Presenting The Royal Family In Signatures, Apollo XI & An Offer

Just for a change of pace, because we all need one of those every so often.  Have you ever wondered what the Queen and Prince Philip's signatures look like?  Or Prince Charles for that matter?  For years I'd see them on the idiot box writing in various visitors books and I've always wondered, what exactly do they write?  What pearls of wisdom, if any, do they leave in the books?  Do they jot down the usual stuff that we see in visitor books - are they like me and write down things like, "What a lovely list" and then sign it "Oskar Schindler"?  And yes, if you're in Australia and see that name with that comment in a book, I'll now admit, I did it!  it's me!  And I've been doing it for years now, and getting clipped in the ear by people since I started.  As to the Royals, the answer is, they write their names and that's it.  No mentions of how lovely the Milk Arrowroots were, or how the milk might have been a bit curdled, or the toilet could have used some more Harpic, or how they scalded their tongues on the hot pies.  Just a name.

Thanks to the National Archives we have an absolutely stunning example of a Prime Minister's Visitors Book.  The book in question was in The Lodge, located in Canberra between the years of 1976 to 1979.  For those who might not know, The Lodge is the principal place of residence for all Prime Ministers of Australia - it's the equivalent of Number 10 Downing Street or The White House, only its more sscenic than the former and less violent than the latter.  Being that Malcolm Fraser was the PM of the time the book is populated with the signatures of many Liberal Party members, but there's also some famous people amongst it all, including members of the Royal family.  Here's some of the better ones - see if you can recognise them.

Prince Charles must have liked the cordial and pies because he kept coming back...
James Fairfax and Ita Buttrose.  Now THERE'S a combination!
This guy gets around - I've seen his name in almost every visitors book I've read
It wasn't just confined to the famous.  Kids would visit The Lodge as well - anyone have any ideas where these little rascals, Deuchar and Tamsin Davy from Bungendore are now?
And then there's this.  A signed photo from the Apollo 11 dinner menu, for a dinner given in honour of the crew when they made a lightning visit to Australia, and when I say 'lightning visit', I mean exactly that - more in a future blog.

 And now the offer.  I'd like to open the blog up for what I'll be calling 'Guest Spots' in the future.  If you have something that you'd like to write about then get in touch and we'll work something out.  The more interesting the better.  It doesn't have to be comic books, the topic can be anything you want really, and you can plug your own site while you're at it.  Have a ponder...
   

Comments

Unknown said…
Hello,
Tamsin and Deuchar Davy of Bungendore were both killed when the plane Deuchar was piloting crashed on their family property, Turalla, in 1996. They are buried in the family graveyard on Turalla.
Adding to the tragedy, their older brother Nat was also killed, when the plane he was piloting, crashed in 2003.

Previous Posts!

Show more

Popular posts from this blog

New York Scam: A Serious Warning For All Travellers

MARVEL COMICS DEMANDS $17,000 from BROKE CREATOR of GHOST RIDER! The Shame Of Marvel...Part II

Yogi Bear's Sexuality Explained