In 1986, Judy ran a Special Accommodation home in Camberwell, Canterbury Lodge. It provided assisted living to mainly old people who needed a medium level of support. One day, we received an official-looking letter from the Governor General inviting up to two residents and one support staff to attend a garden party at Government House, to be held in honour of the Queen’s visit.
Judy canvassed the residents to see if there was any
interest and two said that they would like to go: Lou and Mrs Lehman. Both were
among the more compus mentis of the residents, so I arranged a day off work and
take them along. I didn’t know what to expect – maybe an intimate affair where we
chatted with the Queen over scones and cups of tea? At least the chance to go
through those gates to Government house that were always securely locked and bolted
whenever I passed.
Before the specified start time, Thursday 6 March 1986 at 10 AM, Lou, Mrs Lehman and I were deposited by the taxi at the Government House gates. After showing the guards at the gate our invitation, we were ushered through.
As we walked up the long drive to the reception area, it
became apparent that, while Lou and Mrs Lehman may have appeared to be quite
mobile as they tottered around the be-handrailed and carpeted corridors of Canterbury
Lodge, the long Government House drive on a hot March day was another thing
entirely. And we hadn’t even reached the reception area yet. They were not going
to make it much further. So I selected a shady tree where I could park them
while I reconnoitred the lay of the land. I lowered them each in turn slowly to the grass
at the foot of the tree so that they could lean against the tree trunk.
The reception area was about 100 metres away. There was
quite a crowd of people already, about three or four deep, mustered by
government house officials into a horseshoe shape. The setup appeared to be
that the Queen would walk around the inside of the horseshoe, occasionally conversing with crowd members in a queenly way at
appropriate intervals. With sinking heart, I realised that Lou and Mrs Lehman
would not cope with this arrangement, standing in a crowd on a hot sunny day
with no shade. So . . there would be no tea and scones, no intimate chat with
the Queen. What a fool I had been, seduced by the Victorian Governor coat of arms on the invitation, and the chance of meeting the Queen. What the hell
was I thinking? I claimed to have republic sympathies for god’s sake. In those pre-smart phone days, I had even gone to the trouble of bringing my camera!!
The best outcome I could hope for was to get Lou and Mrs Lehman out of there
without them passing out or worse, and safely back to the carpet and handrails of
Canterbury Lodge.
I spotted a marquee tent down the hill from the
forming crowd, and went to investigate. The tent was empty with just a single row of chairs
inside. It was shady and cool, a more salubrious spot than the grass and tree
trunk to park Lou and Mrs Lehman until everything died down and we could leave
quietly. So I returned to the tree, and one by one raised Lou and Mrs Lehman into
an upright stance. Carefully, we waddled over to the tent. I sat Lou and Mrs
Lehman down on a couple of chairs in the row and we waited
quietly. By the sound of it, the “garden party” was in full swing, with the Queen
ambulating and conversing around the horseshoe.
The hubbub outside started to die down, and worryingly the
tent begun to fill with people. First, there was a coterie of fit, watchful
young men in business suits. A couple of the watchful young men gave Mrs
Lehman, Lou and I long hard looks before turning their attentions elsewhere. Then
followed some official looking men and women, some of whom I recognised. There
was John Cain, the Premier of Victoria and some of his cabinet ministers and
others, the more elderly of whom sat in the other chairs in the row. Then to my
surprise, the Queen entered, followed by more people. The Queen began chatting with the premier and the officials. Eventually she turned her attention to the people seated in the row of chairs. She stopped in front of Lou and asked him how he
was. He claimed that he was very well thank you. Then she asked Lou where he was
from. In a shaky voice he replied “Camberwell.” Snap, snap snap went my camera.
After waiting for a few minutes while Lou and Mrs Lehman gathered themselves for the walk to the gate and the taxi home. On the taxi journey home, Lou and Mrs Lehman sat quietly in the back seat, each silently processing the events of the day, while I sat in the front seat, content with my images of the Queen asking Lou where he was from.
No comments:
Post a Comment