attended a Reception given by the Government of Victoria at the Melbourne Town Hall, following a private dinner on board the Royal Yacht Britannia, though two days later, there was a Dinner Party at Government House in Melbourne.

The highlight of the Queen (in the Vladimir Tiara and Cambridge Emerald Parure ) and Duke of Edinburgh’s visit to Sydney was a spectacular Pageant at the Royal Agricultural Society’s Show-ground, which followed a private dinner on board the Royal Yacht Britannia.  

The Queen (wearing the Vladimir Tiara and Cambridge Emerald Parure ) and Duke were also photographed on the Royal Yacht Britannia during another Gala, likely a Dinner held on the Royal Yacht in Hobart. There were also Gala Dinners in Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, and Perth, with another highlight being the meeting of the Queen with her cousins, the then Governor of Queensland, Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith and Lady Abel Smith .

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16 visits over 57 years: reflecting on Queen Elizabeth II’s long relationship with Australia

Associate Professor of English, Flinders University

Disclosure statement

Giselle Bastin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Flinders University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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“Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth” has died. Given her advanced years, this has long been expected, yet it still seems incredible this woman who has been Australia’s queen for the duration of most Australians’ lives is no longer with us.

While the focus of the formalities and ceremony of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II will centre on London and the UK, there is no doubt it will be keenly observed by many Australians.

The queen liked Australia and Australians. She came here 16 times throughout her reign and was, famously, on her way to our shores in 1952 when she learned her father had passed on and she was now queen.

Her visits to Australia – from her first in 1954 through to her last in 2011 – offer a snapshot of the changing relationship Australians have had with their sovereign and with the monarchy.

An enthusiastic nation

The queen’s 1954 tour took place during a time described by historian Ben Pimlott as the age of “ British Shintoism ”. Deference to the Crown was paramount in Britain and the Commonwealth, and many Australians were madly enthusiastic about their queen.

After her arrival at Farm Cove in Sydney on February 3 1954, Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to set foot on Australian soil. The royal tour lasted nearly two months and consisted of a gruelling schedule taking in visits to every state and territory apart from the Northern Territory.

During the tour, the queen greeted over 70,000 ex-service men and women; drove in cavalcades that took in massive crowds; attended numerous civic receptions; and opened the Australian Parliament in Canberra. The tour saw Elizabeth travel 10,000 miles by air and 2,000 miles by road – including 207 trips by car and by appointed royal trains.

It is estimated as much as 75% of the population saw the queen and Prince Philip during this tour.

No Australian prime minister has ever had a reception on this scale or exposure to so many of the country’s citizens.

A “new” and prosperous country

During her first two tours in 1954 and 1963, the Australia laid-out for display for the queen was depicted as having gone from being a small colonial settlement to a thriving economy that had ridden to prosperity “ on the sheep’s back ”.

The queen was treated to endless displays of sheep shearing, surf carnivals, wood chopping, whip cracking, and mass displays of dancing and singing by school children. Federal and state dignitaries, mayors and civic leaders from across the political divide jostled to meet and be seen with her; the country’s florists were emptied of flowers for the hundreds of bouquets presented to her by dozens of shy, nervous school children nudged gently forward by awe-struck parents.

During the early tours, Aboriginal Australians were kept at a discreet distance. Apart from a demonstration of boomerang and spear throwing, the closest the queen came to experiencing anything of Indigenous Australian culture was a ballet performed by the Arts Council Ballet titled Corroboree, with no Aboriginal dancers but dancers with blackened faces.

During the 1970 visit, the queen witnessed the re-enactment of Captain James Cook’s arrival at Botany Bay, with Cook and his crew meeting “the resistance of the Aborigines with a volley of musket fire”.

By 1973, Indigenous Australians were given a more significant role in the royal tours. Aboriginal actor Ben Blakeney, one of Bennelong’s descendants, gave the official welcome during the opening of the Sydney Opera House, and the then unknown actor David Gulpilil was among those performing a ceremonial dance.

Invited guest, not ruler of the land

As early as the 1963 tour, the nation-wide royal fervour had dimmed a little. The 1963 visit witnessed smaller crowds and fewer mass public events. When Prime Minister Robert Menzies courted the queen with the now-famous line, “I did but see her passing by, and yet I love her till I die”, the ensuing blushes – including the queen’s own – reflected many Australians’ growing sense of embarrassment at public displays and unquestioning expressions of deference.

