Monday 15 April 2013

Melbourne's grand royal opening


It is unbelievable, but today Melbourne's arch-republican daily newspaper The Age published a royalist article. Andrew Messenger recalls in Shoppers oblivious to royal memories his encounter with Prince Charles and - especially - Princess Diana:
"Flowers fell everywhere - posies of roses and carnations, dahlias and cornflowers (all collected later and distributed to hospitals). Children frolicked. The royal couple arrived in a black Rolls Royce 34 minutes late. This was to be one of the last legs in their tour, which included stops in Sovereign Hill and at Cockatoo, recently ravaged by the Ash Wednesday bushfires."
The royal couple were in town on their first visit to Australia after the royal wedding of 1981. On 14th April 1983 at 12.26pm they officially opened Bourke Street Mall.

Thank you Mr. Messenger, for sharing your memories with us.





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