Story continues A “new” and prosperous countryĭuring her first two tours in 19, the Australia laid-out for display for the queen was depicted as having gone from being a small colonial settlement to a thriving economy that had ridden to prosperity “ on the sheep’s back”. ![]() No Australian prime minister has ever had a reception on this scale or exposure to so many of the country’s citizens. It is estimated as much as 75% of the population saw the queen and Prince Philip during this tour. The tour saw Elizabeth travel 10,000 miles by air and 2,000 miles by road – including 207 trips by car and by appointed royal trains. The royal tour lasted nearly two months and consisted of a gruelling schedule taking in visits to every state and territory apart from the Northern Territory.ĭuring the tour, the queen greeted over 70,000 ex-service men and women drove in cavalcades that took in massive crowds attended numerous civic receptions and opened the Australian Parliament in Canberra. Deference to the Crown was paramount in Britain and the Commonwealth, and many Australians were madly enthusiastic about their queen.Īfter her arrival at Farm Cove in Sydney on February 3 1954, Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to set foot on Australian soil. ![]() The queen’s 1954 tour took place during a time described by historian Ben Pimlott as the age of “ British Shintoism”. Her visits to Australia – from her first in 1954 through to her last in 2011 – offer a snapshot of the changing relationship Australians have had with their sovereign and with the monarchy.
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