You Can't Take Me Anywhere
Now, as she is currently visiting, it seems as good a time as any to relate the story of the time I met the Queen.
It was 1982 and Brisbane was hosting the Commonwealth Games, hence the Queen’s visit to Brisvegas (although this nickname was a few years off. Truth be told, in 1982, Brisbane was too dull even to take the piss out of).
So yes, the Queen was in Brisbane for the Commonwealth Games. As is her practice, she was doing a walk through the then brand new Queen Street Mall, to mingle with her minions. I decided I must go along and give her flowers, as I had seen others do on the telly/in newspapers. My mother suggested getting some flowers from the neighbour’s garden, as she thought this would be more personal, but it might really have been that she was being a tightwad.
What I remember was that there were thousands of people and the cheering was very loud. The Queen came into view and I walked up, along with a few other children and gave her the flowers. She said something which was very hard to hear on account of the cheering but it sounded like a question so I said “yes”. Then I deciphered that she had said “They’re lovely flowers - are they from your own garden?” so I quickly changed my answer to “no!” and tried to explain they were from the neighbour’s garden. Then as she moved to the next kid with flowers it occurred to me that I hadn’t curtsied, and thought I should try something like curtsying but and ended up listing slightly sideways in the attempt. So I didn’t curtsy and I didn’t wear a hat (found out this week that one should). You can’t take me anywhere.
At the same time, there were some mutterings about Australia becoming a republic. I’m not sure why, perhaps because of my Irish ancestry, but I thought it sounded like a good idea. I still do, although judging from the turnout at the latest visit, it won’t happen while Elizabeth II is alive. Perhaps Prince Charles becoming king might spur it along. And no, they can’t just skip Charles for William. This would require an Act of Parliament, or Charles volunteering to step aside or, failing that, William usurping the throne or declaring war on his dad. Can’t see any of this happening.
When the Queen dropped in on Brisbane on Monday, and I saw the huge crowds waiting to see her, I sighed because I knew the monarchists would gloat that the republican movement was over. But they ignore a few things: Royals were the original celebrities; centuries ago their likenesses were on the coins, so they were the first really famous people; they are beyond A-list celebs and people are gossipy. And lets not forget how many people turned out to see Oprah last year.
But back to the Queen. I have long thought that, in that game of which five people would you invite to dinner, the Queen would have to be on that list, because she has met everyone (even me) and would have better anecdotes than anyone in the world and would be very interesting to talk to although I suspect she isn’t one forgossip information sharing, so this is no good to me. Hmm, maybe better to go with Stephen Fry afterall.
As for the stability that the monarchy provides, well, this argument is made by people who don't think past Elizabeth II (she became Queen in 1952 for those playing at home) - she is all most people remember and she has been steadfast, dutiful and apolitical - a good and popular head of state. That she has lasted so long is the luck of the genetic draw. They forget the abdication of Edward VIII, just over 70 years ago. Even during Elizabeth II’s steady-as-she-goes reign, things nearly unravelled in the 1990s when the Windsors attempted to maintain a lie at the centre of British life (the lie being that Charles and Diana were happily married). People don’t like being duped and, arguably, the most obvious manifestation of people being peeved about this was Australia’s Republic Referendum held in 1999.
Come to think of it, the recent situations that have come close to bringing the Royals undone are related to their personal life choices. Linking a country’s government to an institution which could fall apart due to something as unpredictable as someone’s love life, really seems quite fragile. We’d better get ourselves a President.
It was 1982 and Brisbane was hosting the Commonwealth Games, hence the Queen’s visit to Brisvegas (although this nickname was a few years off. Truth be told, in 1982, Brisbane was too dull even to take the piss out of).
So yes, the Queen was in Brisbane for the Commonwealth Games. As is her practice, she was doing a walk through the then brand new Queen Street Mall, to mingle with her minions. I decided I must go along and give her flowers, as I had seen others do on the telly/in newspapers. My mother suggested getting some flowers from the neighbour’s garden, as she thought this would be more personal, but it might really have been that she was being a tightwad.
What I remember was that there were thousands of people and the cheering was very loud. The Queen came into view and I walked up, along with a few other children and gave her the flowers. She said something which was very hard to hear on account of the cheering but it sounded like a question so I said “yes”. Then I deciphered that she had said “They’re lovely flowers - are they from your own garden?” so I quickly changed my answer to “no!” and tried to explain they were from the neighbour’s garden. Then as she moved to the next kid with flowers it occurred to me that I hadn’t curtsied, and thought I should try something like curtsying but and ended up listing slightly sideways in the attempt. So I didn’t curtsy and I didn’t wear a hat (found out this week that one should). You can’t take me anywhere.
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| The day I met the Queen (author not pictured) |
When the Queen dropped in on Brisbane on Monday, and I saw the huge crowds waiting to see her, I sighed because I knew the monarchists would gloat that the republican movement was over. But they ignore a few things: Royals were the original celebrities; centuries ago their likenesses were on the coins, so they were the first really famous people; they are beyond A-list celebs and people are gossipy. And lets not forget how many people turned out to see Oprah last year.
But back to the Queen. I have long thought that, in that game of which five people would you invite to dinner, the Queen would have to be on that list, because she has met everyone (even me) and would have better anecdotes than anyone in the world and would be very interesting to talk to although I suspect she isn’t one for
As for the stability that the monarchy provides, well, this argument is made by people who don't think past Elizabeth II (she became Queen in 1952 for those playing at home) - she is all most people remember and she has been steadfast, dutiful and apolitical - a good and popular head of state. That she has lasted so long is the luck of the genetic draw. They forget the abdication of Edward VIII, just over 70 years ago. Even during Elizabeth II’s steady-as-she-goes reign, things nearly unravelled in the 1990s when the Windsors attempted to maintain a lie at the centre of British life (the lie being that Charles and Diana were happily married). People don’t like being duped and, arguably, the most obvious manifestation of people being peeved about this was Australia’s Republic Referendum held in 1999.
Come to think of it, the recent situations that have come close to bringing the Royals undone are related to their personal life choices. Linking a country’s government to an institution which could fall apart due to something as unpredictable as someone’s love life, really seems quite fragile. We’d better get ourselves a President.
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