From Canberra to Dublin: The Queen's favourite brooch

On her visit to Ireland the Queen wore her favourite jewellery, a brooch, which the Australian people gave her as a gift on her first visit to Australia in 1954.

Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to Croke Park on 18th May 2011 in Dublin, Ireland. An unprecedented security operation is taking place with much of the centre of Dublin turning into a car free zone. Republican dissident groups have made it clear they are intent on disrupting proceedings. (Photo by Irish Government)

On a couple of occasions The Official Commemorative Volume of the Royal Visit to the Commonwealth of Australia, 1954, published by Angus and Robertson Ltd., Sydney, printed in Australia, refers to the brooch:

"Before the banquet [in Canberra on 16th February 1954] ended, Mr. Menzies presented Her Majesty with a gift from Australia - a diamond brooch in the shape of a spray of wattle and tea-tree."

"A tribute to their Queen from the people of Australia was this diamond brooch outlining sprays of wattle and tea-tree, blooms symbolic of Australia. (Photo actual size.)"

The Queen wore the brooch on Saturday, 27th February for the Melbourne Cup at Flemington racecourse. "Her Majesty and the Duke made a 'Royal Ascot' entrance to the course, driving up the famous 'Straight Six'. They were escorted to the Royal box by the chairman of the Victoria Racing Club, Sir Chester Manifold."

It is remarkable that 57 years later the Queen keeps the gift of the Australian people in such high esteem that she wore it in Ireland on a visit that was of such immense historic importance and that was so hotly disputed by a tiny number of Irish republicans.

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70 years today since Kaiser Wilhelm II passed away

This 4th June German Monarchists will gather in Huis Doorn (Doorn Manor, photos see here), a classic 14th century manor house outside Doorn, a small town near Utrecht in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, to commemorate Kaiser Wilhelm II. He died at Huis Doorn on 4th June 1941 and was buried in a small mausoleum in the gardens, awaiting his return to Germany upon the restoration of the German monarchy, according to the terms of his will; his wish that no swastikas be displayed at his funeral was not heeded. He did however refuse to have a grand funeral in Berlin which considerably frustrated Hitler who had wanted to walk behind Kaiser Wilhelm's coffin as a propaganda show.

Kaiser Wilhelm and his eldest grandsons, Prince Wilhelm (1905-1940) and Prince Louis Ferdinand (1907-1994), grandfather of the present head of the Hohenzollern Family.

Baroness Ella van Heemstra (1900 1984), the mother of actress Audrey Hepburn, spent most of her childhood living in the house. The house was purchased in 1919 by Kaiser Wilhelm II as his residence-in-exile. The Emperor had the house adapted and fitted with all modern conveniences. He also makes some changes to the park (35 hectares), laid out in the English landscape garden style.

Kaiser Wilhelm and the Dutch Crown Princess Juliana, mother of the present Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

The Dutch government confiscated the manor house and its household effects in 1945 as German property and transformed it into a museum that is visited by approximately 50,000 people a year.

Kaiser Wilhelm II and sons

The life of Kaiser Wilhelm II is well-documented and shall not be repeated in this posting. For further information on Germany's last ruling Emperor see The Altar and Throne Monarchy Site and The Mad Monarchist in English or Paukenschlag in German.

When German Monarchists gather in Doorn on His Majesty’s 70th death anniversary, they might do so with nostalgia, but they are also looking forward to this year’s big event: On 27th August the head of the House of Hohenzollern, Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia, will get married to Princess Sophie of Isenburg und Büdingen. Prince Georg Friedrich’s father married in 1976 and was killed one year later in a training accident whilst serving in the Bundeswehr.



Germany’s Imperial Family suffered many setbacks and tragedies, but they are still there – a living reminder of the possibilities of having a crowned democracy.


Prince Georg Friedrich: great-great-grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

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In Ireland the Queen wore her favourite Australian jewellery

The Irish Independent:

"Later, she reverted to a buttercream, V-necked, double-breasted coat featuring a four-button detail at the waist and ruffle detail on cuff and pockets. She wore a patterned dress and a matching hat. After relying on black accessories earlier, the queen switched to cream for her handbag, gloves and shoes.

Few could take their eyes off her sparkling diamond brooch, known as the Australian wattle brooch, a gift from a Commonwealth tour 56 years ago.

It is a personal favourite when the queen wears this uplifting colour; and the yellow diamonds, representing the Australian wattle flower, are backed by blue-white diamonds in the form of mimosa leaves.

The brooch also incorporates diamonds in the form of the blossom of the tea tree with, at the centre, a large white diamond. It was designed by Paul Schneller from Budapest, Hungary, and was a gift from the government and people of Australia."

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Australia Post is commemorating the Royal Wedding

According to The Age more than 7 million Australians tuned in across the free-to-air networks, the bulk watching Seven (29.8 per cent) and Nine (22.7 per cent). The RadicalRoyalist could not get hold of the pay TV figures, but they must show a considerable number of viewers since many would have preferred the BBC or UK-TV's comments to the remarks of, let's say, Channel Nine's republican expat Kathy Lette.


Australia Post was commemorating the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton with the release of the official stamps issued on 12th April.


"Australia Post is delighted to commemorate the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, with a set of stamps that captures the happy couple on their wedding day," said Australia Post Managing Director and CEO, Ahmed Fahour.

