The first Duke of Edinburgh to some to Australia came out here in 1867, 87 years before Prince Phillip, another Duke of Edinburgh, got here in 1954.
That first Duke of Edinburgh to come here was Prince Alfred, the son of Queen Victoria. He was the first royal visitor to our shores and by the time he got home he was probably against any further royal tours. Indeed, there were only six royal tours here before Elizabeth II's coronation. There have about 40 since, believe it or not – Queen Elizabeth II made sixteen trips to Australia.
Poor old Prince Alfred went on a world tour, as Captain of HMS Galatea; He came first to Adelaide, on 31 October 1867, and spent three weeks in that state, about 14 days more than it deserves. One of the ship's crew drowned near Genelg and was buried there. This might have been an omen.
On 22 November he left Adelaide for Melbourne. The Governor of Victoria, The Hon. Sir John Henry Thomas Manners-Sutton, KCB, boarded HMVS Victoria (yes, we had our own little navy by then) and sailed to meet HMS Galatea and escort the Prince to Melbourne, getting here on the 25th.
Sectarian rivalry at the time was deadly serious. There was a hall decorated to celebrate the victory of William of Orange over the Catholic army at the River Boyne. A large group of Catholics gathered in front of the hall and pelted it with stones until some insane fool inside the hall opened fire on the mob. One boy was killed. Not surprisingly a mass riot followed, involving a large number of the 10,000 people who had gathered to welcome Prince Alfred.
A monster public banquet had been arranged for 27 November but the Prince decided that a 10,000-person riot forty-eight hours earlier, and with very little 'security' available made his attendance a little risky. He announced that he would not be attending, which made this day's large crowd so angry that there was another riot. This was turning out to be an unsuccessful royal tour.
The next day he travelled to Geelong but a large and restive crowd frightened the organising committee to bolt. He was certainly pulling a large crowd. There was worse to come.
He next visited Bendigo, where the locals had built a large wooden model of HMS Galatea as the focus of a fireworks display. Three boys climbed inside the wooden ship and apparently lit some of the fireworks. The model ship burned down and the three young lads died in the blaze.
But wait, there is more. A ball in his honour was planned in the new Alfred Hall. But before the ball could begin the Hall caught fire and was totally destroyed.
On 28 November he left for Tasmania, probably relieved to get away from Victoria, though he'd not had the joy of visiting Gippsland. In Tasmania he did all the things a Royal does on a Royal Tour and everything seems to have gone well. There were large bonfires lit on either side of the Derwent, and no brawls.
Having seen most of Tasmania he sailed up to Sydney, where he saw a fight between a mongoose and a snake, perhaps the strangest entertainment he was ever offered. He sailed for Brisbane and then came back to Sydney in March 1868, where his luck went bad again, even more alarming than his visit to Victoria.
Henry James O'Farrell was a man with many problems that had led to many bitter disappointments. He was an alcoholic with a strongly paranoid personality, and he was angry about England's treatment of the Irish.
Alfred was enjoying a picnic on the beach at Clontarf, Sydney, on 12 March 1868 when O'Farrell rushed up and shot him. The Duke was a bad way for a time, but eventually recovered and headed off to New Zealand seven months behind schedule.
I'm not sure who looked after HMS Galatea as her commander lay in hospital.
Poor old O'Farrell conducted a very poor defence and said he was "inflamed" by the treatment of the Irish. Shooting a Prince of the Crown was never a good idea, and O'Farrell as found guilty of attempted murder. He was hanged in the Darlinghurst Gaol on 12 April 168. He was buried in Rookwood cemetery – in the Catholic section.
Our second royal visit was in 1881 and it was much more successful. Prince George of Wales (ie, Prince of Wales) was to become King George V and Albert Victor was second in line to the throne. At the time of this visit George was 15 and Albert, his brother, was 17. They came here as midshipmen on the second royal tour of Australia in 1881, and as mid-shipmen they'd have had a harder time than Prince Alfred. Alfred was in command of HMS Galatea for his visit. The two royal midshipmen were on HMS Bacchante from England, to Albany in WA, then came to Adelaide on a commercial steamship and travelled overland to Melbourne. A naval vessel took them from Melbourne to Sydney.
Our fourth royal visit was to renew the memories of the disasters of 1867.
In 1920, Edward, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne (he became Edward VII, the man abdicated after less than a year so he could marry Wallis Simpson) arrived in Victoria on 26 May. I have just found out that he was accompanied by Lord Louis Mountbatten, a very influential man around court even then.
He had a very busy, very rapid visit, with each state having him for only three or four days. Having served, and visiting many memorials and cemeteries to salute our dead, he became known as the 'Digger Prince'. His role, the purpose of his visit, was to thank Australia for its part in the Great War.
The disaster for this trip occurred in Western Australia when his railway carriage left the track and rolled over near Bridgetown. It is understood that Prince Edward crawled out from under the wreck, unhurt, with some documents in one hand – and a cocktail shaker in the other. This did his reputation no end of good, of course.
We seem to do better with royal visits these days and with Charles III about to come here, we'll need to take good care of him.