Australians for Constitutional Monarchy warmly welcomes home our Queen, The Queen of Australia, the Duke of Edinburgh and of course Prince Edward, who is already in Melbourne.
The Australian media has now moved away from the story of the failure to sing the Royal Australian Anthem at the Commonwealth Games, with the compromise announced by the organizers. This of course is not enough, and the fault lies with the organizers who did not check the correct protocol with the Prime Minister, and then obstinately refused to correct this. How the international media will report the Opening Ceremony will be seen that night. We fear they may concetrate on this issue.
In the meantime, Channel 7 invited me to comment on the Royal Visit for the news on Saturday, 11March, 2006, and Channel 9 invited me to join Jana Wendt on the Sunday programme on 12 March, 2006 to comment on The Queen’s arrival. And I am sure you will agree, she looked warm, charming and happy to be in Australia again. I am sure the crowd was delighted . They acclaimed Her Majesty with cries of “God Save The Queen”, and presented her with bouquets of flowers.
The Channel 9 breakfast programme Sunrise has invited me to appear with Alison Henry, the executive director of the republican movement, after the 7AM News on Monday, 13 March, 2006. No doubt there will be a discussion of the results of the poll on www.ninemsn.com.au on whether Australia should become a republic.
It is good to see the republican movement has announced there will be no protests against The Queen this time. This is a practical and not a noble decision – their protests on a previous visit were poorly attended and very badly received by the public. They were actually called off during the visit
The Queen will be in Sydney on Monday, Canberra on Tuesday, and Melbourne on Wednesday and part of Thursday . We have put details about the best vantage points during the visit on the site. Remember that if you are going to Melbourne Airport, you must register!
During the course of this visit, this homecoming, The Queen will receive Her Prime Ministers, Premiers, and Her Majesty’s Leaders of the Opposition in the Commonwealth and some of the states. Let them remember, and remember vividly that they are always accountable to the people through the Crown, which is our constitutional guardian, our oldest institution, and which is at the very centre of our constitutional system