Friday, April 18, 2014

A Good Friday, Indeed!

     Day Three (Good Friday) of the Royal tour in Australia got off to a bang as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived at Sydney Olympic Park for the Royal Easter Show to the tune of 150,000 people who came out to see them and attend the show.

     The Royal Easter Show is run by the Royal Agricultural Society of North South Wales, which was founded in 1822, and in the following year, it held the first Easter Show, which was granted "Royal" status by Queen Victoria. Billed as an event in which "city meets country", it includes an agricultural show, amusement park, and fair. Among the events that take place are the showcasing and judging of livestock and produce, competitions in arts and crafts, photography, and cookery, as well as strength and skills tests in various trades. If that was not enough, the Royal Easter Show also offers shopping, restaurants, commercial stands, exhibits, horticultural display, as well as dog and cat shows and other forms of entertainment.
      Today was a bright and sunny day as William and Kate were greeted by Glenn Dudley, President of the Royal Agricultural Society, as well as to a raucous welcome by the hundreds of thousands who were in attendance. The Easter Show is in fact one of Australia's biggest cultural events and usually does attract a great many people, but there was no doubt that the presence of the Cambridge's provided an extra boost to its profile this year.

     Once indoors, the Royal couple toured the exhibitions and venues featuring the products of various industries, particularly those in agriculture, and the vendors were keen to offer samplings of their wares to the Duke and Duchess. They opened a new pavilion at the show which was commemorated with a plaque, and also met the 16-year-old 2013 Wool4Skool program winner, who designed a blue dress for the Duchess.
      Going to the livestock area, William and Kate were introduced to Fred the Ram, a sheep who is somewhat of a local celebrity, and were also witness to a sheep shearing. When Kate was shown a tuft of alpaca hair, she turned to William and said "you need it more than me" and pointed to the disappearing follicles atop his head, suggesting that he wear the alpaca hair as a toupĂ©e. He laughed at the gentle ribbing, perhaps believing that it was her way of getting back at him for saying that she looked like a "banana" in the yellow dress she wore when they arrived on Wednesday.
      Back outside, they conducted an impromptu walkabout amongst the large crowds that had amassed in the carnival/fair area. Along the way, they knelt down to talk with several children. 

     From there, the Duke and Duchess left for Manly, a northern suburb of Sydney. There, they were greeted by the recently-appointed New South Wales premier, Mike Baird, at the Bear Cottage Children's Hospice.
      Bear Cottage provides care and support for children with life-limiting illnesses and their families, and it relies almost solely on community donations to keep their doors open those families. The purpose of this visit was designed to raise awareness of the children's hospice, which is one of only two such facilities in Australia. 

     Hospice care one of her causes in the United Kingdom, and the Duchess had visited another children's hospice center in New Zealand called Rainbow Place. She has thrown her support behind the creation of more hospices throughout the greater region of Australasia.
     In a well-received speech at Bear Cottage, Kate thanked Australia for the warm welcome she and George received on their first official visit to the country. She also said that it has been special to be in Australia as a family, and that there will be fond and happy memories as a result of this visit. With regard to the hospice center itself, the Duchess praised the operators and staff for their "inspirational" work in creating a "haven" for families when they are "confronted with the shattering news that their children have a life limiting condition" that can dramatically after their life circumstances.

      Most poignantly and movingly, it has been reported that Kate and William fought back tears as they met a dying baby at the facility who is of similar age to Prince George. William said: "I welled up and was really worried I would start crying. Once I started, I wouldn't have stopped."

      At the conclusion of the Bear Cottage visit, the Royal couple went on a quick walkabout at the facility, which partly resulted in them being 20 minutes behind to their next and final engagement of the day at Manly Beach.


     There, they were greeted by a great many people who had waited for several hours to get a good sight of them on the beach, where they watched life-saving demonstrations by members and volunteers from local surf clubs, as well as from Surf Life (known as "Nippers") - the country's main rescue, water safety, and drown-prevention authority.

     They talked intently with these members and volunteers, and took a keen interest in what they do and the nature of their work. There were a few competitions as well, and before firing a gun to start a race, William called out, "Face the water!"


     While on the beach, the Duke and Duchess were joined by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot, as well as by local officials such the Mayor of Manly, Jean Hay, who commissioned a six foot long blue surfboard for Prince George that says: "Greetings from Manly" and "Surf City Australia." In many ways this was the perfect gift from the city since it does actually retain the name "Surf City Australia" as a trademark.

     Prince George is of course, not ready to go surfing just yet, but his father Prince William is a keen surfer and grandfather Prince Charles was at one time patron of the British Surfing Association. So we may expect to see the young lad take to the waters with this specially-made craft.


     Following another walkabout, the Royal couple headed back to Admiralty House in Canberra for dinner and to be with baby George before retiring for the day.

     Tomorrow, the Duke and Duchess will be going to Queensland, where they will visit the Royal Australian Air Force base at Amberley and then head over to Brisbane to attend a reception hosted by the Governor and the Premier of Queensland.


Photo Credit: Twitter embeds, screenshot captures from live streams
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)