Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described the outpouring of emotions in Australia following the death of Queen Elizabeth II as a period of grieving and gratefulness for her service.
As the prime minister prepares to head to London later this week to attend the state funeral for the late monarch, he said plans for a national day of mourning on September 22 were appropriate for the country to come together.
“This has been a time of grieving, but also, there’s been that sense of gratefulness of a life well lived, a life of service, and quite clearly over a long period of time … that affection for the Queen was there,” he told the Seven Network on Monday.
“We will have other Australians, of course, making their way to London as well, but Australians as well observing the loss of Queen Elizabeth in their own way around towns and cities right around our great nation.”
The day of mourning, a one-off public holiday, will include a national memorial service at Parliament House.
Mr Albanese said the public holiday would be like others in terms of services being open and penalty rates for businesses, but would give the opportunity for events to be held across the country.
“(The Queen) was someone who didn’t just go to Sydney and Melbourne. She went to regional communities, remote communities and had an engagement with them,” he said.
“That’s why, I think, it’s appropriate that local communities organise commemorative events as well as the national memorial service.”
Meanwhile, Australia’s acting High Commissioner to the United Kingdom has met with King Charles III and the Queen Consort to convey the nation’s condolences to their Majesties.
“As you know, the King has a deep and broad relationship with Australia and his Majesty’s warmth for our country was evident in our brief conversation this afternoon,” Lynette Wood told reporters in London on Monday morning Australian time.
“Having visited Australia 16 times, including studying in Victoria, His Majesty knows Australia very well.”
The diplomat, who was the first Australian official to formally meet the new King, also remarked on the mood in London following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, aged 96, late last week.
“What is really striking me in these past few days is the solemnity here in London and the regard with which her Majesty is held and the strong support that is already there for King Charles III,” she said.
Later this week, the acting commissioner will greet Mr Albanese and Governor-General David Hurley when they arrive in London ahead of the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19.
Both men will depart Australia on Thursday.
Mr Hurley on Sunday proclaimed the new king’s accession in a ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra.
Elsewhere, Victoria will proclaim the King as Australia’s new head of state on Monday.
Victoria’s Lieutenant-Governor, Chief Justice and other senior officers will swear oaths to the King in a proclamation ceremony at Government House.
Federal parliament has been suspended this week but some state parliaments will sit briefly on Tuesday to hear condolence motions.
In Victoria, MPs will also be required to swear allegiance to King Charles III.
Overnight in the UK, the Queen’s coffin was driven from Balmoral Castle, where she died, to Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh.
Her body will be flown to London on Tuesday where it will remain at Buckingham Palace before being taken to Westminster Hall to lie in state for four days.
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Australia’s dates for Queen memorials
Monday
- A Victorian proclamation ceremony will be held at 11am, with the lieutenant-governor, chief justice and other senior officer holders to swear oaths to the new King.
Tuesday
- The NSW and WA parliaments will briefly convene to hear condolence motions. Parliamentary sittings in both states are due to resume on September 20.
- The Victorian parliament will sit briefly for MPs to swear allegiance to King Charles III – the only state where this is required after the death of a monarch – before adjourning to September 20.
Thursday
- The prime minister and governor-general are due to leave for the UK to attend the Queen as she lies in state and meet the King.
The days ahead
- Live sites are expected to be set up in parts of the country to watch the televised ceremony of the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19 at 8pm AEST.
- A one-off national public holiday will be held on September 22 to give Australians a chance to pay tribute to the Queen on a national day of mourning.
- A national memorial service will be held on September 22 in the Great Hall at Parliament House and broadcast across the country.
- While there is no official mourning period in Australia, the prime minister has suspended parliament for at least 15 days.
- The Queensland state parliament, which was due to sit this week, will be adjourned until a later date.
- Australian flags will be flown at half-mast until the day after the Queen’s funeral in the UK.
- Federal, state and territory governments have set up condolence books across the country. People can also sign online condolence books on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and governor-general’s websites.
