By Pam Kiriakidis
When Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne, Kilmore local Eileen Buckley witnessed the celebratory street parties in College Park, London.
Ms Buckley saw tables dragged to the centre of the roads and her home town covered in red, white, and blue bunting to honour the Queen’s coronation.
“I can remember neighbours from one end [of the street] to the other and it was a really lovely experience as a child to see everybody chatting, everybody laughing, everybody having fun,” she said.
While the adults were caught up in the celebration, children used to their imaginations to wrap their heads around the Queen’s coronation.
“For me as a little girl all I can remember is a lot of children dressing up, whether it was their mother’s best tablecloth around their shoulders or a cardboard crown put on your head,” she said.
“I think we all became queens on that day, and after seeing the vision in black and white on the TV and at the cinemas, there was a lot of parading around, as children do. To make sense of something that happened, children will act it out,” she said.
Soon after the festivities, Ms Buckley, at three years old, and her sister received certificates to mark their presence.
“As each one of us left home, we were given our box of treasures and this is my treasure,” she said.
From that day on, Ms Buckley maintained a strong connection to the Queen, viewing her as a symbol in many events that mattered during her lifetime.
“On the day I was married, I was married in a registry office in London and the Queen’s portrait was on the wall; when I took my Australian citizenship here, there was a portrait; when I was sworn in as a Justice of the Peace, there was a portrait,” she said.
“She was there – if you think about those offices, the Queen is always present in the shape of a portrait on the wall.”
Ms Buckley felt the Queen’s symbol and visits to London were enough to bond her with Elizabeth II. When she received news that the Queen was dead, she was in a state of disbelief, describing herself as ‘empty’.
As the news sunk in around the world, Australians received a public holiday on Thursday last week to pay their respects.
Seniors from Wallan Circle of Friendship, Wallan Neighbourhood House and University of the Third Age, U3A, Wallan gathered at the Neighbourhood House for a morning tea to show their appreciation on the public holiday.
Neighbourhood House coordinator Pauline Cornish planned the event for citizens to bond and to celebrate the Queen’s life.
“It’s more that they celebrate – we’re supposed to have a day in mourning, but it’s not really a mourning day, it’s about celebrating her life, and what they remember by her as well,” Ms Cornish said.
Wallan Circle of Friendship coordinator Lorraine Alcock managed parts of the kitchen, preparing goods for people to enjoy when celebrating the Queen’s life.
“I guess there is a fair bit of the Queen to talk about, and I just think she’s been a wonderful mother, grandmother, great grandmother,” she said.
“I remember when her father passed away, I was at primary school, and we’re all around the flagpole, students at a state school, a little country school where I came from, so I remember that day very well.”
U3A president Marleen Westwood and Senior Citizens president Joan Childs also recalled their treasured memories of the Queen at the event, sharing small moments when the Queen arrived in Australia and when televisions were first purchased.
“When I was a child, I think I was about twelve, she came through Bell Street, Preston and we all stood on the side of the road to wave to her,” Ms Westwood said.
“My father even bought our first television to watch the coronation,” Ms Childs said.
