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The biggest celebrity weddings of 2011

We celebrate the biggest celebrity weddings of 2011!

Prince William marries Kate Middleton

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding stopped the world on April 29, 2011 when billions of people world-wide tuned in to watch commoner Kate Middleton become Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Kate Moss marries Jamie Hince

Kate Moss tied the knot with rock musician Jamie Hince at St. Peter’s church in the UK.

The style icon wore a vintage-style cream bias-cut dress with gold leaf embroidery and rhinestones, detailed floral hairpiece and a special pair of shoes designed by Manolo Blahnik which included a blue insole as Kate’s ‘something blue’.

Zara Phillips marries Mike Tindall

In what has been dubbed the second royal wedding of the year, Zara Phillips married English Rugby captain Mike Tindall in a traditional 45 minute ceremony.

The bride, who is said to be the Queen’s favourite grandchild, wore a full-length ivory silk gown with silk tulle detail designed by the Queen’s favourite couturier Stewart Parvin.

Kelsy Grammer marries Kayte Walsh

Actor Kelsey Grammer married 29-year-old Kayte Walsh in an afternoon ceremony at the Longacre Theater where they say they first fell in love.

The Duchess of Alba marries Alfonso Diez

The famously flamboyant 85-year-old Duchess of Alba Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart married 60-year-old Alfonso Diez in a small ceremony before taking to the streets to dance.

Wearing a pale pink dress, the billionaire was welcomed by well-wishers on the streets who donned fancy dress and wigs in an attempt to copy her quirky style.

Daniel Craig marries Rachel Weisz

James Bond actor Daniel Craig, married actress Rachel Weisz in a small secret ceremony in New York.

The ceremony was attended by just four people including Daniel’s 18-year-old daughter and Rachel’s four-year-old son, plus two family friends who acted as witnesses.

Kim Kardashian marries Kris Humphries

Kim Kardashian marries Kris Humphries

In what has been dubbed “Hollywood’s royal wedding” reality star Kim Kardashian married basket baller Kris Humphries in an elaborate ceremony which is estimated to have cost $10 million.

But the pair has already filed for divorce after just 72 days of marriage.

Leann Rimes marries Eddie Cibrian

Leann Rimes and actor Eddie Cibrian were married under a tree at sunset at a private estate.

The intimate ceremony, which took place in front of just 40 guests, was a surprise to invited friends and family who thought they were attending an engagement party.

Lily Allen marries Sam Cooper

Lily Allen married Sam Cooper in the English countryside at St. James the Great Church followed by an “English cricket and afternoon tea” themed reception.

Lily wore a vintage inspired gown with long lace sleeves and a fishtail skirt by French designer Delphine Manivet.

Michael Bublé marries Luisana Lopilato

Michael Bublé and Luisana Lopilato celebrated their wedding three times! The first was at a civil ceremony in Buenos Aires where the bride wore purple. The second was at a religious ceremony and reception in Argentina where 300 guests gathered to celebrate at the Villa Maria Paz private mansion.

The third was in Vancouver at the Pan Pacific Hotel where they celebrated with 500 of their friends and family. It seems that the pair love a good party!

Prince Albert II of Monaco marries Charlene Wittstock

Prince Albert II of Monaco married 33-year-old South African Charlene Wittstock in a civil ceremony on July 1, followed by a religious ceremony on July 2.

The couple, who wed in front of European royalty and a number of celebrity guests, are reportedly off to a rocky start.

Sir Paul McCartney marries Nancy Shevell

Sir Paul McCartney, wed his girlfriend of four years Nancy Shevell in true rock’n’roll style at the Old Marylebone Town Hall in London.

Paul, who met Nancy in the Hamptons, proposed with a $650,000 engagement ring.

Nick Lechay marries Vanessa Milano

Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo married in a small “island chic” wedding ceremony which aired in a two-hour TV special on TLC.

The pair, who had been engaged since 2010, sent airline tickets to their 35 guests as their wedding invitations to join them on Necker Island, owned by Sir Richard Branson.

Robin Williams marries Susan Schneider

The pair married at Meadowood Resort in a non-denominational ceremony held outdoors followed by a formal reception with family and friends.

They followed their big day with a honeymoon in Paris.

Reese Witherspoon marries Jim Toth

Reese Witherspoon and talent agent Jim Toth tied the knot in a private ceremony at her ranch called The Libbey Ranch in Ojai, California.

