The Queen’s Melbourne tram trip nearly erupted into a fight between photographers

A tram trip down St Kilda Rd should have been an uneventful part of the Queen’s 2011 tour but it nearly turned into farce.

It was an iconic Melbourne picture of the monarch on a tram.

But the snaps by former Herald Sun photographer Alex Coppel almost saw a fight erupt in front of the Queen.

It was the opportunity of a lifetime for Coppel when he was chosen to be one of only four photographers and camera operators on the Queen’s tram ride from Federation Square to Government House in 2011.

“It was incredible, most of the time when I’m working and the camera is up to my face, I have to concentrate on doing a good job, but at that moment when I stopped and sat down, it was like sitting on a tram with a lovey old lady,” he said.

But Coppel said the situation threatened to erupt into farce when a British royal snapper on the tram started getting highly competitive.

No ticket required for the Queen when she jumped on a Melbourne tram in 2011. Picture: Alex Coppel

The Queen waving to the admiring crowds lining the streets. Picture: Alex Coppel

“He sort of tried to push me, and I pushed back, and then we ended up having words, and I thought, ‘Gee, we’re about to have a fight on the tram in front of the Queen,’” he said.

Coppel said he enjoyed watching the Queen and Prince Philip commenting on the admiring crowds lining the streets.

Ted Baillieu, was Premier at the time of the visit and said the Queen was probably the most remarkable person of our time.

“She’s had an impact on five generations of Australians who grew up with her being a mother, with her being a grandmother, with her being a great grandmother,” he said.

”For many Australians, she’s been our North Star.”

“No matter the stage, no matter the storm, she’s been there, maintained her dignity, maintained her affection, she’s widely revered.”

Mr Baillieu opened the refurbished Royal Children’s Hospital together, and later when travelling to the UK to help launch Australia’s exhibition for the Chelsea Flower Show.

Asked what she was like in person, Mr Baillieu said: “Just as she appeared to be, warm, friendly, engaging, interested, knowledgeable, witty, and with a good sense of humour,” he said.

The Queen, Prince Phillip and former Premier Ted Baillieu. Picture: Alex Coppel

The tram was decked out for a royal ride.

“Believe it or not, she didn't’ take herself too seriously either. She took the institution seriously, but she was always ready for a smile and a bit of self deprecation.”

“It’s times like this that people turn to the Queen for advice, what would she advise us to do? And I think she would simply say, ‘carry on’, and we would say, ‘of course M’am, thank you M’am.’”

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has remembered the Queen as a towering figure who will be a historical figure for all time.

Mr Kennett first saw the Queen as a child during her visit to Melbourne in 1954, but then met her annually in London as premier in the 1990s.

“I found her to be remarkably well briefed, remarkably interested in things Australian,” he said.

“I could never understand why she gave so much time to a colonial politician, if one can put it that way, but she did, and she was always very, very gracious.”

Jeff Kennett said the Queen was a towering historical figure of our time.

Mr Kennett said he was stunned by the sudden deterioration of her health.

“I feel a great sense of loss inasmuch as she has been a constant for longer in my life than my mother or my grandmother,” he said.

“As time progresses we will see this as a defining moment, as when things of her era changes for the next era, whatever that may hold.”

Mr Kennett criticised political comments by republican activists including Greens MP Adam Bandt and Australian Republican Movement director Peter FitzSimons.

“I just think it is so crass and so inappropriate at this time that they can’t wholesomely recognise an individual who will be remembered for the rest of time and history when their ashes and their contributions will be remembered by few,” he said.

John Brumby, who was premier during Black Saturday, said he was impressed by the Queen’s concern for bushfire victims, to the extent that she demanded daily briefings from the Victorian government on the recovery process for several months.

“She showed great care and concern and affection for the people of our city and our state,” he said.

“But most significant was the ongoing interest and concern she had for the welfare and the recovery of those communities affected by the fires.”

Later in 2009, Mr Brumby visited the Queen at her Balmoral estate, and was treated to a “picnic lunch” at a cottage on the property.

“So we finished the lunch, and we’ve all got to clean up, which was taking the dirty dishes, cutlery, glasses and leftovers back to the house,” he said.

“And we all jump up and start stacking the plates and glasses, and then she jumps up and joins in.”

“It was like being a member of the family, really, it was extraordinarily generous of her, I felt very privileged.”

Swimming legend Dawn Fraser was shocked by the loss of “her Royal Highness to the Commonwealth”.

Ms Fraser had lunch with the Queen aboard the royal yacht Britannia in Melbourne in 1963.

“I was nervous meeting her because she picked me out, and wanted to talk about my life and her life,” she said.

“She talked about her driving in the Second World War, and I said, ‘yes, a lot of that methane came from the coal mine in Balmain - I lived right opposite that.”

“We had a long conversation over lunch, she was a delightful person.”

The Melbourne-based Robert Menzies Institute said in a statement it was saddened by the Queen’s passing.

“(Former PM) Sir Robert Menzies was a firm believer in the strengths and successes of Australia’s constitutional monarchy, but what came to mean even more to him was the personal connection that he developed with the Queen herself,” the statement said.

“Menzies attended Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation in 1953. He hosted her as the first reigning monarch to visit Australia during the 1954 Royal Tour, a unique cultural phenomenon which saw as many as three-quarters of Australia’s population come out to see their young Queen.”