A message from the Mayor: Vale Queen Elizabeth II

Published on 09 September 2022

The news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96 has evoked many emotions - great sadness and shock, alongside a wave of inspiration and awe.

On behalf of the Kempsey Shire community, I offer our deepest sympathy to the Royal family and condolences to King Charles III at this time of great loss.

We also remember a remarkable woman who reigned with great dignity for seventy years, including as Queen of Australia under our constitution.

The Queen gave great service to the people of Great Britain and the Commonwealth nations. Her ceremonial roles throughout those years included sixteen visits to Australia.

My wife and I were lucky enough to visit London a few years ago and took the opportunity to tour Buckingham Palace. It is an awesome place to see.

As we viewed the staterooms full of priceless art works, statuary and furnishings, I reflected on the life of a monarch surrounded by servants, finery and wealth. Though clearly a position of great prestige and luxury, for 70 years she was always in the public eye. There must have been days where it felt like being trapped in the proverbial gilded cage.

Yet the enduring memory of the Queen is one of dignity, dedication, and a life of trying to unite people in the face of ever-increasing change. In her time there have been many changes in our world. Most of them have been positive and a benefit to our democracy.

Many years ago she said the following in one of her famous Christmas broadcasts. “We may hold different points of view but it is in times of stress and difficulty that we most need to remember that we have much more in common than there is dividing us.”

Nearly 50 years late these words remain as true as ever.

For the overwhelming majority of Australians she is the only monarch we have known. We should be thankful for the work of our Queen. We should take inspiration from her life and service.

Vale Queen Elizabeth II. God save the King.