Crown Prince Frederick and, Australian-born, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark in jeans and runners (that went down very well) make a fine job of visiting people in the Blue Mountains affected by destructive bushfires in the last week. It is very obvious that we don’t need the British Royals to do this task. The heir to the Australian throne, just shy of 65, now being groomed to be our King, sent a rallying message to firefighters in his far-flung realm but that came from London. We don’t even need them to do that given there is a locally engaged vice-regal representative to stand in. Besides, why didn’t our Queen do it herself?
Woman for an Australian Republic, Adelaide Ironside, republican poet and artist 1831-1867
Self portrait 1855, Newcastle Art Gallery NSW
