The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh completed their five-week Tour of Australia on this day in 1963, at the end of a two-month Commonwealth Tour of Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia, which was their first joint visit to Australia since the 1954 Commonwealth Tour, with their next being the Captain Cook Bicentenary Tour in 1970.
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The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh visited Canberra, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Brisbane, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Darwin, Kununurra, Koolan Island, Broome, Geraldton and Perth between February 18th and March 27th, travelling mostly on the Royal Yacht Britannia.
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The highlight of the Queen (wearing the Vladimir Tiara and Cambridge Emerald Parure) and Duke of Edinburgh’s visit was a spectacular State Reception hosted by Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies at the Parliament House in Canberra, following a Dinner at Government House.
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In Adelaide, the Queen (in Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara, Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace and the Duchess of Gloucester’s Pendant Earrings) and the Duke of Edinburgh attended a Dinner at Government House before attending a Royal Music Festival in Elder Park, tracing in the Royal Barge across Torrens Lake.
The Queen (wearing Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara, Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace and the Duchess of Gloucester’s Pendant Earrings) and Duke also attended a Reception given by the Government of Victoria at the Melbourne Town Hall, following a private dinner on board the Royal Yacht Britannia, though two days later, there was a Dinner Party at Government House in Melbourne.
The highlight of the Queen (in the Vladimir Tiara and Cambridge Emerald Parure) and Duke of Edinburgh’s visit to Sydney was a spectacular Pageant at the Royal Agricultural Society’s Show-ground, which followed a private dinner on board the Royal Yacht Britannia.
The Queen (wearing the Vladimir Tiara and Cambridge Emerald Parure) and Duke were also photographed on the Royal Yacht Britannia during another Gala, likely a Dinner held on the Royal Yacht in Hobart. There were also Gala Dinners in Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, and Perth, with another highlight being the meeting of the Queen with her cousins, the then Governor of Queensland, Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith and Lady Abel Smith.
Itinerary