ROYAL TRIBUTE: When Queen Elizabeth came to Mackay
As the world comes to terms with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the Daily Mercury remembers when the monarch travelled through Mackay. SEE THE PICTURES
Mackay
Don't miss out on the headlines from Mackay. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Mackay’s Greg Edwards was school captain in his final year at Mackay State High School when he met Queen Elizabeth II.
Representing his school at the Anglican Parish Hall on the corner of Gordon and Wood streets, he had a brief but memorable encounter with the Monarch during her 1970 visit to the sugar city.
“There was a civic reception held for the Queen (and) Parish Hall was full of local people”, Mr Edwards said.
“My contact with her was very brief, but she shook our hands and said something nice to us and then moved on to the next person.
“I think Albert Abbott was the mayor at the time (and) he was taking her around.
“It was very fleeting, but was still pretty memorable to a young bloke of 16.
“I felt pretty important. Pretty privileged to be there.”
With the news of Queen Elizabeth II’s death on Friday, September 9, many in Mackay were remembering the two times she visited.
The Daily Mercury devoted nine pages to news of the royal visit. Its Page 1 story also described the royal couple’s transfer in squally conditions, from their yacht, the Gothic, to Mackay Harbour aboard the destroyer HMAS Anzac.
The second and final visit was on April 16, 1970 when Queen Elizabeth, her husband, and Princess Anne passed through Mackay on a tour honouring the bicentenary of Captain James Cook’s arrival 200 years earlier.
The Queen and Prince Phillip had flown in from Mt Isa while Princess Anne had flown in from Cunnamulla.
Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson was a baby when the Queen came through Mackay on March 15, 1954 but he recalls his parents telling the story.
“They went down to the road where the Queen drove in along with everyone else in town,” he said.
“They didn‘t go to the showgrounds with 30,000 other people though.
“During her visit in 1970, though, my best mate, who became my best man at our wedding (Greg Edwards), was the school captain at Mackay State High School and he got to meet her during a function at the parish hall.
“What I remember most about her coming to Mackay was the pomp and ceremony, and the joy of everybody talking about the Queen‘s visit.”
Mr Williamson said he got to see the Queen up close up in London in May 1989 with his wife Annette when she drove through The Mall in her golden state coach for the opening of parliament.
“We were there very early and we were right up against the barriers. I swear she waved directly at me,” he said.
Mr Williamson, who woke in the middle of the night thanks to a cat fight out the front of his home, was surprised at the news after having seen the Queen appoint Britain‘s new Prime Minister Liz Truss so recently.
“It was a bit of a shock even though she was 96,” he said.
“It was just like you see on the TV, people lined the streets to see the royals, waving flags,” Mr Vella said.
“People just wanted to be a part of it, seeing the royals coming to town.
“We stood there and waved, she drove down and went past – gave the royal wave.
“Looking back, I’m glad I went along to see.
“I’ll never get to see her again.”
The National Museum estimated Mayor Williamson’s parents were among approximately six million Australians who were able to see the Queen in person during her highly successful 1954 tour.
The Daily Mercury spoke in 2012 to Valerie Hamilton, who was present for the Queen’s reception at the Mackay Showgrounds.
Then a 13-year-old student of Mia Mia State School, Ms Hamilton said her small school had travelled for more than an hour to see the royal visitors.
“There were about 20 students; the whole lot came in (to town) and that was a big deal for us”, Ms Hamilton said.
“We came to the showgrounds, being a bush kid and having all of these kids around us was a big thing.
“I think it was pretty amazing.”
Journalist and historian Terry Hayes estimated that Ms Hamilton had been one of 7000 children that day.
Many kids performed for the Queen and her husband Prince Phillip as part of the Mackay Junior Choir and other community groups.
The Queen said she left Mackay with “a deeper understanding of North Queensland, its people and their way of life”.
Mr Hayes wrote that the famously fashionable Queen was “dressed for summer in a soft silk frock with a slightly draped bodice and a very full skirt of unrolled pleats”.
“She wore a small hat of muted blue plain silk and white shoes and carried a while handbag.
“The print combined a white starry design with a feathery black overprint.”
Waving to cheering crowds, the royal couple circled the oval in a dark Land Rover before departing to Mackay Airport for a flight to Rockhampton.
This first visit to Mackay occurred just months after Elizabeth was crowned Queen on June 2, 1953.
Mackay had a huge celebration on the coronation day too with a spectacular street procession and a sports program in the showgrounds.
A crowd of about 15,000 watched the 41-brilliantly-decorated vehicles and 700 marchers as they passed by.
About 12,000 people enjoyed the sports program.
‘Fell on our lap again’: How Sharks’ latest NRL recruitment almost didn’t happen
Sharks coach Mark Bowden reveals how yet another huge name on their list of notable recruits almost never arrived.
‘First time in a boat’: Inside operation to bring grandma home
As floodwaters rose across the Mackay region, one Sarina Beach grandma found herself stuck between two flooded roads and with no way home until her son-in-law came to the rescue.