An ACM supporter who attended the spectacular Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony tells me that the crowd spontaneously joined Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (made incidentally a Dame Commander of the British Empire by The Queen in 1982) in singing Happy Birthday to The Queen.
But when the Birthday Tribute “segued” into an abbreviated version of God Save The Queen, the whole crowd then stood to sing that too.
“An amazing and totally spontaneous mark of respect for The Queen from the people of Melbourne,” says our supporter.
The Premier Mr. Steve Bracks, relying on a letter from another monarchist organisation published in The Australian on 2 March 2006 which denounced the playing of our Royal Anthem as too British, actually told Parliament God Save The Queen would definitely not be played. (The Sydney Morning Herald editor now misrepresents monarchists as insisting God Save The Queen be replaced by Advance Australia Fair. Actually almost all monarchists wanted both to be played.)
But then the organizers revealed a few bars would be sung-and that they had planned this for months! Strange they hadn’t told the Premier, nor apparently, the Minister.
They just don’t understand how Australians think. Everybody-well almost everybody- wanted to honour the Queen by singing the Royal Anthem.
A great and spontaneous tribute to our Queen, The Queen of Australia !