[Royal Visit, Victoria, 1954: Pre-Release Footage: Reel 13]

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.

In Reel 13 the royal couple visit towns in the Victorian region of Gippsland.

Detailed Description Reel 13:

Opens with Title “Visit to Gippsland Deplane at East Sale Aerodrome. Wednesday, 3rd. March, 1954”, followed by plane landing. 00:00:29:00 Queen and Duke exit plane. 00:01:07:00 motorcade through streets. 00:01:42:00 Queen and Duke exit car, mount dais, accompanied by local mayor. Queen makes speech. Locals are presented. 00:03:03:00 Queen and Duke re-enter car and motorcade drives through Sale streets. 00:04:15:00 footage switches to landscape and crowds outside moving train window. 00:04:29:00 Title “Traralgon”, followed by footage of the “Royal Train” pulling into station. 00:04:50:00 royal couple climb steps to dais. 00:05:12:00 crowd of Girl Guides in uniform, presentation of flowers to Queen on dais, crowd of Brownies in uniform (next to Girl Guides). 00:05:35:00 motorcade through Traralgon streets with Town Hall and Bank buildings just seen in background. 00:05:47:00 motorcade passes a Mobil oil station, with red 1950s bowsers outside. 00:06:25:00 footage from moving train, including an open cut coal mine. 00:06:40:00 Title “Yallourn”. No footage after 00:06:45:00 (film torn).