The Itinerary of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall in Australia

Service to the community is a key theme for a visit which is part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Service to the community – the central theme of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations – will be highlighted by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall as they visit Papua-New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand next month.

During a two week visit to the three countries, to celebrate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, The Prince and The Duchess will meet a wide cross section of people who contribute to their community, including villagers restoring coastal mangroves in Boera Village, Papua-New Guinea, National Rugby League stars who help mentor and inspire indigenous children in Australia and veterans and currently serving military personnel on Armistice Day in Auckland, New Zealand.

Australian and New Zealand troops at the ISAF HQ in Kabul with His Royal Highness Prince Charles during a surprise visit by the Prince of Wales to Afghanistan in late March 2010. Prince Charles met with senior ISAF officers as well as British and Commonwealth troops in Kabul before travelling to Helmand in a show of support to the British forces in the southern province.
L-R: SGT Mike Havill (RNZAF), CPL Chris Crooks, CPL Trish Reynolds (RAAF), SGT Wayne Morley, COL John Mackenzie, SQNLDR Tony Peck (not very clear on HRH right shoulder) HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, WO2 Bruce Hillary, MAJGEN Ash Power, CAPT Sarah Hawke, MAJ Les D'Monte, LTCOL Mike Duncan (NZ Army), MAJ Peter Mortimer (NZ Army).
Further info on the visit can be found; http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/PeopleInDefence/PrinceCharlesVIsitsTroopsInHelmand.htm

In addition to service to the community, other key themes of the visit are encouragement of economic growth and innovation, promotion of youth enterprise, celebration of sport in the community and on-going support for the Armed Forces. In addition, a number of events reflect Her Royal Highness’s particular interests in literacy, osteoporosis and animal welfare.
Their Royal Highnesses’ programme, which has been drawn up by Government representatives from each of the three countries to be visited, aims to reach out to as wide a cross section of people as possible. The itinerary in each country includes engagements in rural locations – Boera Village (Papua-New Guinea), Longreach and Richmond (Australia) and Feilding (New Zealand) - as well as major cities such as Port Moresby, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart, Sydney, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

The programme includes extensive opportunities for public participation. In addition to celebratory Jubilee receptions and site-specific visits, such as to schools, youth and sports centres and military bases, Their Royal Highnesses will be taking part in an ecumenical Service of Worship and cultural welcome at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, joining hundreds of local families at a community BBQ in Longreach, Queensland, watching with thousands of others the world-famous Melbourne Cup, attending a special birthday party in Wellington and attending the 150th anniversary Agricultural & Pastoral Show in Canterbury.

In support of the Armed Forces, across all three countries Their Royal Highnesses will lay wreaths during Remembrance ceremonies, inspect Guards of Honour and meet military personnel and their families. In addition, His Royal Highness will present Colours to the Pacific Islands Regiment in Papua New Guinea and Her Royal Highness will inspect the parade and be appointed as the Colonel-In-Chief of the Royal Australian Corps of Military Police, be afforded a Royal Salute and inspect the Royal Guard and Band at Victoria Barracks, Sydney.

The key elements of the tour in Australia are below:

LONGREACH
• A Welcome to Country by Indigenous custodians

• The Prince of Wales, as Patron, officially naming a new aircraft for the Royal Flying Doctor Service at the QANTAS Museum, Longreach;

• visiting the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame;

• joining hundreds of families at the Diamond Jubilee Community BBQ in Longreach;


MELBOURNE
• The Prince of Wales meeting tapestry makers demonstrating traditional weaving skills during a visit to the Australian Tapestry Workshop;

• The Prince of Wales viewing cricket skills clinics and meeting young participants in Cricket Victoria’s ‘Harmony’ programme for migrant and Indigenous communities at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), including players from men's and women's representative teams;

• Attending the Melbourne Cup;

• The Prince of Wales attending the Housing Melbourne Symposium on sustainable urbanism at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne;

• The Duchess of Cornwall attending a reception for Osteoporosis Australia at Government House, Melbourne;


ADELAIDE
• attending a youth performing arts showcase;

• gardening and cooking with the children of the Kilkenny Primary School, Adelaide, together with chef Stephanie Alexander;

• participating in a showcase of South Australia’s Food and Wine Industry at Penfolds Vineyard, Adelaide;

• The Prince of Wales attending an event to promote South Australia’s economic innovation at the Adelaide Convention Centre;

• meeting a wide range of people attending Diamond Jubilee functions in Adelaide, Hobart, Sydney and Canberra;


TASMANIA
• meeting local residents, shopkeepers, volunteers and heritage workers during a walk through Richmond, Tasmania;

