The Cambridges’ visit pure gold for Aussie monarchists

LIKE most visitors to Sydney, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge headed straight to where the actio­n was: the harbour.

LIKE most visitors to Sydney, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge headed straight to where the actio­n was: the harbour.

After nine wintry days in New Zealand, the weather gods had fin­ally smiled, turning on a postcard-perfect day for their arrival.

Kate looked radiant in a sunny gold-and-white number and seemed to be genuinely taken when she stood atop the steps of the Sydney Opera House, her husband by her side, savouring the moment and the vista.

This tour is turning out to be Kate’s show. With baby George tucked up with the nanny — he did seem to be scratchy when his mother carried him off the plane and handed him over to William — she turned on the razzamatazz, happily posing for photographs with a lucky few outside the Opera House, their first stop.

Bouquets were thrust into her arms, and cheerfully received. Kate crouched on her high heels to talk to the little ones clamouring for attention; the couple made a point of stopping for children in wheelchairs. “Thank you for the present,’’ she called, when a gift was passed up from the back of the crowd.

Addressing an official reception, William spoke of the deep affection his mother, Diana, had held for Australia.

There was a nod to his own long association with this country, which began when he was a baby, not much bigger than eight-month-old George, who was “busy forging his own link with Australia’’. “I suspect George’s first word might be ‘bilby’, only because koala is harder to say,’’ the proud dad said. “We really look forward to our time here as a family.’’

Controversy comes with any royal visit, and this one was no exception.

All morning, as they winged their way across the Tasman on an RAAF VIP aircraft, the media had been running the guessing game: would BOF show up to meet them at the airport and co-host the Opera House do?

In the end, outgoing premier Barry O’Farrell had the President of the Legislative Council, Don Harwin, step in, avoiding a picture opportunity the palace wouldn’t have been keen on.

People began lining the approaches to the Opera House from 10am, to secure a vantage point.

As fresh-faced volunteers from the Australian Monarchist League handed out Australian flags, a Prince Harry look-alike posed on a yacht off Circular Quay to drum up business for a betting agency, surrounded by bikin­i-clad girls.

At day’s end, the Duke and Duchess were back at their home base, the Governor-General’s north shore residence, Admiralty House, to accept an oversized stuffed wombat for George from Peter Cosgrove and his wife, Lynne, and to put the baby to bed.

For republicans, the next nine days promise to be long, trying ones for the cause, which never seems so distant as when royals stomp around the country.

Former West Australian prem­ier and Australian Republican Movement chairman Geoff Gallop admitted Wills, Kate and George were a tough act to top.

“There is no doubt the monarchists push the argument very strongly for their cause when there is a royal visit here on the basis of what we might call celebrity politics,’’ Mr Gallop said.

“We will simply respond by saying that as hard as the royal family try — and there is no doubt they do, and we respect them for that — they could never be unifying figures in Australia.”