THE Queen and Prince Philip travelled to the spiritual home of Australian
republicanism yesterday and received the largest and warmest welcome of
this tour.
In Ballarat, famed for its gold mining and begonias, the council had been so
keen to ensure a smooth visit that they removed all the acorns from trees
beneath which she was due to sit - just in case some fell on the royal couple.
Such attentive treatment would not have greeted a royal visitor in September
1854 when Ballarat was the scene of the only armed insurrection in Australian
history.
Unrest among the miners had reached breaking point through a combination
of poor conditions, high licence fees and no democratic voice. More than 150
"diggers", led by an Irish miner called Peter Lalor, launched a rebellion and
barricaded themselves behind a stockade at a spot called Eureka. Crown
troops did not take long to break the stockade, killing 25 miners in the
process.
But the strength of feeling led to improved rights for miners, Lalor went on to
be an MP and the incident is often described as the birth of the "Australian
spirit". Yesterday afternoon, the inheritors of that tradition were up to 20 deep
in places to give a euphoric welcome to the inheritor o that crown.
On Sovereign Hill, a living museum just yards from the stockade site, the
sovereign found herself transported back to the 1850s. Today, tourists are the
new gold and the old town has been recreated in minute detail, right down to
the hundreds of volunteers who walk the streets and mining areas dressed in
original costume.
The Queen dropped in at Clark Bros Grocery, a replica of a thriving
mid-19th-century concern. There, "Mr Clark" gave her some freshly ground
coffee while "Mrs Clark" offered her some sticky fly papers. "Very useful,"
the Queen remarked. She was also presented with a bar of something called
"Tilley's Timid Joe Dog Soap", a strong-smelling alleged cure for "skin
eruptions, fleas and all offensive exhalations". The corgis will be delighted.
Outside, she went on a period walkabout, meeting women in long crinoline
dresses, street urchins and men in waistcoats and top hats. For once, it was
the turn of the Queen, dressed in a peppermint jacket, floral skirt and
raspberry hat, to look like a radically risqué fashion victim.
After a civic lunch in the old bakery and a swift time-journey of 150 years, the
Queen put on a white coat to inspect sweet-packing and pallet-making
operations at Ballarat Regional Industries, which employs disabled people.
Prince Philip visited a local enterprise centre but found the briefing at one
company a little too abstruse.
He joked as the directors of Consolidated Sports Marketing reached full
flow: "You're using so much bloody jargon, I don't know what you're talking
about." By now, the town had reached a state of feverish excitement and the
royal couple found around 15,000 people in the city's Botanical Gardens. In
the shade of several trees, she was treated to a display of rescue skills by the
emergency services.
Helicopters buzzed and swooped overhead but there was no chance of any
foliage blowing near the royal party, even though it is early autumn here. A
council official explained that, a few hours earlier, the choppers had flown
down to tree level to blow away any loose leaves and acorns while workers
shook the branches above the royal dais.
Before leaving, the Queen and the Prince performed one last walkabout
among the cheering crowds. It seemed to have been well worth the wait -
even for Hilary Sutton who had travelled 400 miles on four trains and two
buses over three days just to witness this moment. Mrs Sutton said: "I admire
the Queen's perseverance." The Queen would doubtless admire hers.
~*~
Queen honours East Timor heroes(BBC News)
Australian peacekeepers who helped stabilise
war-ravaged East Timor have been honoured
by the Queen.
Major General Peter Cosgrove was commander
of the international force which was sent to
East Timor to help ease tension after the East
Timorese people voted overwhelmingly for
independence from Indonesia.
He was invested as a Companion of the Order
of Australia at a ceremony in Government
House in Canberra, during the Queen's tour of
Australia.
Five others also
received awards, under
the Australian honours
system, for their part
in the operation.
Lieutenant Colonel
Stephen Day received
the Distinguished
Service Cross.