• The Duchess of Cornwall attending a reception with Tasmanian Rural Women in Richmond, Tasmania;

• The Prince of Wales seeing sheep shearing and wool classing during a visit to a sheep stud in Sorrell, Tasmania;

• The Prince of Wales seeing demonstrations and displays from a range of Antarctic and Marine Research programmes, Hobart;


SYDNEY
• meeting members of the Australian Defence Force recently returned from active service, and their families, at Garden Island, Sydney, including a Royal Salute and inspection of Royal Guard and Band;

• promoting the Australian Wool industry at the Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney;

• The Prince of Wales highlighting the work of the New South Wales’ lifesavers and other emergency workers and volunteers at a reception at Icebergs Club, Bondi Beach;

• The Prince of Wales joining NRL football stars for a discussion with high school students participating in the National Rugby League’s “Dream Believe Achieve” programme for Indigenous young people at the Bondi Surf Bathers' Lifesaving Club;

• The Duchess of Cornwall accepting Colonel in Chief of the Royal Australian Corps of Military Police, Victoria Barracks Sydney, including Royal Salute and inspection of Royal and Band;

• The Duchess of Cornwall attending a reception for leading women in the community at Government House;


CANBERRA
• Their Royal Highnesses officially naming Queen Elizabeth Terrace, Canberra;

• Official meetings with the Governor-General, Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition;

• wreath-laying at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra on the eve of Remembrance Day, at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra

The Royal Couple then depart for New Zealand.


A birthday present for The Duchess of Cornwall
The Australian Monarchist League (AML) has proceeded to commission the manufacture of a brooch (consisting of an Australian pearl nestled into a eucalyptus shaped leaf in white gold with the Southern Cross set in Australian gemstones) to be presented to HRH The Duchess of Cornwall by the League to commemorate both her 65th birthday (last July) and her first visit to Australia in just over three week's time.

If you wish to contribute, please use one of the following formats:

Donations can be made via the contribution form on the AML's website - www.monarchist.org.au - click onto 'Contribution' at the bottom.

Or click straight onto: http://www.monarchist.org.au/contribute.html

Or you can pay by credit card and email to: monarchist@bigpond.com

Or mail to: AML, Suite 3303/70 Market Street, Sydney 2000

Or you can always pay via bank transfer to our account:

NAME: Australian Monarchist League

BANK: Commonwealth Bank of Australia

BRANCH: Edgecliff NSW

ACCOUNT NO: 1007 7033 - BSB 062 162

(Don't forget your name)

Those who contribute may also wish to send us a message of not more than 30 words for inclusion in the card which will accompany the gift to Her Royal Highness.

Read More

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Brisbane

The Duchess of Cambridge set foot on Australian soil for the first time today, to the delight of around 200 locals and travellers who waited in viewing areas at Brisbane Airport to see her.

Her Royal Highness walked down the steps of the plane at 11.45am local time, where she and Prince William the Duke of Cambridge were met by consular officials who had placed a small square of red carpet on the tarmac. The Duchess spent less than three hours on Australian soil during her first visit to the country, but it was still time enough for her to win over its people.

Wearing a powder pink floral dress designed by Dannii Minogue, the Australian singer, the Duchess caused excitement at Brisbane airport as she walked through a public departure lounge waving and smiling. Around 200 local people and travellers gathered on viewing platforms, alongside five television crews and a dozen newspaper photographers.

The future King of Australia and his wife came from their last official duty stop in Tuvalu at  the end of a nine-day tour marking the Queen's Diamond Jubilee which also took them to Singapore, Malaysia and the Solomon Islands.

In Tuvalu they were treated to a traditional Tuvalu feast of pigs, lobster, coconut crabs and local fresh fruit. They also wore the traditional "titi saga" or skirt as they danced with locals in the remote tropical nation, one of the world's smallest countries which is situated near the equator.


In 2008 Tuvalu had shown loyalty to the Crown by refusing a proposal to introduce a republic. In a referendum 64.98% of the voters cast their ballot paper in favour of retaining Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Tuvalu, as their Monarch.

Read More

THE ROYAL VISIT TO AUSTRALIA

THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES THE PRINCE OF WALES AND THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL TO VISIT AUSTRALIA

Tuesday, 18th September 2012

Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will visit Australia for six days from Monday 5th to Saturday to 16th November 2012, as Her Majesty The Queen’s personal representatives in the Diamond Jubilee year.

The tour will start in Papua New Guinea from 3rd to 5th November. From Australia Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla will move on to New Zealand for the last part of the tour from November 10 to 16, attending events and celebrations in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch as well as making a brief stop in Manawatu. Prince Charles will celebrate his 64th birthday on 14th November in Wellington.


