Gold Coast Flashback: Hopes are high Queen Elizabeth will return for Games
A RIGHT royal welcome would be guaranteed if the reigning monarch was to make it here for the opening of the Commonwealth Games.
History
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HOPES are high that Queen Elizabeth II will make the journey to the Gold Coast to open the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
While members of the royal family will certainly attend the event and read the customary message from the monarch to the host nation, it is not certain whether the ageing Queen will attend.
GOLDOC chairman Peter Beattie will meet with Her Majesty in March, when the Queen’s Baton will be presented to her, and admits it is outside of his control.
But locals are hopeful she will be healthy enough for the trip.
If she does come, it will be the first time the Gold Coast has seen Elizabeth II since her brief visit more than 50 years ago.
Queen Elizabeth II’s 2011 visit to Brisbane generated a significant revival in support for the monarchy, but the Gold Coast missed out on an appearance by the Queen and Prince Philip.
The region was luckier in 1963 when a much younger Queen visited the Gold Coast on March 7 that year.
It was a wet day when the Queen, who was marking 11 years on the throne, arrived on the Glitter Strip, which had been named the Gold Coast just years earlier. The royals were greeted with a cheerful roar as they stepped off the plane on to the wet tarmac at what was then known as Coolangatta Airport.
The inclement weather had reduced the expected crowd of 70,000, but did not upset the mood of the excited onlookers who braved the conditions.
People from southern Queensland and northern NSW poured in to get a look, camping in deck chairs and holding beach umbrellas over their heads.
After stepping on to Gold Coast soil, the royals took a 6km route through Coolangatta and then back to the Kirra royal surf carnival.
The rain held off as the crowd roared in approval when the Queen stepped out of the royal car wearing a jade and honeysuckle floral silk dress with side pleats and a jade tulle gathered hat with a turn-back brim.
More than 1000 lifesavers appeared before the Queen and 540 of them paraded proudly in a royal march past.
Premier Francis Nicklin and his sister met the royal visitors and introduced them to the Surf Life Saving Association state centre president Jack Winders and his wife.
The Queen and the Duke passed through a 50-man guard of honour of lifesavers who each wore a different costume. They represented 44 surf clubs in Queensland and six from northern NSW.
The 1963 royal visit was the second time Elizabeth had visited Australia following her delayed 1953 trip to celebrate her coronation.
She was originally scheduled to tour Australia as part of a worldwide trip in early 1952, but made it as far as Kenya by February that year when her father, King George VI, died. After returning to London for her coronation, the Queen returned to her scheduled tour, making her the first reigning monarch to enter Australia.
The 1953 royal tour was featured in an episode of this year’s Netflix television series The Crown, which includes brief scenes of Elizabeth and Philip waving at crowds while driving through Sydney and Melbourne.
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