Police chief Alan Mills,
who served as
Commissioner of the
Civilian Police Contingent of the United Nations
Assistance Mission in East Timor, was invested
as an Officer in the General Division of the
Order of Australia.
Sergeant Steven Oddy received the Medal for
Gallantry.
Navy diver Able Seaman Justin Brown received
a Commendation for Gallantry.
And Staff Sergeant Kim Felmingham received
the Nursing Service Cross.
Hope and peace
Australia's Prime Minister John Howard praised
Major General Cosgrove.
He said: "His leadership contributed
significantly to the success of the multinational
mission and provided the people of East Timor
with hope and a peaceful new beginning."
More than 9,000 men and women from the
Australian forces served with the International
Force East Timor and a total of 78 have been
recognised with distinguished service and
gallantry awards for their exceptional conduct
in East Timor.
The Australian-led international peacekeeping
force, Interfet, left East Timor in February
after five months duty.
Major General Cosgrove said only luck and
discipline had averted the outbreak of fighting
with Indonesian troops.
Interfet was replaced by a 23-nation
peacekeeping operation of about 9,000 troops
- 80% of whom will have transferred from
Interfet - which has become one of the United
Nations' biggest and most expensive military
operations.
March 26th
Jobless white builder rules as African
king (Electronic Telegraph)
By Justin Sparks in Amsterdam
HENK OTTE, a 43-year-old unemployed ex-builder from Amsterdam, has
been crowned King Togbe Korsi Ferdinand Gakpector II following the
discovery that he is the reincarnation of the last great warrior king of the
250,000-strong Ewe tribe in Ghana.
The Mepe kingdom, known in Ghana as the Mepe Traditional District, had
been without a ruler since the death of King Togbe Korsi Ferdinand
Gakpector I in 1974. Mr Otte, who was forced to leave the building trade in
1988 after a work-related accident, aroused the interest of a local witch
doctor during a 1995 visit to Mepe with his Ghanaian wife, the late king's
granddaughter. The couple met in Amsterdam, which has a large Ghanaian
community.
Mr Otte explained: "The witch doctor keeps contact with the ancestral spirits.
After carrying out a lot of secret rituals with the tribal elders, he discovered
that I was, in fact, the king's reincarnation." The revelation was initially kept
quiet. But after lengthy discussions between tribal elders, Mr Otte was
approached with a request to accept the throne on which he was installed in
1997.
Mr Otte said: "At first I thought it was a bad joke. But they were so solemn
that I realised pretty quick that they were serious. I considered it a great
honour and accepted. And anyway, I hardly had anything to do back home in
Holland." The coronation followed several days of rituals, including libations,
animal slaughtering, feasting and dancing.
Mr Otte was ceremonially crowned King Togbe Korsi Ferdinand Gakpector
II, after the elders had rejected his request to be crowned King Togbe Henk
I. In addition to the city of Mepe, the capital of the Mepe kingdom, he is
sovereign of 38 outlying settlements. Maruska Svasek, a Dutch anthropologist
at Queen's University, Belfast, said the monarch was much more than simply a
figurehead in Ewe society.
She said: "In rural areas in particular, the king is not only expected to officiate
at ritual events, but also to resolve tribal disputes and take decisions on
community projects. On top of that, he's something of a religious figurehead,
and in this case it seems it's not so important what your bloodline and colour
is, but what ancestral spirit you embody."
Mr Otte says he has never been much of a churchgoer, and has found his
religious role difficult to grasp. He says: "For the people here I'm basically a
god. They bow down in my presence and lay on feasts for me that could feed
the whole of Amsterdam. And if my full name is spoken out loud, people
begin to cry and scream with excitement. It's enough to put them into a state
of ecstasy."
Mr Otte is considered by his subjects to be a "builder king" rather than a
"warrior king", and he is quick to point out that he has not allowed his newly
acquired privileges to go to his head. He has already begun working on an
array of development projects, such as improved education, for which he is
trying to raise international funds. The white African king admits that he has
encountered problems in living two separate lives in two different cultures.