It is expected that the Royal couple will visit Longreach, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart, Sydney and Canberra.

Details of the program, and locations where the public will be able to see the Royal couple, will be made publically available closer to the visit.

The last visit to Australia by The Prince of Wales was in 2005 when he visited Perth, Alice Springs, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. This will be the first visit to Australia by The Duchess of Cornwall.

The Royal couple's visit to Melbourne coincides with the Melbourne Cup on 6th November and it is expected that they will attend to yearly Melburnian highlight.

Clarence House said Prince Charles will renew old friendships and form new ties during the trip. He last visited Papua New Guinea in 1984, and Australia and New Zealand in 2005.

Read More

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived in the Solomon Islands

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived at Henderson International Airport in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands to be greeted by a tukuwaka, or welcome ceremony, performed by traditional warriors in grass skirts and body paint, bearing spears, clubs and bows and arrows.


Then the couple boarded a “war canoe”, the traditional method by which important visitors are carried onto the island. Instead of being a hollowed-out log, the 21st century version was a Toyota flat-bed truck decorated like a carnival float to look like a canoe, with the couple standing in the cargo bay under a rickety-looking roof made of rushes.

Their arrival caused such a stir that more than 60,000 people lined the short route from the airport into the centre of Honiara. Local police said an influx of people from neghbouring islands meant the crowd which turned out to greet the couple was larger than the entire population of the main island, Guadalcanal, and the couple were clearly enjoying the raucous welcome, waving and smiling constantly as their “canoe” made its stately progress towards the capital’s cathedral for a Diamond Jubilee service of thanksgiving.

Read More

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will soon be in Australia

The previous Victorian government had predicted the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, at the Melbourne Cup: On 2nd February 2010 Victorian Racing Minister Rob Hulls, told the public that the Queen had been invited to attend Australia's premier horse race.

"I know that the Queen is a great racing fan, and I honestly don't know whether or not she has any plans to come here," he told reporters. It was “up to her” if she wanted to attend the 150th Melbourne Cup he stumbled into the TV cameras.

As it turned out, the Queen did not visit Melbourne in 2010, but one year later. However, the Melbourne Cup is on the mind of our Royal Family and in 2012 The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall are expected to be in Australia in early November. Their Royal Highnesses have been deputised to represent The Queen and that their visit will be a continuation of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Australia.

This week, The Age published the news Charles and Camilla tipped for Melbourne Cup. “Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, may outshine all the other celebrities at this year's Melbourne Cup, if speculation is correct that their Australian visit will include a day at the races.”

It would be Prince Charles' second time at the Melbour-ne Cup, after his trip to Fleming-ton with Princess Diana in 1985. If the royal couple do grace Flemington on Tuesday, 6th November, they will certainly be the highest profile guests at the spring racing carnival. So far the sponsors have yet to announce their international celebrity guests but it was already announced that actress Mischa Barton will be a Cup guest. Mischa who?, you may ask. The Royal guests would draw world-wide attention to Australia’s most important race.

The Melbourne Cup has been Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race since it was started in 1861. It is marketed as "the race that stops a nation" and held on the first Tuesday in November, which is a public holiday in Victoria.

The 2012 Melbourne Cup Field will be announced on the Saturday before the race, 3rd November 2012.

The Melbourne Cup 2012 field of 24 horses will feature some of the best staying horses from around the world. 2011 Melbourne Cup winner Dunaden is already in the running to defend their title in the Melbourne Cup 2012.

For the latest information see 2012 Melbourne Cup Field.

On the first visit of a reigning Australian Monarch the Queen and Prince Philip attended the Melbourne Cup in 1954.

Read More

Are republicans masochists?

Kathy Lette has been subject of this blog before: Another ex-pat lectures us (17th April 2011) or Prince Charles marked Australia Day (28th January 2011). This time the RadicalRoyalist has to refer to an opinion piece written by Kathy Lette, that was published by Fairfax media (The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald): Republicans beware: a royal baby will help the monarchy.

There wasn’t really anything new or remotely funny in Kathy Lette’s opinion piece. She knows what the Fairfax editors buy from her and she delivers the required opinion.

The reason for this blog entry were the two final sentences of her ranting:

"In truth, Australians are fond of all kinds of queens, but it doesn't mean we want to be ruled by them. So let's not allow a royal baby to be a PR stealth weapon, flying right under our republican radar."

Isn’t it funny, that she does not want to be ruled by queens, especially not by our present Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, but when she fled Her Majesty’s Australian realm. It must be a masochistic streak, why did she not seek refuge in one of these too many republics that plaster this world, but settled with husband and children in the United Kingdom – she is now by far closer to her Majesty’s rule than she was in Australia. And still she is happy to teach us, who live quite happily down under, that we should not allow a future royal baby – and heir to the throne – to be accepted by us.

