Diplomatic representation between who and to whom, you might ask. Well silly, between the Queen of Australia and the Queen of the United Kingdom of course. Kingdom to kingdom, majesty to majesty and crown to crown, two national interests that collide and conjoin in a single sovereign, each politically different and separate, yet both are symbolically and personally united in a culture and history of uncommon common wealth. It's all a matter of hats (er, crowns), your Majesty.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
It's all a matter of hats, Your Majesty
Her Majesty The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh attend a reception to mark the Centenary of Australian Diplomatic Representation, at Australia House in London, 18 February 2010.
Diplomatic representation between who and to whom, you might ask. Well silly, between the Queen of Australia and the Queen of the United Kingdom of course. Kingdom to kingdom, majesty to majesty and crown to crown, two national interests that collide and conjoin in a single sovereign, each politically different and separate, yet both are symbolically and personally united in a culture and history of uncommon common wealth. It's all a matter of hats (er, crowns), your Majesty.
Diplomatic representation between who and to whom, you might ask. Well silly, between the Queen of Australia and the Queen of the United Kingdom of course. Kingdom to kingdom, majesty to majesty and crown to crown, two national interests that collide and conjoin in a single sovereign, each politically different and separate, yet both are symbolically and personally united in a culture and history of uncommon common wealth. It's all a matter of hats (er, crowns), your Majesty.
Well put, but in reality Australia House was less a diplomatic post, and more immigration agency. Certainly up until Australian foreign policy's focus switched from the UK to the US.
ReplyDeleteOf course the original Australian representatives in London were the colonial Agents-General - which are still sent by almost every state to London, except for NSW. Do the Canadian provinces do the same?
Another point - Stephen Smith seems to be a closet monarchist. If he is one, he can't say it because Labor ferociously enforces party discipline as part of the party's culture - to an extent that a UK Labour supporter would find very hard to fathom.
He merely says a republic is "inevitable" rather than desirable, opposes a referendum during the Queen's reign, and if you look at the footage on the ABC's website, actually *bows* to the Queen while HM was at this particular event. No Australian Labor politician bows or curtsies to the royals anymore. But he did.
ACM: Talk to this guy after he leaves parliament and is thus no longer bound by ALP policy. You might be pleasantly surprised what he says.