Reese wore a pale pink gown for the ceremony and changed into a short white cocktail dress for the reception.

Shania Twain marries Frédéric Thiébaud

Shania Twain married Swiss business executive, Frédéric Thiébaud in a private ceremony on New Year’s day on the island of Puerto Rico.

She wore a white gown with a black sash and a full veil.

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Kris Jenner: I could have saved Nicole Brown Simpson

Kris Jenner: I could have saved Nicole Brown Simpson

Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian’s mum and the woman behind the Kardashian empire, is releasing a memoir called Kris Jenner … and All Things Kardashian, but the book isn’t just about the big money earning family.

Kris is also revealing the details of her friend Nicole Brown Simpson, the ex-wife of football star-turned actor OJ Simpson, Radar online reports. Nicole, was found brutally stabbed to death at her Los Angeles home on June 12, 1994. Her friend Ron Goldman was also murdered.

Now, Kris says she believes she could have saved her friend, revealing Nicole tried to contact her on the morning of the day before her death.

“Nicole called her early on June 12th,” Kris wrote. “Nicole said, “Can you get over here…? I need to talk to you. It’s really important’.”

Kris, who was caught up with her children, asked if she could put it off until the next day.

“‘That’s okay, can you meet me tomorrow for lunch? I really have to talk to you about something really, really important’,” Nicole told Kris. “It would be the last time I would ever speak to Nicole.”

Kris discovered her friend had been killed the following morning. “I instinctively knew that in some way OJ had something to do with her death,” she writes.

“I truly couldn’t believe she had been so betrayed by the person who she had once loved most. That OJ would be so destructive and selfish and jealous that he would do that to her was just mind-blowing to me. All these thoughts were running through my mind: This can’t be true.”

A mutual friend later told Kris that a friend then revealed to Kris that: “Nicole had been beaten up by OJ and she had been keeping this physical proof in the form of photographs and, it would turn out, other evidence, in which she had documented 17 years of abuse. Nicole really wanted someone close to her to know what was going on, so that somebody — namely me — could be a witness.”

Kris then realised that Nicole was reaching out to her. In her book she recalls screaming: “‘Oh my God! It’s too late! It’s too late!’…The realisation that she had wanted to confide in me hit me so hard. … And I had let her down.”

Kris Jenner… and All Things Kardashian goes on sale November 1.

Your say: Would you buy Kris Jenner’s memoir ?

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We’re Australia’s own modern family

We're Australia's own modern family

Families come in all shapes and sizes…as gay partners Brett and Tony prove. They’ve just become dads to four bouncing baby boys!

It’s a pure “pinch me, is this really happening?” moment. Two sets of twins – all boys – sleeping soundly, are being lovingly held by their totally besotted dads. Suddenly, the drowsy silence is shattered by a cacophony of squawks and lung-busting wails. It’s feed time for these precious little boys who, only five weeks ago, were born in New Delhi, India, via two surrogates.

“This is truly everything we hoped for,” says proud dad Tony, who is remarkably calm for a first-time father – as is his partner Brett, a primary school teacher. “We’ve been really surprised with how relaxed we are,” says social worker Tony, 39. “It’s been a huge learning experience for us. Up until the boys were born, I’d never changed a nappy, never fed a baby, nothing. We’ve had lots of support from family and friends, though, and that makes a huge difference.”

Since bringing the boys home to Bendigo in Victoria, Tony and Brett have hit the ground running. While many first-time parents struggle with the dramatic life changes a new baby brings, these big-hearted dads are dealing with those challenges times four! “We get stressed sometimes, when we might be feeding one and the others start screaming and get really wound up and there’s not a lot you can do,” says Brett, 40. “We are quickly learning to do more than two things at once – putting the dummy in one, trying to comfort another, playing with one, trying to get the other one off to sleep.”

Tony nods in agreement. “I’m not the sort of person who can sit down for long,” he laughs. “We’ve got bottles to fill, clothes to wash, food to prepare, feeds every four hours, coffee and tea to make for all the people coming over to lend a hand and offer support. All my friends say I’m hyper and I can’t relax… well, with four babies to look after, that’s probably a good thing.”Brett and Tony have been a couple for 12 years. They were best friends in high school, came out in their mid-20s, and fell in love in their late 20s. Both yearned for fatherhood, and they decided to pursue surrogacy to fulfil their dream.