Despite this, Menzies’ displays of public ardour saw him being granted The Order of the Thistle shortly after, a bestowal which must surely remain the envy of some subsequent prime ministers.

The 1977 Silver Jubilee and 1988 Australian bicentenary visits perhaps marked the end of a period of royal tours as overt celebrations of Australia’s ties to Britain. This new flavour of tours positioned the sovereign as an invited guest to an independent, modern and multi-cultural nation.

On her 10th tour in 1986, the queen returned to sign the Australia Act , which brought to an end the ability of the UK to create laws for Australia.

Her role as our sovereign subtly transformed from cutting ribbons and opening Parliament to signing the documents that slowly, by degrees, contributed to the cutting of Australia’s ties to the UK and the Crown.

A question of the republic

By the 12th tour in 1992, the cost of the queen’s visits to Australia were increasingly scrutinised by a public feeling largely indifferent about the royal family. The prime minister of the day, Paul Keating, was seen not so much as an entranced liege lord revelling in the opportunity to see his sovereign “passing by” as one who instead – unthinkingly – committed an act of lèse majesté by placing his bare hand on the royal back and waist as he guided her through the crowd.

The gloves, it seemed, were coming off.

The queen made it clear in her last visits to our shores that whether or not Australia should become a republic was a decision for its own citizens to make. Her official announcement after she learned of the result of the 1999 Republic Referendum confirmed this:

I have always made it clear that the future of the Monarchy in Australia is an issue for the Australian people and them alone to decide, by democratic and constitutional means. … My family and I would, of course, have retained our deep affection for Australia and Australians everywhere, whatever the outcome.

In the last decades of her life, the queen retained the affection of many. Her popularity seemed to grow in line with Australians’ increased disenchantment with their home-grown political leaders: the former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Julia Gillard are right to have sensed that any discussion about an Australian republic would have to wait until after Elizabeth II’s death.

Queen Elizabeth II reigned across seven decades and her tours to Australia served as a marker of Australia’s changing relationship with the Crown as well as with its own colonial past and national identity.

Almost certainly, Elizabeth II’s reign as the stalwart, loyal, dutiful, and most cherished and admired of “Glorianas” is one we are unlikely ever to see again.

Correction: the article previously stated the queen was on her way to Australia in 1953 when she learned of her father’s death. This has been corrected to 1952.

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1963 Visit of Queen Elizabeth II

Posted in Broadcasts

Second Royal Tour of Australia by Queen Elizabeth II to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of Canberra: Prime Minister Menzies after saying that the British monarchy was the most democratic in the world, spoke about Australian affection as an expression of that and quoted the lines: I did but see her passing by ... "Anachronistically and mindlessly, this one sentence is generally used to lampoon Menzies' attitude to the monarchy, as if this was the only thing he ever said on the subject." A W Martin, Robert Menzies A Life Vol 2 1944-1978, 1999 p 455.

ROYAL TOUR - VOICE OVER:

There is no greater admirer of the Royal Family than the Prime Minister.

SIR ROBERT MENZIES ADDRESSING THE QUEEN: All I ask you to remember in this country of yours is that every man, woman and child who even sees you with a passing glimpse as you go by will remember it, remember it with joy, remember it - in the words of the old 17th century poet who wrote those famous words, "I did but see her passing by and yet I love her till I die." (applause)

Remembering the Queen's NT visits and how she brought hope to drought-stricken Central Australia

By Emma Haskin

By Samantha Dick

ABC Alice Springs

Topic: Royalty

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh walk from the red dirt onto the red carpet in Alice Springs. ( Supplied: Trudy Hayes, Alice Springs Public Library )

As the Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, stepped onto the tarmac at Alice Springs airport in 1963, she looked around at what she had been told was Australia's "dead heart". 

But, as she said in a speech that brought hope to hundreds who had suffered the ravages of a decade-long drought, that is not what she saw.

She saw the "living heart" of the nation.

"After hearing my husband's account of the dramatic scenery, and about the work and hospitality of its people, I was determined that the Northern Territory should be included in this visit," she said in a speech to locals.

"From now on, I shall always look upon it as a living heart beating with confident energy."

The Queen acknowledged that "city dwellers" considered the land "a harsh country with no redeeming features".

"To the romantic, it is the last frontier, the outpost of civilisation, the land of pioneers to be pitied as well as admired," she said.

