History

In 1954 Queen Elizabeth II became the first reigning monarch to visit Australia, arriving on the Royal Yacht S. S. Gothic and setting foot on Australian soil on 3 February 1954 at Farm Cove, Sydney. The Australian tour was part of a wider tour throughout the Commonwealth following the Queen’s coronation in 1953. Accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the visit travelled through the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The extensive tour was met with an enthusiastic and passionate public response, and enabled an estimated 75% of the Australian population to see the Queen at least once during her visit. Highlights of the tour included opening the third session of the twentieth Parliament in the Senate chamber at Provisional Parliament House on 15 February 1954.