Read more about Brett and Tony’s incredible family and about their surrogacy journey in this week’s Woman’s Day, on sale October 31, 2011.

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The Queen’s fond farewell

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.”

Read more about the Queen’s final visit to Australia in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale October 31, 2011.

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Kate and Mary’s secret royal pact

Kate and mary's secret royal pact

The royal “sisters” unite for a worthy cause, reports Sebastian van der Zwan.

They’re two brunette beauties who grew up as commoners, fell in love with handsome princes and blended seamlessly into royal life following their respective fairytale weddings. The comparisons don’t stop there either. Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, have both been hailed style icons, share a keen love of sports and are passionate about helping children in need.

It’s no surprise they’ve been compared to sisters. There’s talk that Kate has taken Mary on as a royal role model, following in her remarkable footsteps to become the beloved future queen of a historic dynasty. Insiders reveal that Kate regularly turns to the Australian-born princess for advice in coping with royal life, calling her up for a chat whenever she needs a sympathetic ear. Their latest conversation, however, was about something much more important than palace protocol.

Kate phoned Mary to ask how she could help with a disaster that’s put the lives of more than 13 million people at risk – the famine devastating East Africa. After an intense discussion and fraught deliberations on timing, the pair decided to take their special bond public, teaming up to shine the global spotlight on this escalating crisis. Both have enlisted their husbands in their heartfelt cause, too. Kate and Prince William are this week making a mercy dash to Mary’s adopted home of Copenhagen, where they will work alongside Mary and Prince Frederik packing food and medical needs for East Africa at UNICEF’s emergency supply centre.

William and Kate, both 29, are “deeply moved” and “very troubled” by the crisis, a spokesman for St James’s Palace reveals, as Africa is “a part of the world they know well and which is very dear to them”. William’s passion for Africa was fostered by his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who tirelessly campaigned for AIDS awareness and the removal of land mines. And it was in Kenya that the prince finally proposed to Kate after nine years of on-off romance.

Read more about Kate and Mary coming together in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale October 31, 2011.

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Kim Kardashian dash down under: Show me the money!

Kim Kardashian dash down under: Show me the money!

Kim Kardashian’s visit to Australia this week is set to earn her close to $1 million. But with her family feuding and her marriage in serious strife, many are wondering – is it really worth it?

Stepping off a private jet, dressed in a figure-hugging designer dress, new diamond earrings hanging from her ears and a handbag worth thousands dangling from her wrist, American reality TV star Kim Kardashian looks every inch the woman who has “made it”. She flies first class, stays in luxury hotel suites, dines on the finest cuisine – and it doesn’t cost her a cent. For her recent 31st birthday celebrations in Las Vegas, Kim was paid hundreds of thousands just to turn up at Marquee nightclub, sip champagne, eat cake and party with fans.

She was there for barely an hour, but the party cost a staggering amount to stage. As well as her huge appearance fee, there were bottles of vintage champers, designer canapes and an $1800 birthday cake – all in aid of a girl who found fame on a reality TV series. Just a week before, the model-turned-marketing opportunity had flown halfway across the world to the United Arab Emirates to ride a few camels and launch the Millions of Milkshakes bar at The Dubai Mall. Again, it was first class all the way. “Kim only flies first class or by private jet, and her mum, and any other Kardashian family members who travel with her, must also fly first class,” one of Kim’s business associates says.

“She tends to demand ‘1A’ seating, meaning she wants to be right at the front of the plane with her family immediately behind, so that ‘normal’ people are as far away as possible.” In Dubai, rested from their luxury travel, it was down to business, with Kim and her manager, mum Kris Jenner, heading from one publicity opportunity to the next – all designed for maximum exposure. There was some spruiking at cosmetics store Sephora, photos atop camels at luxury hotel Atlantis – where her suite reportedly cost $25,000 a night – and an exclusive evening to host at At.mosphere restaurant, in the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa.

All in all, Kim’s appearances, promotions and products netted her close to $1 million in just a few weeks. The gravy train keeps rolling along. This week, Kim and her younger sister Khloe launch their range of handbags at David Jones in Sydney before Kim jets to Melbourne for the Melbourne Cup Carnival’s Emirates Stakes Day, as a guest of Swisse vitamins. Rumour has it she’ll be paid hundreds of thousands for her brief appearance at Swisse’s marquee. Awaiting her at her five-star hotel, rumoured to be Crown, where a celebrity-friendly suite can cost tens of thousands of dollars a night, will be a selection of couture gowns from Melbourne designer team J’Aton, dresses from Arthur Galan and hats from milliner Kerrie Stanley. Yet friends say Kim’s lavish lifestyle and insatiable desire to make money is costing her far more than she realises.