In Mepe, he wears royal robes and jewellery, officiates at festivals and holds
sway over the gathering of chiefs. In Holland, where he still spends most of
the year, he is simply Henk Otte, an unremarkable Dutch citizen living on
disability benefit. He says: "In Ghana. I'm more important than Queen Beatrix
is in Holland. But when I'm in Holland, I'm just old Henk, and my life is
suddenly incredibly empty."
At a recent football match between Holland and Ghana, he was invited along
in his royal capacity. He says: "Of course I had to support Ghana. But it was
terrible not to be able to shout for the men in orange. I just couldn't make
myself look enthusiastic for my subjects."
~*~
Royal aborigine apology urged(BBC News)
A leading Australian politician is calling on the
Queen to apologise to aborigines for their past
treatment by British colonists.
The controversial call for an apology was made
by Australian Democrats leader Meg Lees.
She said it would be fair for the British
Government to advise the Queen to say sorry
to aborigines for the decimation of aboriginal
communities during colonisation.
Buckingham Palace has deflected responsibility.
A Palace spokesman
said: "This is very much
a matter for the
Australian authorities."
Mrs Lees said: "It has
been raised recently
with us that perhaps
others should also
apologise.
"And we see the Queen
visiting now, after all
the colonising country
at the time was Britain
so perhaps if others
were to say sorry we might get our Prime
Minister thinking again."
Australia's Prime Minister John Howard has held
back from apologising to aborigines, expressing
"regret" instead.
Mrs Lees said she had pushed Mr Howard as
far as she could on the issue and apologies
from others, such as the Queen, might help
the cause.
"Indeed, listening to her comments since she
has been out here and the fact that she is
acknowledging the enormous disadvantage
suffered by aboriginal Australians, I think it
would be something that she may find quite
easy to do."
The Queen
acknowledged the
aborigines' plight, at
the beginning of her
16-day Australian tour
in Sydney last Monday.
She said: "It remains a
sad fact of life that
many indigenous
Australians face a
legacy of economic and
social disadvantage."
Morning prayers
Around 2,000 people cheered and clapped the
Queen and Duke of Edinburgh when they
attended morning prayers at St John The
Baptist Anglican Church in Canberra.
The Queen was handed scores of bouquets as
she went on a short Royal walkabout in the
bright sunshine outside the church.
Before going to church, the Queen inspected a
guard of honour from the newly-formed
Australia's Federation Guard.
The unit, drawn from the army, navy and air
force, hopes to stand guard at Buckingham
Palace during Australia Week in July when
leading Australian politicians will visit London to
mark the centenary of Australia's nationhood.
March 27th
One year on, Charles and Camilla are all smiles(Yahoo: Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) - A year after a hesitant first public appearance together, Prince
Charles and lover Camilla Parker Bowles beamed for the cameras on their latest outing --
a concert at a 14th century church.
The Daily Mail splashed pictures of the couple, saying they were in high spirits on Sunday
when they arrived at the church near the royal family's Sandringham estate in eastern
England.
"Breaking into broad grins as onlookers cheered, Charles and Camilla walked side by side
up the path to the church," the tabloid said.
It was in sharp contrast to their first appearance together early last year when they looked
anxious as photographers captured them leaving London's Ritz hotel.
Since then Camilla has often been seen with Charles, joining him on trips to the theatre and restaurants as well as
his Highgrove country home in western England.
Charles has trodden a delicate public relations path since his marriage to Princes Diana ended in 1996 with
admissions of adultery on both sides.
Diana's death the following year in a Paris car crash -- and the gradual emergence into the limelight of his longtime
lover Camilla, who is also divorced -- have had to be delicately handled.
But the poll showed a huge majority -- 78 per cent -- opposed Camilla ever becoming queen.