The Queen's fond farewell

Our veteran royal reporter JUDY WADE joined Her Majesty on what is likely to be her last visit Down Under.

She came, she saw, she conquered our hearts once more…Showing no signs of jetlag after a 22-hour flight, the Queen yet againproved her royal resilience on her 16th visit to our shores. Wearing a broad smile as she bustled between engagements, appearing genuinely thrilled to meet her Aussie subjects, Her Majesty delighted the crowds who turned out to cheer in Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.

“This wasn’t a foreign trip for her – it was a homecoming,” says royal biographer Robert Hardman. “She is Queen of Australia, after all, and she has so many fond memories. She felt very much like she was on home soil.” At 85, the Queen is far from frail, yet the question the country is asking remains: is this her last hurrah Down Under? Though Buckingham Palace is denying reports this has been a “final farewell tour”, Woman’s Day has learned exclusively that it is almost certain she and Prince Philip, 90, will never return.

Instead, next year, her heir, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will make an official visit to represent the monarch in the year of her Diamond Jubilee. A source close to Clarence House reveals it’s thought the time is right to introduce Camilla to Australia, and plans for a tour are already underway.

But even if she never makes it back to our shores, the Queen is certain to still feel the love that Australians hold for her. At the prime minister’s reception, 23-year-old surfing champion Stephanie Gilmore, upon meeting the monarch, gushed, “Welcome to Australia, Your Majesty. I just want to tell you I adore you.”