Read more about Kim Kardashian’s lavish lifestyle in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale October 31, 2011.

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Warnie’s wags at war: Liz and Simone’s race to the alter

Warnie's wags at war: Liz and Simone's race to the alter

Liz Hurley and Shane Warne may be planning an all-out wedding, but it seems his ex-wife and her beau might just beat them down the aisle!

As Shane Warne and Liz Hurley celebrated their engagement together in Melbourne last week, the cricket great’s ex-wife, Simone Callahan, and her buff boyfriend, Toby Roberts, fled the spotlight for a romantic break far from all the fuss. Simone, 41, has never been really comfortable on the red carpet, preferring to spend her time playing mum to Brooke, 14, Jackson, 12, and Summer, 10, while her love affair with fashion executive Toby quietly blossomed. Friends say if the two do end up tying the knot, it would likely be an intimate affair, rather than the star-studded celebrations Liz and Shane are planning on two continents.

“Simone adores Toby and he adores her,” confirms one friend. “I know they have said they’re taking things slowly, but they may well end up beating Liz and Shane down the aisle, because they really are head-over-heels. It’s been lovely to watch their relationship grow.” Last month, Simone told Woman’s Day that she and Toby, 37, were happy to take their relationship one step at a time and were in no rush to move in together let alone marry – but also confirmed they were “absolutely in love”.

“She is really uncomfortable with all the attention, so don’t be surprised if she and Toby elope and we all find out about it later,” explains the friend. “It certainly won’t be a big event, because that is just not their style.” In sharp contrast, Liz, 46, and Shane, 42, have shared their love with the world almost from the moment they were first spotted together – when they were caught kissing in a lift at a London hotel last December. Liz flew into Australia last week with her son Damian, 9, to join the cricketer.

Later, they celebrated with Shane’s friends in Melbourne, with Liz proudly showing off her $100,000 diamond and sapphire engagement ring. “For me, in my life at the moment, I’m in a really good place,” Shane says. “My number-one priority is my children and that’s the most important thing – and my new family, too – Elizabeth and her son Damian, and vice versa. I’m in a great space personally… and probably the happiest I’ve ever been.”

Read more and see the pictures of Shane’s daughter welcoming Liz to melbourne in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale October 31, 2011.

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Queen dazzles in diamonds and aquamarines

Queen Elizabeth dazzles in diamonds and aquamarines

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip arrive at their banquet.

Queen Elizabeth looked every bit the monarch tonight, dusting off one of her most impressive crowns for a banquet in Perth.

The 85-year-old monarch donned an impressive diamond and aquamarine crown to attend the Queen’s Banquet to celebrate the start of the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

In pictures: Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Australia

Elizabeth paired the large crown with an equally impressive necklace, bracelet and matching earrings, all studded with huge aquamarines and hundreds of diamonds.

Her white brocade coat was also embellished with large blue precious stones, with the overall results being completely dazzling.

Prince Philip also attended the event, and looked smart in a formal suit but all eyes were on the queen and her crown jewels.

It is the first time Her Majesty has worn a crown or statement jewellery on this visit.

The necklace, earrings and bracelet were presented to the queen in 1953 as a coronation gift from the Brazilian people.

Her Majesty ordered royal jeweller Garrard to craft a tiara to match the other jewels. The crown was completed in 1957, and redesigned to its current form in 1971.

In pictures: Previous royal visits to Australia

The banquet is the royal couple’s last evening engagement of their Australian tour. Tomorrow morning they will attend the Great Aussie BBQ before flying back to the UK at midday.

This has been the couple’s 16th tour of Australia and they have been extremely well-received, with hundreds of thousands of well-wishers turning out to welcome them in Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.

Your say: What has been your favourite royal outfit of this Australia tour?

Video: Queen Elizabeth conquers Perth

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Why ovarian cancer is so difficult to diagnose

Why ovarian cancer is so difficult to diagnose

Ovarian cancer sufferer Narelle Webster and her son Blake. AWW and L'Or&eacuteal Paris are fighting to find a cure.

Are you at risk of this life-threatening cancer? Read on for the signs you should not ignore.