But she saw Australia's interior as "a land of promise".

"After this visit, no-one will be able to suggest to me that Central Australia is a dead heart," she said.

The Queen takes a tour of Alice Springs during her visit in 1963. ( Facebook: Gerry Smyth )

It was the Royals' first visit together to the Northern Territory and marked the end of an extensive tour of Australia.

Robert Menzies was prime minister, William Sidney was governor-general, and the population of Australia at the end of the year was only 10 million.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visit the Royal Flying Doctors base in Alice Springs. ( Supplied: Trudy Hayes, Alice Springs Public Library )

Local historian Stuart Traynor said excitement was at fever pitch when the royals arrived at Alice Springs Airport at 4:20pm on March 14.

Their schedule was packed, beginning with an official welcome at the newly built Traeger Park.

"All the children of the schools were lined up on the oval in the big shape of a boomerang," Mr Traynor said.

An excited crowd welcomed Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to Traeger Park in Alice Springs. ( Supplied: Gavin Carpenter, Alice Springs Public Library )

The Queen and Prince Philip stayed two nights at The Residency on the corner of Parsons and Hartley Streets.

Historian Megg Kelham said two new toilets were installed for the Royal visit, as was air conditioning.

In the 1990s when The Residency was due to undergo restoration works to return it to its original 1920s build, Ms Kelham said the National Trust objected. 

"What they wanted to keep was not the air conditioning system, but the toilet that the Queen might have used," Ms Kelham said.

"Now this speaks to the unique character of Alice Springs. It's a very odd thing to want to do."

Megg Kelham at The Residency, where Queen Elizabeth II stayed in 1963. ( ABC News: Xavier Martin )

Ms Kelham said the Queen singled out her visit to Alice Springs in 1963 as a highlight of that year's royal tour of Australia.

"The Queen was a woman of competence, a horse woman, who — if she wasn't the Queen — would have probably been striding around the countryside in jodhpurs, not in skirts and crowns," Ms Kelham said. 

"I think she might have recognised that in the women of central Australia."

A rowdy lunch

The controversy was reported in the Centralian Advocate. ( Supplied: Alice Springs Public Library )

It was at an official royal luncheon held at the Stuart Arms Hotel where controversy unfolded.

Colonel Lionel Rose, the first director of the Animal Industry Branch in the Northern Territory, told the 100 exuberant guests to "shut up" — language not considered fit for a queen.

Locals Keith and Shirley Castle remember the event clearly.

They were excited to have been invited to have lunch with the Royals thanks to Mr Castle's role as the district governor for Apex at the time.

Mr Castle said the noise of all the guests was deafening.

"A lot of people wouldn't stop talking when people were trying to make the speeches," he said.

The Queen's visit brought much-needed hope and excitement to drought-stricken Alice Springs. ( Supplied: Audrey Attwood, Alice Springs Public Library )

"Colonel Rose got up and said, 'Would you all shut up?', which strangely had a far better effect than what the MC had been doing."

Mr Castle said he was convinced he saw the Queen smile.

"I wouldn't say she laughed but she certainly had a big smile on her face, so did the Prince as well," he said.

Mr Traynor said the furore was reported in the now-defunct local paper, the Centralian Advocate.

"A few days later [the paper] reported that and they carried a letter from Colin Ford, the minister at the Flynn church who the Queen had met earlier," he said.

"He got stuck into Colonel Rose, saying it was disgraceful for him to use that terrible language and how it brought shame on the people of Alice Springs."

The royal couple's visit to Alice Springs was a major event for the whole community. ( Supplied: Gavin Carpenter, Alice Springs Public Library )

The Castles said it was a memory they — and the rest of the town — would always cherish.

Victor Ludwig holding a photo of the moment he met Queen Elizabeth II in Darwin in 1977. ( ABC News: Dane Hirst )

A football grand final to remember

Victor Ludwig still remembers the dos and don'ts of greeting Her Majesty in 1977 in Darwin.

"We had a few dress rehearsals of how to shake the Queen's hand," he said. 

"You don't talk to the Queen until you're spoken to. 

St Mary's football team meeting the Queen in 1977. ( Supplied )

"You don't start the conversation — you wait until she speaks and you answer — and if she wants some information, you give it to her."

Then president of St Mary's football club, Mr Ludwig was chosen to host the Queen at a grand final football match against the Waratahs. 

