The Special Relationship: Australia and the Monarchy

Description

Australia and the British monarchy have an undeniably special relationship, yet they have always made for an odd couple- the rebellious, egalitarian nation wedded to an ancient symbol of social inequality. So what is the magic the royals hold over Australians? Queen Victoria was revered in Australia, even though she'd never seen the place and showed little interest in it. When her son Prince Alfred visited in 1867, on the first ever royal tour of Australia, he was received rapturously, and nearly assassinated. In 1954 Australia was gripped by royal fever when newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II landed on its shores; and more than sixty years later, having turned 90, she is as popular in Australia as she ever was. Not only that, but with the popularity of William, Kate, George and Charlotte burgeoning, against the odds the monarchy looks set to enter the hearts and minds of a new generation of Australians. As one of our most popular writers of Australian history, David Hill guides us with panache through this most peculiar state of affairs.

During his remarkable career, David Hill has been chairman then managing director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; chairman of the Australian Football Association; chief executive and director of the State Rail Authority; chairman of Sydney Water Corporation; a fellow of the Sydney University Senate; and chairman of CREATE (an organisation representing Australian children in institutional care). He has held a number of other executive appointments and committee chair positions in the areas of sport, transport, international radio broadcasting, international news providers, politics, fiscal management and city parks. David came from England to Australia in 1959 under the Fairbridge Farm School Child Migrant scheme. He left school at 15, then returned to complete his Master's degree in economics while working as an economics tutor at Sydney University. In 2006 he was awarded a Diploma of Arts with merit in classical archaeology from Sydney University and subsequently graduated in classical archaeology. He is an honorary associate at the Sydney University departments of archaeology and classics and ancient history, and a visiting fellow at the University of New South Wales. Since 2011 he has been the manager of an archaeological study of the ancient Greek city of Troizen. He has for many years been a leading figure in the international campaign to have the Parthenon sculptures returned from the British Museum to Greece.