By Dominique Tassell
Stanthorpe local Gilruth Rees has reflected on the many instances when she came into contact with Queen Elizabeth II, following her passing on 8 September.
She vividly remembers writing on the first page of her school diary when she was 11 years old that King George VI had passed and his daughter Elizabeth was now Queen.
While she doesn’t have the diary anymore, she does have a model of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation coach that her Great Aunt gifted her.
“It’s a tiny little thing,” she said. “Complete with its horses.”
Gilruth saw Queen Elizabeth II in person two years later in 1954.
“I was one of those kids that stood in the hot sun,” she said.
She was living in Halifax and made the trip to Townsville to see the Queen.
Gilruth said there were thousands of school kids standing in the sun, waving flags at the car.
“She went so many places,” she said. “There were school kids waving for hours just to see cars go by.”
Gilruth was also present at Queen Elizabeth II’s last visit to Brisbane, where she and her husband were at a service at St John’s Cathedral.
“Our son, Geoff, was a chorister at St John’s Cathedral,” she said. “We were part of the congregation by invitation that day.”
“Also as part of the organisation, we belonged to we were invited to the City Hall for a reception.”
Gilruth said the Queen walked by them and was “so beautiful and gorgeous”.
She said Prince Phillip stopped and asked someone if they were there on their own behalf or had they come with someone, because he had.
“We were most taken with his sense of humour,” Gilruth said,
She said Queen Elizabeth II was “smiling and lovely”.
Later on, Gilruth also crossed paths with Princess Diana and the now King Charles III when they came out to Australia.
“We were at city hall,” she said. “It was very very obvious that Di didn’t really want to be there and I thought the heat might have been getting to her.”
They then went on to Cloudland for an event with the couple.
Gilruth comes from a long line of royalists and remembers that her mother had a whole library full of royalist items. Her mother travelled down from Northern Queensland to watch Geoff sing at St John’s.
She said she will “no doubt” add the new coins featuring King Charles III to her royal memorabilia collection when they are released.
Gilruth said the Queen’s passing has brought back lots of memories.
“It’s been a lifetime I suppose,” she said.