Tensions were high.

"When the Queen's car got down to the St Mary's end [of the oval], there was clapping and cheering — and a few boos," Mr Ludwig said.

"Prince Philip looks down to my wife and said, 'Why are they booing?'

"My wife said, 'Well, Your Royal Highness, the Queen, Her Majesty, is wearing the opposition club colours'."

Queen Elizabeth II visited Darwin again in October, 1982. ( Supplied: Andy Matthewson )

When Little Miss Territorian met the Queen

On that same 1977 tour, when Darwin was still rebuilding after Cyclone Tracy, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II unveiled a commemorative plaque in honour of the victims of the cyclone.

While she was in town, Queen Elizabeth was given a special gift from Little Miss Territorian, Tamara Johnson.

But it did not exactly go to plan.

Speaking to ABC Radio Darwin, Ms Johnson said "the Lord Mayor at the time was Dr Ella Stack, and she was wearing all of the full lord mayoral robes".

"So I actually thought that the Lord Mayor was the Queen and attempted to give her the flowers instead," she said. 

"I was six, nearly seven ... Prince Philip was grinning ear to ear."

'She was really, really lovely'

When Margaret Kemarre 'M K' Turner heard Queen Elizabeth II was coming to Alice Springs in 2000, she eyed a golden opportunity. 

"We just told her we don't want any more children to be locked up," the Arrernte elder said, pointing to the Northern Territory's 1997 mandatory sentencing laws.

"We want to have our children beside us and live our life, live our lives as people, as families."

Margaret Kemarre Turner says it was a great honour to have met Queen Elizabeth 22 years ago. ( ABC News: Xavier Martin )

Dr Turner, board director of First Nations not-for-profit Children's Ground, said she was pleased the Queen visited Central Australia "to see who we are, what we do and how we live".

She said she witnessed the complicated relationship some locals had with the British royal family.

"Everybody from the camps wanted to go and see the Queen," Dr Turner said. 

"But a lot of our mob pushed other people back. They thought she wasn't the right person to meet.

"I think she was really, really lovely."

In photos: Remembering Queen Elizabeth's royal visits to Australia

Remembering the Queen's visits to Australia

When Queen Elizabeth II arrived on Australian shores in 1954, it was an historic moment for Monarch and country.

The almost month-long tour, alongside husband the Duke of Edinburgh, would make her the first reigning monarch to tour the country.

It would be her first of 16 Australian visits.

As the world mourns a history-making leader , scroll through the gallery to learn more about the Queen's Australian tours – and see the last ever photo taken of the monarch on our shores.

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• British Royal Family

1954: The Queen's first Australian tour

On the morning of February 3, 1954, the Queen stepped off the royal barge in Sydney Harbour.

On the day, The Sydney Morning Herald reported an estimated one million people lined the city streets and the shallow harbour inlet of Farm Cove.

A further half a million flooded other vantage points around the harbour.

On the day of the Queen's arrival into Sydney, an ice cream salesman told The Herald he expected to make "one pound an hour for the next few days".

One pound back in 1954 would be worth an estimated $16.40 in today's money.

The Queen's visit would be documented in Australia's first colour feature length documentary film.

"The film was shot by a total of 16 cameramen, capturing her visits to each state capital and many regional areas over her two-month official visit," the National Film and Sound Archive said in a statement on its website.

Former editor-in-chief of The Australian Women's Weekly Deborah Thomas says the reception to the Queen's arrival proved she had "movie-star glamour".

"[She was] a rock star, essentially, the biggest celebrity to have ever arrived on our shores," Thomas tells 9Honey .

That landmark visit would give 75 per cent of Australia's population an opportunity to see the Queen in person over a two months.

The Queen wore her coronation gown when she opened the Australian parliament on February 1954.

Her Majesty had been crowned at Westminster Abbey, in London, almost a year earlier, on June 2, 1953.

Former Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt and his wife, Zara, were in London for the formalities.

Holt shared his observations from the historic day in letters obtained by the NAA.

“The oddest incident in the whole ceremony was the appearance, just before the Queen’s procession arrived and after the other royal processions had moved through, of two aproned maids - one pushing a hand operated carpet sweeper around the Throne area, and the other doing her bit of cleaning, broom in hand," he wrote.

The Queen, in her royal finery, attending a state banquet in Canberra alongside then-prime minister Robert Menzies.