What is she doing in the UK, except living obviously quite happily on the salary paid by the Fairfax media? She was received by HRH Prince Charles and HRH Duchess Camilla and nobody reported any misbehaving from the passionate republican Kathy Lette. Is this another case of preaching water and drinking wine?

But perhaps Ms Lette should look at the horrendous anti feminist policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has been ignored by the Austraian media, before worrying about living under a Queen.

Read More

Queen Paola of the Belgians celebrates her 75th birthday

She may be Europe's least known Queen and she celebrates her 75th birthday today "dans l’intimité" - "in private" as the court announced - without public celebrations. But her Italo-Belgian charm can easily match that of the more famous European Queens.

Queen Paola was born Princess Ruffo di Calabria, on 11th September 1937, at Forte del Marmi in Italy. She is the youngest of seven children of Prince Fulco Ruffo di Calabria, a First World War flying ace, and Countess Luisa Gazelli. Her grandmother on her father's side, Laure Mosselman du Chenoy, was Belgian.

The Queen spent her entire youth in Rome, where she completed her classical secondary education in Latin and Greek.

She married Prince Albert of Belgium on 2 July 1959, whom she met at the coronation of HH Pope John XXIII in October 1958. The couple have three children: Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant (born on 15th April 1960), Princess Astrid (born on 5th June 1962) and Prince Laurent (born on 19th October 1963).

The Constitution did not provide for any particular official role for the Queen. Nevertheless, Belgian queens have always played a role in the public life of the country. So the Queen assists the King in carrying out his functions as Head of State: many visits to institutions, contacts with the population, ceremonies in Belgium and abroad, state visits, audiences with representatives of various groups in society and many cultural and social activities. Towards this end, the Queen pays special attention to her role as hostess.

Apart from her activities in the company of the King, the Queen also devotes time to topics that are close to her heart, mainly in the social and cultural sphere.

Social activities
The Queen deploys the Queen's Charities to offer help to citizens who are struggling to cope with financial hardship in their daily lives and often turn to her as a last resort.

On her own initiative or by invitation, she regularly visits social institutions or medical centres throughout the country. These contacts enable her to keep her finger on the pulse of the people and their needs and requirements and of the many initiatives taken every year in Belgium to help others.

Set up in 1992 the Queen Paola Foundation provides the Queen with an opportunity to focus on the issue of integration and training for young people. The Queen Paola Foundation's activities are primarily based on three themes:

• Meaningful support offered to agencies providing help to young people struggling to be included in the main social networks.
• The Queen Paola Prize for Education (launched in 1997) seeks to highlight and reward innovative schemes undertaken by educationalists from all academic levels and networks. 
• The School of Hope (set up in 1999): this initiative lends support to schools operating in a disadvantaged social and economic environment.

In April 2002, the Queen was made Honorary President of Child Focus, the charity which searches for children who have disappeared, combats sexual abuse and helps the parents concerned. Thanks in particular to her international contacts, the Queen is trying to facilitate the creation of similar operational centres in other countries.

Cultural activities

Having lived a long time in Rome, the Queen soon developed an appreciation of beauty and good taste in all areas:

Heritage

The Queen takes a keen interest in the protection and preservation of Belgium's heritage as a result of the very many visits she pays to gain "on the ground" experience. These include visits to Beguine convents and industrial facilities from the early 19th century. In this connection, the Queens devotes a lot of her time to facilitating the restoration and maintenance of the Royal estates and residencies.

Crafts

The Queen is interested in both new and traditional crafts. She takes every opportunity to encourage the exercise and teaching of craft professions.

  

Contemporary art

The Queen is in constant contact with artistic circles and regularly supports major exhibitions or artistic performances both in Belgium and abroad by her presence or via High Patronage. On the initiative of the Queen, contemporary artists have had the opportunity to design and make original works within the Palace of Brussels.

  

Music

As a result of organising activities in the Palace, attending concerts, particularly those held against the background of the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition, and visits to innovative initiatives, the Queen above all aspires to lend support to training and to emerging young professional musicians.

The Royal Family plays a key role in the Queen's life. In common with all grandmothers, the Queen is delighted to spend time in the company of her grandchildren. She is also keen on going on long walks in the forest with the King, as this offers her the opportunity to enjoy the rich variety of natural resources there and the changing seasons.

The Queen is also passionately fond of books, music and travel, particularly in Europe and Africa.

While in India, she visited the "Holy Family Hansenarium", a leprosy hospital in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, founded in 1955 and supported by the Belgian Action Damien.

Read More