On Her Majesty's Service

On Friday, the 9th of September I woke up to hear the news that Queen Elizabeth II had died. The world was in shock of the news although she was 96 years old it was still unexpected that she had died. 

She was the longest reigning British Monarch reigning for 70 years. She represented stability and provided reassuring presence in era that is constantly changing. She had enduring admiration across the world as she served her duty as Queen with integrity, resilience and humility. 

On social media, various tributes of the Queen Elizabeth II were posted with archive photos of her at various places where she made a Royal visit, at famous landmarks and posing in from of trains. 

The Royal Visit 1954

Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne in 1952 after the death of her father King George VI. She was Queen at the age of 261.

In 1954, she visited Australia and it was an event that drew one of the largest gatherings across the country approximately 70% of the population of 8 million people. Cities and countries were adored with colours and decorations. Sydney Trams, locomotives (40 Class) and carriages were repainted or decorated to represent the Royal train. 

As my layout is set in the 1950s, I thought it would be appropriate to honour Queen Elizabeth II with a diorama of how she would of paraded around the streets of Sydney in a motorcade in 1954. 

I purchased a Preiser QEII and the Prince Philip intending to use them somewhere on the layout at a later date, however her timely death meant it would be appropriate to model a tribute to her. 

Above: A Tribute to the Late Queen Elizabeth II on her Royal Visit to the inner suburbs of Sydney 1954

National Day of Mourning of Queen Elizabeth II

The funeral was televised on the evening of the 19th September 2022 at 8pm, Australian Eastern Standard Time. It was formal but a solemn time of reflection of who the Queen represented and her legacy as I watched on the big screen. Australians received a full public holiday on the Thursday 22nd September where there was a funeral service to mark the Queens contribution to Australia over the past 70 years.

After hearing the service I spent the day reflecting and quietly modelling but that will be reserved for another post. 

RIP Her Majesty QEII. 

Above: Funeral Proceedings of the Late QEII

1.  Collis, Ian. Retro Sydney, Sydney, Australia. New Holland Publishers, 2013, p 76