[Royal Visit, Victoria, 1954: Pre-Release Footage: Reel 21]

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 21 contains further footage of the visit to Mildura (also seen in Reel 20) and nearby Red Cliffs.

Detailed Description Reel 21:

Opens with continuation of footage from previous Reel 20 (B2003244), of the Queen and Duke visiting a private property to observe the grape harvest. 00:00:17:0 Title “Redcliffs Quondong Park” (sic) followed by footage of children in the crowd waving flags, and the Queen and Duke on a dais, where the Duke makes a speech. 00:01:12:00 Queen and Duke leave dais and get into an open jeep for a drive through the crowd. 00:02:04:00 Queen and Duke leave the Park in a regular street car. 00:02:16:00 Mildura airfield, Queen and Duke farewell officials and citizens before boarding plane and departing.