Since 1867, there have been over fifty visits by a member of the Royal Family to Australia, though only six of those came before 1954. Elizabeth II is the only reigning monarch of Australia to have set foot on Australian soil; she first did so on 3 February 1954. During her sixteen journeys the Queen visited every Australian state and the two mainland territories.
Queen Elizabeth II spent a total of nine days touring Queensland between the 9th and 18th of March, seven days in Brisbane (in three slots); and two days touring Bundaberg, Oakey, Toowoomba, Townsville, Cairns, Mackay and Rockhampton. She was warmly welcomed by loyal supporters across the state. The tour involved a heavy schedule of formal occasions, the hosting of which was described in a letter by Lady Brooks of Victoria, as “a rather terrifying responsibility”.
Royal Visit to Queensland 1954: Working Programme (QPM Collection)
The logistics of a Royal Visit are necessarily complicated and a great deal of time was spent on a the programme, security and transport arrangements. Everything was planned down to the minute. Traffic arrangements for the 1954 Royal Visit to Queensland was the sole responsibility of, and was arranged by, the Commissioner of Police.
At 2.30 p.m. the Royal Progress will leave Eagle Farm Airport on signal from the State Director at 6 m.i.h. for Exhibition Grounds (Route 1, Map 1) via Lamington Avenue, (2.36) Nudgee Road, (2.40) Kingsford Smith Drive, (2.57) Breakfast Creek Road, (3.03) Ann Street, (3.11) Brunswick Street, (3.16) Lower Gregory Terrace where Cars 1 and 2 will accelerate to provide an interval of 75 yards between Car 2 and the Royal Car. A Mounted Escort will take up position in the lead of and to the rear of the Royal Car. Cars 4 to 15 inclusive will reduce speed to enable the rear of the Mounted Escort to take up position. The Motor Cycle Escort will detach itself from the Progress and rejoin the Progress at the corner of Roma and Makerston Streets.[Royal Visit 1954: Transport Arrangements]
The Queen and her entourage of 38, landed in Brisbane at 2.15pm on March 9, 1954. The Royal Progress took the Royal couple from the Airport to the Exhibition Ground; the Shrine of Remembrance and then onto to Government House. The Queensland Police Motorcycle Unit were top and tail of the procession until it reached Lower Gregory Terrace, at which Police Mounted unit slotted into lead and follow the royal car through the streets of downtown Brisbane. The Motorcycle Unit picked up the tour at Roma Street and lead it out to Government House.
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Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh parade down George Street in a 36hp Tourer, 9 March 1954. ![]()
The Police Motorcycle Unit leads the Royal Progress along George Street towards North Quay and Coronation Drive, 1954.
This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM THE VAULT: Queen Elizabeth visits Queensland 1954” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode