The Royalist - Australians Say 'No' To 'Queen Camilla'?

Australians Say 'No' To 'Queen Camilla'?

Written by Joanne Leyland

Sunday, 22 January 2006

There's worrying news regarding the future of the monarchy in the once ultra-loyalist and royalist Australia. As if it wasn't bad enough for the House of Windsor that the nation has increasingly turned away from them to offer huge love and support instead to Tasmanian-born Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, a new poll tonight suggests the future is bleak for the monarchy Down Under.

While it has to be remembered that attempts to make the country a Republic were overwhelmingly rejected in a November 1999 referendum, those who wish to see the Australian people given another chance to replace the monarchy with a Presidential system continue to make waves.

And it appears they have one very strong card up their sleeves: the concept of Charles and Camilla as King and Queen of Australia.

The notion that such a reign could serve as a death knell to the monarchy Down Under is strengthened further tonight by a poll which has appeared in The Australian newspaper.

According to the survey, 46% of Australians support the idea of the country becoming a Republic, while 34% wish to keep the monarchy.

This latest poll suggests a significant increase in the pro-Republic camp. In the referendum of November 6th 1999, 44.87% voted for a President while a majority, 54.22%, voted to keep Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State.

Significantly, Charles and Camilla have yet to make a visit Down Under and so it remains to be seen just how popular (or unpopular) they will prove to be to the Australian people.

In truth, though, the future of the monarchy in Australia could have been under no threat at all had Charles taken up the offer for him to be Governor General in the late 1980s. It was a move of which Diana in particular was welcoming and, reportedly, keen to accept, not least because it would have removed the Prince from the proximity of Camilla and possibly reinvigorated their failing marriage.

However, Charles refused the offer to follow in the late Duke of Gloucester's footsteps (Prince Henry was G-G of Australia and lived there with his wife Princess Alice and their children between 1945 and 1947) and has, in the interim, visited the country just twice since his final tour of Australia with Diana in January 1988.

The most high-profile visit of the by now solo Prince of Wales came In 1994, when at the start of his visit he was shot at by student demonstrator David Kang during an engagement in Sydney. Charles's last tour came in March 2005, just weeks before his marriage to Camilla.

Despite the controversy which raged throughout the media regarding his forthcoming second marriage, and the possible legal ramifications of the union, the Prince received a warm welcome. However, at one point — possibly an instance where the cameras didn't tell the truth? — TV news footage showed just one old lady awaiting the Prince on one of his journeys outside Sydney. This was in stark contrast to the thousands upon thousands who welcomed Charles and Diana to the country on their final joint visit in 1988 and during their previous tours in 1983 and 1985.

In July 2005, Prince William made his closest yet visit to the country but, despite being in neighbouring New Zealand and later having a brief stop-over in Sydney, nobody within the Palace seemed to think it would have been a worthy idea for William — the monarchy's great hope and much loved in Australia — to undertake even just one engagement in the country.

This latest poll from Australia will be an unwelcome distraction to Clarence House, coming as it does at a time when, thanks primarily to a huge PR effort, Camilla seems to be gaining more support from the public at large.

However, what continues to be damaging is the notion (rightly or wrongly) that the public have been somehow 'lied' to by the Palace, as The Australian newspaper quotes a royal insider as admitting that the former Mrs Parker Bowles will indeed one day rule as 'Queen Camilla' both here in the UK and throughout the Commonwealth.

One can almost hear the seemingly increasing number of republicans Down Under racing for their banners and super-imposed images of 'King Charles' and 'Queen Camilla' sitting on their nation's throne...

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Name: Teri	Comment: Very true cde. There are more serious issues involved in the debate about becoming a republic, and who sits on the throne in England is the least of them. The media is once again making this a debate about personalities and pandering to the small-minded section of the population. The silent majority will speak again if we are ever called to a referendum again.

Name: Wombat

Comment:
1. If Australia becomes a republic we WILL NOT leave the Commonwealth.

2. If Australia becomes a Republic (Which it will eventually) it will not be because of C & C. It will be time for Australia to grow up as a nation. Although most australians find Charles repulsive to say the least!

3. Thank you Joanne for pointing out the Wills issue. How ignorant of Charles and CH not to have Will stop in here (even for just a few days). Perhaps the call of the wilds of Africa was too much for him to ignore.

4. This happens just before every Australia Day each year. The republicans are currently pushing a new campaign "A Mate For Head Of State", which incidently has gone down here like a lead balloon. It's gotten little or no press coverage nor has it received the wholesale support the Repiblicans would have you believe. It seems to have received far more coverage in the UK.

5. I agree...get another pollster to do the next poll and a completely different result will occur. Australians haven't changed in their desire for a republic. We still feel the same as we did in '99. We still would vote the same way as we did in '99 because the republicans are too tired and lazy to come up with the right direction and model for us. The republicans should stop the show ponying and get cracking on the best models for Australia to move forward with.

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Name: cde	Comment: It was a poll of 1200,hardly a definitve sampling of what 20 million Australians. Australian Day is coming up and the republicans love to whip up their cause. If you do a little more reading, you'll learn the numbers are relatively stable. And the situation really hasn't changed muc from 1999. When the Australians said "no" to a republic.

Name: Just me

Comment:
The Queen is planning a state visit to Australia in March, hoping to mend some fences. I am afraid it is too little too late. That state visit will cost the Aussie taxpayer thousands of Aussie Dollars, so it will only add salt to the wound for many. When Charles was in Sydney on his previous visit, in one instance there was The Queen is giving a reception at BH in February for only one little old lady along the street. And where there was a crowd there were demonstrations against Charles. Somebody even took a potshot at him.Much of this because he couldn't take the post of G-G, he couldn't part from Camilla. We don't need Charles. Australia wasn't good enough for him then, and we don't want him now. The Queen is hosting a reception at BH for influential and noteworthy Australians in February. It is called damage control,. It is a nice gesture, but it won't do anything for the masses. And the votes count.

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Name: Kate

Comment:
Once Australia leaves the commonwealth, it is in my opinion, that Canada will follow suit. I cannot see revering and respecting a king and Queen whose ethics , integrity and morals have been compromised in the name of selfishness!
The bar was lowered when charles continued his love affair with camilla and again lowered, when he married his mistress!The Queen has an awesome task ahead of her when she and Phillip do their tour of Australia, this year.. Any sign of adulation for the QUeen will be for her only and NOT for the future monarch!..

Name: Always Diana	Comment: The visit to the USA was a failer even thought the media tried to up beat it. Charles should step a side and save the Monarchy. His past/present history with Camilla is not excepted and it can not be changed. When the Queen hands the Monarchy over to Charles she will be helping to tear it down and turn it into the republican.

Name: Mrs.Chancellor

Comment:
Hopefully the Queen is keeping a very close eye on Australia, the Charles and Camilla situation, along with his pending lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday and the contents of his journals. All of the foregoing, when coupled with his other 'antics', proves time and again that he is not fit, nor wanted, as King of England nor any Commonwealth Nation. HM is a wise woman, and should not be swayed by the trumped-up Clarence House opinion polls, such as the one pointed out in this article. She should not let Charles and his mistress-wife bring down the Monarchy, and splinter the Nations simply because of Charles's stupidity and unwillingness to be bound by a code under which he vowed to serve, but continually thumbs his nose at every turn--DUTY TO THE PEOPLE, for they have paid him very handsomely indeed.

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