It’s the silent killer that even experienced doctors find hard to diagnose. What woman hasn’t suffered bloating, odd weight loss and back pain? Common health complaints such as these can be a sign of something more worrying — ovarian cancer.

According to Associate Professor Thomas Jobling, head of Gynaecological Oncology at Monash Medical Centre in Victoria, 1200 women are diagnosed with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (the most common form) in Australia each year.

Ovarian cancer can occur at any age, but the average age of diagnosis is between 50 and 60, with post-menopausal women making up 80 per cent of patients.

“Without an effective early screening test, ovarian cancer is very difficult to diagnose,” explains Professor Jobling.

“The main symptoms are very vague and a lot of pre-menopausal women suffer them once a month. If you have these symptoms and they fail to resolve reasonably quickly, then you should have them investigated.”

Professor Jobling is now devoting his career to finding a cure and better testing techniques, and co-founded the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation in 2000.

He realised the most important path to saving lives was through early detection. Women diagnosed in Stage 1 have a more than 90 per cent chance of a cure.

Yet more than two-thirds of sufferers will be diagnosed at an advanced stage.

Unfortunately, Pap smears do not detect ovarian cancer. At present, doctors use a blood test to measure the CA125 protein, a tumour marker produced by ovarian cancer cells.

An increased reading can indicate ovarian cancer, though this can only be confirmed by surgery and lab tests. The problem is that this test works for women with more advanced cancer, but not in the very early stages.

Professor Jobling’s team has the delicate task of asking patients for permission to use their tissue samples for testing protein levels, the DNA of cells, and to identify mutated genes.

By comparing the samples to normal tissues, the team has isolated several potential markers that have a much greater sensitivity in detecting early-stage cancer.

The dream is that further research will enable these markers to be used for a very simple detection kit — possibly as easy to use as a blood or urine test.

“It’s impossible to know how far away an early detection test and effective treatment is,” he says, frankly. “I don’t know and I don’t think anyone else knows.”

However, the team hope they will have an early test, which will save lives, in the next few years.

“In the past 30 years, the overall survival rates for ovarian cancer have only improved by single figure percentages,” Professor Jobling explains. “It’s disappointingly slow, but the science is getting better, so patients are surviving longer.”

Experts believe the cancer is inherited in up to 15 per cent of cases and those with a family history of breast and other cancers are at increased risk. Ashkenazy Jewish women are particularly susceptible.

What are the symptoms?

  • abdominal bloating

  • changes in bowel or bladder habits

  • unexplained weight loss or gain

  • lower back pain

  • indigestion or heartburn

  • fatigue

How will I be treated?

Initial diagnosis includes an ultrasound and pelvic examination. Patients will then visit a gynaecological oncologist where treatment will begin, usually with surgery.

Those with advanced stages usually have a hysterectomy and oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries) to remove as much of the cancer as possible.

Patients will then complete chemotherapy treatment to destroy any residual cancer. With this treatment, 70 per cent of women are likely to enter complete remission.

The Weekly has partnered with L’Or&eacuteal Paris in the fight to find a cure for ovarian cancer. For more details, visit the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.

Read more of this story in the November issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.

Your say: Do you know someone who is suffering from ovarian cancer?

Subscribe to 12 issues of The Australian Women’s Weekly magazine for only $64.95 and go into the draw to win 1 of 10 fabulous Hawaiian holiday packages, valued at over $12,000 each.

Video: What you can do to protect yourself from ovarian cancer

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The day a 17-year-old tried to assassinate the queen

The day a 17-year-old tried to assassinate the queen

Queen Elizabeth

A royal assassination attempt, an embarrassing afternoon for Prince Charles and a conversation with the queen about airplane food— it’s all just another day on the job for The Daily Mail’s royal correspondent Richard Shears.

It’s downtown Dunedin in 1981 and royal correspondent Richard Shears is in the crowd of well-wishers waiting to welcome Queen Elizabeth to the sleepy New Zealand town.

As the royal motorcade approaches, a loud bang sounds. Richard is convinced it was a gunshot.

In pictures: Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Australia

“I raced over to the only other reporter who was there on the road and said, ‘Did you hear that?'” Richard recalls.

“He said, ‘Yes — it sounded like a gunshot!’ We agreed to split up and try to find out what had happened.”

Richard bumped into some police officers, but they all claimed to have heard nothing. He eventually found a senior officer, who insisted his ears were playing tricks on him.

