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While we
retain the Monarch as head of state in Australia it isn’t to often
that the Australian Royal Family makes the news here, but local
media has been sent into meltdown with the royal tour currently
underway in Australia. You can’t turn on a television, read a paper
or news website without seeing the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Everywhere you go that has had or is expecting the Royal Couple to
visit is usually what dominates conversation. A large portion of
Australians are more then delighted to have our future King and
Queen consort here to visit us, the tour is somewhat similar to
that of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Charles and Diana in the
80s.
Fresh back from their visit to the Red Centre and Adelaide as part
of their Royal Tour, the Duke and Duchess have spent the first of
two official days in Canberra undertaking engagements. The royal
couple attended the National Arboretum, a beautiful feature and
relatively new attraction in our Nations Capital. In 2003 Canberra
was thrown into its weeks in its history, bushfire that had started
in NSW and quickly spread to the bushy outer area of the City, the
flames grew in intensity and soon fire had reached the city. Whole
suburbs were lost, houses abandoned and even the National Zoo was
evacuated. The fires left four people dead and hundreds
homeless.
The National Arboretum was part of the recovery effort to
reinvigorate the city following the terrible events. Planting began
in 2005 which included official plantings by heads of state,
government leaders and ambassadors. William and Catherine joined
the list of Royalty who have visited the spot to leave their mark,
Australian born Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and her
husband Crown Prince Frederik are among the
Royal horticulturists.
William and Catherine planted an English Oak tree to honour
England, canberra twins Oliver and Sebastian Lye were on hand to help the Duke And
Duchess water in their tree, their mum told local
presenter Rod Cuddihy on MIX106.3’s breakfast show “I’m so
proud and also a little nervous”. Greeting some of the lucky
Canberran’s who won the ballot to be present the Duchess was
presented with multiple toys and gifts for absent Prince
George, A young girl pushed a
peter rabbit toy to the duchess, the Duchess asked ‘‘Is that for
George? His cot’s going to be full of little teddy
bears’’.
From the Arboretum they made the short
drive to Parliament House. The royal couple were
received at Parliament House by scores of onlookers and the
official party including the Prime Minister and Leader of the
Opposition in the Marble Foyer. Prince William gave a speech
praising the Australian people, our work ethic and rich culture
going on to say “Australia may be known as the lucky country, but
often the harder you work, the luckier you get,” and that
Australians “make their own luck”. He went on to speak fondly
of memories made with his young family on their
tour “We go away with wonderful
memories, and George goes away with his cuddly wombat, which he has
taken to chewing so lovingly.
In his speech Prince William paid tribute to Australia’s first
peoples. “Catherine and I acknowledge the timeless values of the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. They have been
the custodians of this ancient and majestic continent for thousands
of years. The Traditional Owners’ stories, and the
magnificent and moving rock art at Uluru, which we saw for
ourselves, are a priceless inheritance. They tell us not just about
the past but provide a precious vision for the future”.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott took time to put the Royal Tour into
perspective with a relatively Australian metaphor, “A couple
of years back, Kelly Slater visited Manly, in my electorate. There
were over a thousand screaming fans, as you’d expect when the
world’s greatest surfer visited the world’s greatest beach. But as
I have just seen with my own eyes, Sir, Ma’am, in Manly, you are
bigger than Kelly Slater, perhaps by a factor of ten’. Mr Shorten
the leader of the opposition told a story of how his family
in the United Kingdom who had been present when the Dukes
Great-grandfather George VI then Duke of York had launched a ship
in Newcastle Upon Thyme in 1931, Mr Shorten went on to say “Its
only taken our families 83 years to catch up again, but its a
distinct pleasure”.
William and Catherine after their lunch at Parliament House then
made their way to the National Portrait Gallery to view local works
and meet the artists and or subjects of the portraits. The Duchess
who is an avid art enthusiast seemed to be in her element taking in
the glorious works of art.
The Royal Couple later in the night were guests of honour at a
reception at Government House.
photo credit: Office of the Governor-General of New
Zealand]]>