"The official stamp issue has been very popular, with a number of post offices making additional orders to keep up with the strong demand. We are encouraging stamp collectors and royal fans to put their orders in early to avoid disappointment. Australia Post has a proud history of commemorating significant events with instant stamp issues."

The stamps with a motif of the actual wedding could be released within days of the wedding due to special technology that allows the images to be uploaded into a Royal Wedding stamp template, pre-approved by Buckingham Palace.


The stamps and associated products are available from participating Australia Post retail outlets, via mail order on 1800 331 794 and online at auspost.com.au/stamps while stocks last.

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More than ten million hits

Any website with more than 10 Million hits can only be called a success. In the year to 12th May Australians for Constitutional Monarchy’s website achieved 10,061.101 hits.

Though it is not the only Australian Monarchist website, it is certainly the most popular and the most influential.

Republican Australians hate it with fury: “David Flint clutches at every royal straw he can find”, remarked his most passionate enemy Barry Everingham.

And David Donovan, media director of the Australian Republican Movement, complained: "The problem republicans face is that monarchists like David Flint are happy to exaggerate, distort and sometimes even deceive to argue their case. Their strategy is to try to create a myth that will plant a seed of doubt in the minds of the uninformed."

David Flint, the national convenor of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, is above all a very active writer and publisher. His opinion pieces appear daily and more often than not, he writes two or three comments. Considering that about one quarter of ACM website's visitors come from overseas explains other monarchies (i.e. Thailand) or Monarchs in exile, King Constantine II of the Hellenes.

While the Murdoch and Fairfax media empires still advocate a republican ideology and have to come to terms with falling influence, the Monarchist websites grow more popular by the day. Recent opinion polls indicated a drop in republican sympathies. This is certainly not due to an unbiased reporting in the mass media, but only because the internet offers Monarchists to publish their arguments.

Well done, David. Keep on the fight!

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9th May 1946:
Accession of King Umberto II of Italy

Today 65 years ago King Umberto II ascended to the Italian throne. He succeeded his father, King Vittorio Emanuele who had abdicated in his favour.

The Italian cabinet approved Crown Prince Umberto's assumption of the throne on 10th May 1946, and it decided that King Umberto could approve decrees "up until the referendum date". He was able to sign as Umberto II, King of Italy, but the Cabinet ordered the elimination of the phrase "By the grace of God and the will of people." Right from the beginning of his reign the socialists ridiculed King Umberto as the King of May.

Nevertheless King Umberto appeared eight times on the palace balcony to acknowledge the acclaim of an estimated 10,000 cheering Romans
.

The referendum on the Italian Monarchy was held on 2nd and 3rd June 1946. For details see Wikipedia.

Although the official result that declared a republican victory has been highly doubtful, King Umberto decided to leave the country to avoid civil war. He settled in Cascais, Portugal. The republican constitution not only exiled King Umberto but forbade all male members of the House of Savoy from setting foot in Italy thereafter. This harsh order condemned the exiled King to die abroad.


King Umberto lived 37 of his 79 years in exile. He is buried in the Abbey of Hautecombe, France, which was founded by the Savoys. Thousands of Italians paid their last respect to their King. The only official Italian representative was the Italian consul from Lyon.

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The ABC's undergraduate style

The ABC continues to deny being anti-monarchist. It is more as if the ABC sees itself as a victim of a “royal censorship”, especially after the BBC threatened to block the ABC from its entire royal wedding coverage unless the ABC cancelled plans for as “alternative” Chaser’s Royal Wedding Commentary on ABC2. Known for their “undergraduate style” (The Age), ABC’s director of television, Kim Dalton, implied the incident was a form of censorship: “In Australia, we’re not used to these sorts of conditions being placed on the media and you can’t help but observe these restrictions are being placed on the media on behalf of a future head of state of Australia.”

This remark came shortly after Trevor Graham, “a filmmaker best known for his progressive documentaries" (The Age, 21st April 2011) had his own encounter with the ABC's attitude. When Graham, who was described by The Age as "firmly believing that Australia should become a republic” suggested his latest documentary on Australia’s Royal Family A Royal Romance to the ABC “there were sneers that the line he was taking wasn’t as pro-republican as it ‘should have been or could have been’.”

In the end the film was shown on ABC1, but it is obvious, that the public broadcaster’s sympathies lies more with a royal satire which the Chasers thought they could provide.

Another example of a pro-republican bias? Here’s one that announced a discussion between Deputy Chair of the Australian Republican Movement John Warhurst, Chairman of the Australian Monarchist League Philip Benwell:

On the eve of the Royal Wedding Statewide Mornings presenter Leon Compton took the opportunity to analyse the on-going question of whether Australia should become a Republic or remain a loyal servant to the British Monarchy.

An equal treatment would look differently. Since when is an Australian Monarchist “a loyal servant to the British Monarch”? The ”republic” as a neutral term, but the Monarchy connect with a negative inclination. Is this really the open-mindedness the ABC is officially proclaiming?

And we won’t mention the last Sunday's “Insiders” programme that made up a story about the Queen’s republican tendencies. Just ridiculous, not even good as an April’s fool joke.

The ABC must do more to dissipate doubts of its objectivity.

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