Australian Politics
Sunday, September 11, 2022
GOD SAVE THE KING!
That was my immediate and proper response when I was told that Her Majesty the Queen had died. Britain is never without a monarch. When one passes the successor is immediately known and recognized.
Like untold millions worldwide I was upset to hear of her death and shed a tear over it. Australia is a monarchy and I think you have to be a citizen of a monarchy to understand the emotional significance of that.
I also shed a tear when the previous monarch died. I was only nine when King George VI died but even then I felt the significance of the occasion.
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King Charles III now Australia’s head of state
King Charles III is Australia’s new head of state following the death of his mother the Queen, who is being mourned with an outpouring of tributes and community affection for her more than 70 years of service as Australia’s monarch.
King Charles automatically became Australia’s head of state when the Queen died, but he will be formally named in the role in a proclamation ceremony at Parliament House on Sunday.
Charles has also become head of the Commonwealth, an association of 56 independent countries and about 2.5 billion people. For 14 of these countries, as well as the UK, the King is head of state.
Following an extended period of mourning for the Queen, thoughts will turn to Charles’s coronation. Seventy years ago, the process took 14 months, but it could be a lot swifter this time. There is no rule as to when a coronation has to be held.
The last three coronations all took more than a year to prepare.
High commissioners from the Commonwealth were involved on the committees that planned the Queen’s coronation. They will be involved again.
Commonwealth leaders were among those mourning the Queen on Friday. In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had been reading news reports about the monarch’s ill health before going to bed. A “police officer shone a torch into my room at around 10 to five this morning ... I knew immediately what it meant”, she said. “I am profoundly sad.”
PNG Prime Minister James Marape said: “Papua New Guineans from the mountains, valleys and coasts rose up this morning to the news that our Queen has been taken to rest by God.”
Across Australia flags were lowered to half mast and federal parliament was suspended for at least a fortnight.
The Queen’s death triggers 14 days of events including a national memorial service and a national day of mourning. Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon, together with Governor-General David Hurley and his wife Linda, are due to head to London on Thursday ahead of the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey, the date of which is yet to be confirmed but is likely to be Sunday, September 18 or Monday, September 19.
They will be joined by Australia’s charge d’affaires to the UK Lynette Wood and her partner, bringing the official Australian delegation to six. Ms Wood will represent Australia at a series of formal events in Britain over the coming days in the absence of an appointed high commissioner.
Under Australia’s longstanding Operation London Bridge plan for the Queen’s death – which is synchronised with the UK’s plan of the same name – Friday was designated as “D-Day” and is followed by 10 days of official events.
The mourning period will be extended to an anticipated two weeks in Australia, with a national memorial service and a national day of mourning to be held when the Prime Minister and Governor-General arrive back from attending the Queen’s funeral.
At dusk on Friday, a 96-gun salute was sounded by the Australian Defence Force at Parliament House in Canberra – one round for every year of the Queen’s life – while the Sydney Opera House was illuminated in her honour.
Foreign diplomats and members of the public began to arrive at federal parliament and Government House in Canberra on Friday, and at the residences of state governors, to sign official condolence books. Online condolence books have also been established on the Governor-General’s and Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s websites.
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Charles III to be proclaimed King in Australia at ceremonies around the country
Governor-General David Hurley will proclaim King Charles III's ascension to the throne at a solemn ceremony today. Prime minister Anthony Albanese will make the recommendation at a meeting of the Executive Council at Government House at 11am on Sunday. The Governor-General will then make the proclamation at midday outside Parliament House.
The ceremony will include a welcome to country, followed by the proclamation with God Save The King to be performed and then a 21-gun salute.
Flags that have been flying at half mast will return to full mast until dusk.
State governors will make their own proclamations at ceremonies around the country. NSW announced free public transport all day so people could attend the historic event outside parliament from 12.30pm.
The Sydney Opera House sails will continue to be illuminated in the Queen's honour, as are other landmarks.
On Saturday, Mr Albanese, Mr Hurley, and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton laid wreaths to honour The Queen at Parliament House in Canberra. 'She was a constant reassuring presence,' Mr Albanese said.
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Trump comments on the Queen:
The whole of civilization is in mourning. The passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the enlightened monarch who reigned over the United Kingdom for 70 years, is a loss felt by billions around the world.
This week, and in the weeks ahead, we especially grieve for the royal family — we can only imagine their sorrow.
And we express our solidarity with all the people of the United Kingdom and every realm of the Commonwealth she so loved.
Few in history have more fully exemplified the traits of dignity, steadfastness, resolve, duty, and patriotic devotion.
She counseled 15 Prime Ministers and 13 Presidents, and was the longest-serving monarch in the history of England and the United Kingdom.
Spending time with Her Majesty was one of the most extraordinary honors of my life.
I grew up in a household where Queen Elizabeth — her grace, her charm, her nobility — were deeply admired, especially by my mother, who came from Scotland.
The times we spent with the Queen at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle are memories Melania and I will cherish for the rest of our lives.
Her Majesty had a sharp mind, missed nothing, and always knew exactly what to say.
At our unforgettable State Dinner three years ago, we got along wonderfully, talking the whole evening.
That same week, the 75th anniversary of D-Day, we sat side-by-side to honor the sacrifice of the British and American warriors who fought and bled together in the Second World War.
I will forever be grateful for the privilege of getting to know this unparalleled leader.
As monarch, Her Majesty the Queen was the personal embodiment of nearly a century of British history.
Every Prime Minister from Winston Churchill onward served under her. When I asked her who was her favorite, she told me she liked them all.
She saw her country through the Blitz of London, the Cold War, the Falklands conflict, the coal miners’ strikes, Brexit, COVID, and so much more.
No matter what challenges came, she was always there for her people—resolute and unflappable, stabilizing and reassuring by her very presence.
In the face of all adversity, she embodied the uniquely British attribute of a firm and quiet resolve.
The qualities that served Queen Elizabeth so well as monarch also endeared her to the hearts of countless people all over the world.
From Africa to Asia to the Americas, she was the United Kingdom’s greatest emissary.
Through her travels to well over 100 countries, she touched countless lives, spreading confidence, goodwill, and admiration for British values everywhere she went.
Nowhere was this truer than in the United States.
The treasured friendship and precious bond between America and the United Kingdom, which we call the Special Relationship, meant that Her Majesty the Queen was truly special to us as well.
She was respected and beloved by the American People like few other figures in modern times.
Above all, the Queen was great because Britain is great. In her person, the world witnessed the fullest expression of the British spirit. The virtues she epitomized were the virtues of the British people.
By her example, we saw what it means to be British—a people who are strong and unwavering, wise and just, noble and majestic; a people who are serious, but good-humored; proud, but righteous; and indeed a people who are a blessing to the entire world.
That was Queen Elizabeth, and that is the United Kingdom. She was Great Britain at its very best.
It will take time for us to fully absorb the extent of this loss. She was indispensable—a beloved Sovereign of her Kingdom, an icon to the world, a legend in her time.
As we grieve, we are comforted that King Charles III will be a great and outstanding successor to his cherished mother.
Melania and I were blessed to get to know him well when we visited England.
He dearly loves the U.K. and its people. I know he will prove to be an inspiration to the British People, and that under Charles’s reign, they will continue to persevere through all challenges, and push relentlessly onward toward their great destiny in which Queen Elizabeth II so deeply believed.
God bless the Queen. God bless her family. God bless the United Kingdom.
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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
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Evelyn Rae, a conservative Australian political commentator
Margo Robbie -- a beautiful australian
My son Joe at ANU
One of the happiest pictures ever -- Cleo Smith, aged 4
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