[Royal Visit, Victoria, 1954: Pre-Release Footage: Reel 8]

The 1954 visit to Australia of newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth II with her husband and consort Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was a cause of much celebration - and an occasion for much pageantry - in Victoria. Elizabeth was the first reigning monarch to visit Australia, and the young and popular royal couple attracted intense interest wherever they visited on their extensive Australian tour.

This silent, pre-release footage - much of which eventually comprised sections of the official Victorian film release - follows the visiting couple on their journey throughout the state; including numerous regional centres as well as major sites and events in Melbourne. It shows not only the “official” portrait of this historic royal visit, but also dwells on the reactions of the Victorian people; crowds of whom waited by roadsides and railways, on city streets and in small country towns, for a glimpse of the monarch.

As well as focusing on the history of the 1954 royal visit, the footage thus also gives us a unique and invaluable look back in time at some of the buildings, streetscapes, vehicles, cameras, fashions and crowd behaviours of the mid-1950s in Victoria.

Reel 8 captures the Queen opening the Victorian State Parliament, and the Queen and Duke meeting with Australian armed forces veterans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Detailed Description Reel 8:

Opens with Title “Opening of Parliament: Thursday, 25th. February, 1954.” followed by shots of Government House and gardens. 00:00:35:00 Queen (in state dress) and Duke exit and get into open car, which leaves Government House and moves along St. Kilda Road and city streets with crowd shots on the way. 00:02:06:00 inside State Parliament. 00:02:19:00 leaving State Parliament through crowds and back into car. 00:03:19:00 Title “Assembly of Ex-Servicemen’s and Women’s Organisations, Junior Legatees and War Widows. Melbourne Cricket Ground.” 00:03:30:00 marching military bands, veterans in wheelchairs, and arrival of Queen and Duke in open car, which drives around perimeter then to centre of ground. 00:05:06:00 Philip makes speech from dais. 00:05:20:00 children present flowers. 00:05:58:00 footage of various groups marching. 00:07:00:00 Queen and Duke leave dais and speak with veterans. 00:07:58 to end - Queen and Duke re-enter open car and leave Melbourne Cricket Ground.