| (Copyright) by Craig White (Australia) |
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In my upbringing South Africa was a republic and of course most at school were that way inclined. My Mum was pro-Royal lite but Dad (as a British migrant) was completely pro-Royal and he helped me to understand its goodness, terrific ancient traditions, the $billions it raises in charity work, the happiness it brings (including the glorious pomp and ceremony), enormous inflow of $$$ due to tourism, stability, etc. etc. etc.  Over time I became a constitutional monarchist by age 16 or so.  When the family moved to the UK, I was able to see Buckingham Palace, castles, monuments etc. and this experience cemented my loyalty to the Constitutional Monarchy.  When I worked for NSW Premier’s Dept one of my roles was as Manager for Parliamentary and Ministerial Services, inter-governmental relations etc. On a couple of occasions, I was enrolled to assist with Royal visits and later the Olympic Games.  One of them was in February 1992 for the Queen’s visit and in January 1994 for Prince Charles’ visit. I still have photographs, the various brochures, sitting arrangements (a pecking order and gazette), briefing documents, ID cards and such like.  For the Queen’s visit I watched her opening NSW Parliament in the Legislative Council (upper house) and saw her drive down Macquarie Street. Later I participated in guiding dignitaries to their chairs at a function at Sydney Town Hall and came within a few meters of her and I witnessed how the Parliamentarians cowered before her. That was great to see! As I said to people later, you could feel a tremendous presence or power emanating from her. Was it just her or an angelic power with her I wondered?  During his visit in 1994 I was a mere few feet from the Prince but he only shook hands with those he visited. I was also part of the entourage that flew with him to the country towns of Forbes and Parkes and travelled around the city with him. Later, at Darling Harbour, I saw the attempted attack upon him and I was told later that guns were at the ready to shoot the offender. The Prince was so cool and took it all in his stride, simply adjusting his cufflinks as the scuffle took place and the offender was arrested.  That is it in brevity – I loved that job!     ——————————————————————————————— Reprinted with permission from: Friends of the Sabbath Australia http://www.friendsofsabbath.org/  ——————————————————————————————— |
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