Mark Lyell at the Queen Elizabeth II display in the Forbes & District Historical Museum.
The passing of Queen Elizabeth II last week has started many conversations and brought back plenty of memories for people who had seen the monarch during one of her many visits to Australia.
Mark Lyell, who volunteers at the Forbes & District Historical Museum, clearly remembers her infamous visit in 1954. “I was in primary school in Sydney and we lined Military Road as she came from Taronga Zoo. She drove past us in an open car.” It was her first visit to Australia as the Queen aged 27.
Forbes resident Greg Ridge said he was a young snapper living in Darwin in the early 70s when he saw the Queen. “We greeted her at the RAAF base airport.”
Another Forbes resident had the singular honour of opening a door for the Queen. Kenneth Wren was working in security at Parliament House in 1996. “I opened the main door to Parliament house for her Majesty.”
While the Queen never visited Forbes, many people will remember when the new Monarch King Charles III came to Forbes on 27th January 1994.
He planted a tree in Victoria Park, and the spade he used is on display at the Forbes & District Historical Museum, which forms part of a bigger display on the Queen. It contains a display cupboard filled with memorabilia.
The Queen visited Wagga Wagga in 1954, and Member for Riverina Michael McCormack recalled when he met her as editor of The Daily Advertiser in Sydney in 2000 and said where he was from, she immediately replied ‘Wagga Wagga a market town’.
“She remembered all those years ago visiting our city,” said Michael. “We then had a very convivial conversation about Wagga Wagga and the season. She recalled it in detail straight off the top of her head. I was amazed.”