On her first trip, Her Majesty visited every Australian capital city and 70 regional tours.

She is pictured here in Newcastle, NSW.

During the tour she would deliver 100 speeches.

The Queen endured 57 hours across 55 flights during the tour, the National Archives of Australia (NAA) found.

There was reportedly no delay on the tour or any baggage lost.

The Queen travelled more than 3000km in cars on the trip.

This equated to 120 hours on the road with 207 separate trips.

One of the stops on the royal tour was Whyalla in South Australia, where she and The Duke greeted well-wishers.

1963: The Queen returns

In 1963, the Queen returned for her second Royal Tour of Australia.

The popularity of the monarch is clear in this photo of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh driving through the crowds in a Land Rover at the Bushman's Carnival in Brisbane.

During the tour, Queen Elizabeth met with then-Australian Prime Minister Menzies.

This time it was at the official Jubilee celebrations in Canberra.

1970: The 'walkabout' tour

In March 1970, the Queen returned to Australia for her third tour.

The Queen and Duke were joined on this tour by children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

The tour would last 34 days and was historic for a single decision by the Queen to do a 'walk-about'.

She first exited a car and greeted crowds on the New Zealand leg of the tour.

Royal expert Victoria Arbiter told Talking Honey the royal visit in 1963 had been a little lacklustre, so aides were tasked with jazzing things up a bit.

"They were going to New Zealand as well, so William Heseltine who was the Queen's private secretary at the time - the only Australian to hold the position," Victoria said.

"He was the one put in charge, he was the jazzmaster."

She said after discussing options with authorites in New Zealand they came up with the idea the Queen would alight from her car ahead of the destination and then she'd meet the regular people.

"Not just wave and offer a handshake to dignitaries," Victoria said.

It was such a success, the royals continued with a 'walkabout' in Sydney.

1973: The Queen opens 'The House'

In 1973, the Queen returned to Australia for the official opening of the new Sydney Opera House.

On that day, the awaiting crowds consumed 96,000 meat pies, one tonne of hot dogs, 2000 gallons of fruit juice and 150,000 cups of instant coffee.

1974: The royal tour cut short

The Queen visited Australia a year later in 1974 to open the nation's parliament in Canberra.

Unlike previous trips, which were weeks long, the Queen's 1974 tour was cut short as the UK faced economic crisis.

In February that year, then-UK Prime Minister Prime Minister Edward Heath called a snap election.

It is the Queen's constitutional role to appoint a new British Prime Minister.

The outcome of the election resulted in a hung parliament, the UK's first in 45 years.

1977: The royal train and $100m worth of treasures

In 1977, the Queen toured Australia as part of her Silver Jubilee.

During this tour, Her Majesty purposely visited South Australia and Western Australia.

The visit to the two states would be her first in 14 years, with official duties cutting short her 1974 trip.

To mark the Queen's Silver, the Royal Silver Jubilee Exhibition Train Jubilee travelled 11,250 kilometres throughout Australia hauling an estimated $100 million worth of treasures .

These included the bullet that killed Lord Nelson, Queen Elizabeth I's gloves and Princess Anne's wedding dress.

1980: The 'anniversary tour'

In 1980, the Queen and Prince Philip Duke arrived back in Australia.

The royals returned to open the new High Court of Australia in Canberra.

She also met with entertainers, including comedian Paul Hogan and the late singer Olivia Newton-John, after they performed in a Royal Charity Concert at the Sydney Opera House.

While in Melbourne, Her Majesty marked the 10 years since the first royal 'walkabout'.

"I still remember vividly the novelty and excitement of that occasion," she said in a speech .

"Since then we have walked, talking with the people, through many cities all over the world, but nothing could be more heart-warming than to be back again among a Melbourne crowd."

1981: Bouquets for a Queen

In 1981, the Queen travelled to Melbourne for the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

She also toured Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia.

1982: A royal 'jam'

In 1982, the Queen opened the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane.

During one moment of their visit, the Duke of Edinburgh joked with athletes "but we should have gone out that way" when Australian athletes forced the royal car to do another lap of a stadium.

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh at the Closing Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane.

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From assassination plots to making Aeroguard famous: A look back on the Queen's visits to Australia

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Ahoy! Ahoy! – Her Majesty returns in 1963!