“I told the constable I’d heard a gun, but he said, ‘No, what you heard was this…’ and he knocked over a metal street sign over and it made this huge clang, which of course was nothing like what I heard.

“That’s when I knew something was going on. Something wasn’t right.”

Richard and the other reporter continued quizzing passers-by but eventually had to leave Dunedin empty-handed.

“The press bus had moved on to the airport to fly to Wellington,” he says. “I had to decide whether to stay in Dunedin and go door-knocking, or fly on with the rest of the media.

“In the end, I had to leave because I would have been in huge trouble if something happened in Wellington and I wasn’t there so I raced to the airport.”

One year later, Richard found out the truth about what happened on that day. A 17-year-old boy, Christopher John Lewis, had taken his .22 rifle into Dunedin and tried to assassinate the queen.

New Zealand police hushed the incident up and Lewis — who had held up a post office at gunpoint just days earlier with other members of his anti-royal fascist group — was charged with discharging a firearm in a public place and jailed for eight years.

In pictures: Previous royal visits to Australia

He went on to commit several other crimes, including the murder of a young mother, after his release. He committed suicide in prison in 1997.

“It was astounding,” Richard says. “This man had actually taken a shot at the queen and I was right there.”

But Richard’s royal correspondent career hasn’t always been so dramatic — he has also witnessed several funny incidents.

The one that stands out in his mind happened in the early 1980s during Prince Charles’ tour of Australia and New Zealand.

It was towards the end of a particularly long tour, and Charles was due to visit a timber mill in a tiny town in New Zealand’s north island.

In pictures: Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Australia

“We got to this mill and all the international photographers had just had it,” Richard recalls. “They all said, ‘We’re not going in there. It’s going to be the same boring thing we’ve seen all week.

“There was a young guy from The Rotorua Times or something like that and he said, ‘Well I’ve got to do it because this is my local area.”

The young photographer went inside, as the older professionals laughed and sneered. About 15 minutes later, the young man returned with a slightly stunned look on his face.

Old photographers: “See! There was nothing in there mate, was there?”

Young snapper: “Well, I did get a very nice little picture for my paper.”

Old photographers: “Yeah yeah. What was it then?”

Young snapper: “Well there was a line of workers…”

Old photographers: “Yeah, yeah, yeah…”

Young snapper: “And Prince Charles wandered along and he was shaking hands…”

Old photographers: “Yeah, yeah, yeah…”

Young snapper: “And there was one guy standing in line and he was wearing a t-shirt with a finger on it. And the finger was actually pointing at Prince Charles. And there was a slogan on the t-shirt that said ‘I’m with stupid’.”

Richard still laughs when he recounts the incident. “The old guys all looked at one another and I’ve never seen so many people rush at one man. They were shouting, ‘Give us your film, give us your film, how much do you want?’

“And this young guy did a deal with them and that picture was on the front page of every paper in the UK the next day.”

In his 30 years of covering royal tours, Richard has also had many opportunities to chat with the Her Majesty herself, sometimes about the most unlikely things.

“We used to have receptions for the press, and we’d all stand in a circle and the queen would suddenly appear,” he says. “She might say something about someone’s tie or ask me why I was never wearing a suit.

“One time we were in Brisbane and the queen had popped up and for some reason we were talking about flying and I actually said to her, ‘It’s great to fly around but the food on aeroplanes these days is nothing like it used to be’.

“I told her that on Qantas these days you just get a biscuit and a cup of tea for dinner. She said, ‘Oh that sounds terrible!'”

The next day, Richard was in the air again and faced with another abysmal meal. The elderly couple sitting next to him was just as unimpressed.

“I heard the old man say to his wife, ‘Is this all we’re getting? This is terrible!,'” he says. “And I said, ‘Yes, I’ve just been complaining to the queen about it and she thinks it’s terrible too’. And of course this old couple looked at me like I was absolutely crazy!”

Richard was thrilled when he was asked to cover what many are saying will be Elizabeth’s last tour of Australia.

“I’m not what you would call a royalist, but I do like the queen,” he says. “I think she is fantastic.

“I think the time will come when Australia will have to change. The monarchy is great, but it really doesn’t have any relevance here anymore.

In pictures: Previous royal visits to Australia

“But whatever happens, the queen will always be the most wonderful lady. Gentle, pleasant and an inspiration to everyone who sees her.”

Your say: What do you like about the queen?

Video: The queen in Perth

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