By Anne Scheu, Engagement Officer, State Library of Queensland | 14 March 2022

State Library of Queensland acknowledges the service given by Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II to Queensland. On 6 February 2022, she became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms, and the Commonwealth.

In this blog post we feature digitised images contributed by the City of Gold Coast Libraries Picture Gold Coast collection and the collections of the John Oxley Library showcasing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s tour in 1963.

This blog post is a record of her visit at the time and our Queensland experience of her visit.

Royal Yacht Britannia in the harbour at Brisbane, R115 Finlay Colour Slides, Acc D4-2-84, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image no: Ibp00200

HRH Queen Elizabeth II – the beloved monarch…

When Australia’s Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Robert G. Menzies announced Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II would return to Australia in 1963 for the Jubilee celebrations of the national capital Canberra, the Queen’s itinerary was prepared around the use of the Royal Yacht Britannia to convey Her Majesty to each capital city in Australia.

Having spent 8 weeks travelling to every part of Australia in 1954, the decision to use the Royal Yacht Britannia as a permanent base meant she could entertain aboard ship and rest between each port as she travelled the 9,000 miles around Australia’s coastline.

Landing in Canberra by air from New Zealand, she boarded the Britannia in Sydney, and arrived in Brisbane on 6 March 1963. A flotilla of boats greeted Her Majesty as the Royal Yacht sailed up the Brisbane River on its way to Newstead Wharf.

The Queen leaves the dais with the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, after the civic welcome on Wednesday, 6 March 1963, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Negative: 105778.

Following her arrival she attended a Civic Reception at City Hall, hosted by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Clem Jones AO, in the morning; an investiture ceremony at Government House during lunch; and departed for Bulwer Island in the afternoon to unveil an impressive plaque commemorating the discovery of oil in the Surat Basin and the development of a 320km pipeline which ran from Moonie, west of Toowoomba to Bulwer Island, a peninsular situated at the mouth of the Brisbane River. The plaque inscription stated:

“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II unveiled this stone to commemorate the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in Australia and the construction of a pipeline from the Moonie field to the port of Brisbane, 6th March 1963.” Later that same day, she attended a reception of State officials and their wives and graced a dinner party at Government House during the evening before heading to the Exhibition Grounds for a Citizen’s Welcome on the way back to Newstead Wharf. A normal day for a Monarch on tour?

Crowds of people assembled the next morning at the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds for a glimpse of Her Majesty attending the North Brisbane School Children’s Welcome on 7 March. HRH Queen Elizabeth II was surrounded by school children and onlookers, captured  in colour by amateur photographer Rosemary Spenceley.

Crowds at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground, 7 March 1963 for the Royal tour of 1963, Acc 32027 Rosemary Spenceley's colour slides of Brisbane and Southeast Queensland, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Images: 32027-0001-0010 / 32027-0001-0012

By 11:00am on the same day, she was driven to the Brisbane Cricket Ground, transferred into a land rover, and driven past hundreds of assembled school children representing the southern suburbs of Brisbane. Time spent at the ‘Gabba’ was short though because Her Majesty was expected to host a formal luncheon for invited guests on the Royal Yacht Britannia immediately after.

Sir Thomas Alfred Hiley with Queen Elizabeth II, Brisbane Cricket Ground, 1963, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Neg: 108970

Also arranged as part of this tour, was a flight to Coolangatta so the royals could attend a Surf Carnival at the Gold Coast. HRH Queen Elizabeth II is the Patron of the Royal Life Saving Society UK.

Gold Coast City Libraries Local Studies published an interesting detail about the event in the library’s Gold Coast Stories series titled Queen Elizabeth Park :

Queen Elizabeth II arrives on an official visit at Coolangatta Airport, Queensland, 7 March, 1963. Photographer Bill Stafford. Image ID LS-LSP-CD 309-IMG0017. Courtesy of Gold Coast Libraries. For all other uses contact Gold Coast Libraries. https://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/libraries/Home

In the photograph above, taken by Mr Bill Stafford, Mrs Richter, wife of Local Government Minister, Harold Richter is being presented to Queen Elizabeth II.

In another entry, Gold Coast Libraries published an interesting detail about the event in Gold Coast Stories titled Queen Elizabeth Park :  

A selection of images by local photographers highlighted the conditions on the day and the genuine interest by the public to catch a glimpse of the royals and the competitors who travelled great distances to be part of the event.  

Council’s Public Works division constructed the platform and dais. Builder Bill Tokely of Palm Beach recalled large amounts of water pooling in the canopy above Her Majesty. Event organisers used a broom to drain the water away from her on the dais.

 In a more sophisticated version the National Film and Sound Archives (NFSA) digitised a 28 min documentary film, titled ‘The Queen Returns to Australia’ for the 1963 tour. In the film we are treated to a short colour sequence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip attending the carnival on Queensland’s iconic Gold Coast (timed sequence 4:23) and the official opening of the Bulwer Island to Moonie pipeline (timed sequence 24:05) which took place the previous day.  

The Royal Pavilion for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Royal Surf Carnival, Coolangatta, Queensland, 7 March 1963. Photographer Ray Sharpe. ID LS-LSP-CD536-IMG0009. Courtesy of Gold Coast Libraries. https://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/libraries/Home

Read more blogs about HRH Queen Elizabeth II and her visits to Queensland

• Queen Elizabeth II in Queensland - multiple blogs
• Queen Elizabeth II – History in Pictures
• Queen Elizabeth II’s first visit to Queensland  (published in 2014)
• Hear ye! Hear ye! 1954 and Her Majesty is coming!  

@slqld Flickr Commons   

• 1954 Royal Tour  
• 1954 Royal Tour – Queensland on show

British Pathe Film

Construction of the oil pipeline from Moonie to Bulwer Island at the mouth of the Brisbane River. The pipeline was closed officially in 2008 by Santos.

Anne Scheu, Collections Engagement, Queensland Memory, State Library of Queensland

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Sisters of St John of God

Heritage centre broome.

When the Queen Came  1963

On the 21 st  March 1963 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh paid Broome a visit. They flew into town via Darwin and Kununurra and left at high tide on  HMS Britannica .

At that time, a Royal Visit was something that everyone looked forward to and wanted to be in on. They also wanted Broome to be looking its best. Months of preparation went into this single day event – roads were graded, buildings given a fresh coat of paint, trees pruned and rubbish removed.

Very few artists were then living and working in Broome. Elizabeth Durack (1915-2000) had been here for some months and found herself caught up in preparations for the visit. Shire councillors asked if she would assist with putting together a mixed display of objects and artifacts defining what Broome was all about. There was general agreement that the display should include some of Broome’s finest pearls and pearl shell as well as diving equipment.

Although some councillors wanted Durack paintings displayed, Elizabeth was reluctant to do so. She knew of the artistic talent of children at St Mary’s School and believed it would be more appropriate that art by young people of Broome be displayed. She approached the Sisters of St John of God with her proposal and found them receptive to the idea.

To the students it was probably just another art lesson when they were instructed to 'Paint a picture for the Queen – something that tells her what Broome means to you'. The paintings were displayed in the Roads Board Hall ready for the Queen to view them as she toured the town.

When the Exhibition was dismantled Elizabeth, knowing the works were remarkable both artistically and as a record of their times, most probably offered to look after them. The result was that Elizabeth Durack became the custodian of 26 paintings.

After her death, Elizabeth’s daughter Perpetua Durack Clancy came across the paintings inside a folio in one of many drawers of many large cabinets left by her mother. She told Sr Pat Rhatigan of this find and donated the paintings to the Heritage Centre Archives.

Since then the paintings have been exhibited twice so that the artists and the general public could see them and recall that very important day in the history of Broome.

St Mary's College Centenary Celebrations

2013  

50 Years Later

Paintings by students at St Mary's school in 1963 were carefully stored and brought out to be exhibited in 2008 and again in 2013. They are a fascinating social, historic and cultural record of life in Broome in the 1960s.

2008 Exhibition: When the Queen Came   

2013 Exhibition: When the Queen Came   

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Royal Visit 1963 itinerary

On february 18 1963 queen elizabeth ii and prince philip finished their tour of nz before heading off to australia. the tour started on waitangi day in the bay of islands before travelling to auckland; mt maunganui; napier, wellington; nelson; blenheim; picton; port chalmers; dunedin and finally christchurch.   on 18 february a farewell ceremony was conducted which included an inspection of the royal guard of honour and an official farewell from prime minister keith holyoake.   the poster of the itinerary is from a booklet retained by walter nash and is found in his collection of papers.   archives new zealand reference: aefz 22624 w5727 2618 3105/0068-0070   material from archives new zealand te rua mahara o te kāwanatanga    .

Open & Closed: A Royal Opening, 1963

On February 25, 1963, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Parkville.

Victorian Premier Sir Henry Bolte and Dame Elisabeth Murdoch greeted Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and guided them on a tour where the royal couple engaged with staff and patients, whilst admiring the new state of the art facilities. The Queen delivered a rousing rooftop speech calling The Royal Children’s Hospital ‘A monument to Victoria’s humanity and public spirit,’ thus officially opening the new hospital.

The hospital had to push the opening forward six months to ensure this special event would align with Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Australian tour. Patients had only just been transferred from the old Carlton hospital a few weeks before opening day and there was still unfinished building work to be done. In the book,  Elisabeth Murdoch, Two Lives  by John Monks, Murdoch recalls this momentous event:

‘Two days before the Royal arrival [I] had taken Mr Feint, the hospital manager, aside and said “There is one thing I beg of you. That lift to the roof where the official opening takes place has got to work.” Well, on the day, we got into the lift and the lift wouldn’t work, wouldn’t move. And Philip saved my life because he made some marvellous joke and said “It’s just as well I’m a good mechanic,” and banged the panel with his fist and finally up we went. But oh, for a moment it was just too awful for words – stuck in a lift that wouldn’t work with Prince Philip and Her Majesty.’

An enormous sense of pride and excitement can be seen in these photographs of nurses lined up awaiting the royal couple’s arrival. Digitised 16mm film footage also showcases this very special occasion. We have also included the official 1963 Royal visit souvenir magazine, which includes some fabulous photographs of the couple’s visit to the RCH.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip would return to Melbourne in 2011 to open the current hospital which was built next door to the first Parkville hospital.

Related Videos:

Getting Up, Going to Bed

Film Title: A Royal Visit Production Date: 1963 Location: The Royal Children’s Hospital; Parkville, Victoria Material: 16mm colour film, silent Measurement: 2.37 minutes Maker: The Royal Children’s Hospital / Unknown Rights: Film courtesy of The Royal Children’s Hospital Accession Number: 2018.2461 A & 2018.2461 B (edited from these titles)

This film may have been edited to comply with privacy laws and ethics guidelines. Any opinions, social attitudes and medical advice contained in this film reflect the society and medical practice accepted at the time the film was made. Attitudes, community standards, and medical opinions change over time with societal and medical advances. Please view this film with a historical perspective in mind, and be aware that any opinions, attitudes, and advice depicted are no longer representative of The Royal Children’s Hospital.

Aerogard and The Queen's visit to Australia in 1963

How are Aerogard, the Australian insect repellent, and Queen Elizabeth, England's longest ruling monarch, forever linked by a visit in 1963?

Listen on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Worlds apart. Insect repellent and a Royal visit?

Speaking of, the Aeroguard ads are going to start up again soon?

We're due for a Royal visit too, aren't we Bill?

Think Music: Aerogard insect repellent TV commercial Max Walker

The Answer: How are Aerogard and The Queen's visit to Australia in 1963 Somehow Related?

From the CSIRO blog...

During the period 1938 to 1961 Doug Waterhouse carried out pioneering studies on the sheep blowfly, a major pest. This work was interrupted by the Second World War where his attention turned to ways of protecting allied troops from the mosquitoes responsible for malarial transmission. By 1943 the repellent was widely deployed in the Pacific and Doug was considered a hero for his development of the repellent referred to by the troops as ‘Mary’.

However it took the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Australia in 1963 for the repellent to become a household name.

Things get a little tricky though.

The first time she was supposed to be sprayed with it, she wasn't!

Attending a garden party at Old Parliament House in Canberra...

...the aide responsible lost his nerve and the Queen was left madly swatting flies.

Read more at the CSIRO blog - "Aerogard"

Itinerary from HRH Queen Elizabeth's visit to Australia

As per document from Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet

The Royal Yacht was given a work out as the primary mode of transport between cities.

The Queen and Prince were in Australia for just over a month. Several days are simply listed as 'At sea'. And seven days to get from Darwin to Fremantle.

The use of the Royal Yacht will also allow Her Majesty to enter the cities of Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle from the seaward.

Furthermore, it is Her Majesty's intention to use the yacht for entertainment purposes throughout the Visit.

It's not a short video but here's one about the visit from the National Film and Sound Archives.

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