By Taylah Eastwell
As the world unites in mourning over the passing of Prince Philip, Yarra Ranges residents have shared their memories of the Duke and his visits to their leafy pocket of the world.
When the Queen announced the Duke of Edinburgh had “passed away peacefully” at Windsor Castle on Friday 9 April, residents were quick to flick back through their memory boxes, some posting photos to social media of interactions with the Prince during his many visits to Australia.
Upper Ferntree Gully’s Renee Radisich recalls Prince Philip as a down to earth man, having been chosen as one of five Monbulk Primary School students to ask him a question during a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) event at Melbourne Zoo in 1990.
“He was the international president of the WWF and they were launching some new campaign. Our music teacher, Pamela Miskin (late) was an environmentalist and raised a lot of money through our school so we got invited to go to the zoo for the launch,” she said.
“I was one of about 30 kids from Monbulk Primary School that got to go and one of five or so that got to ask him a question,” Ms Radisich said.
Ms Radisich, who was11 at the time, said she asked the Prince “what he does in his role as international president of the WWF?“.
“I don’t remember there being any pompous circumstances about him. There was no bowing or curtseying, he seemed pretty down to earth,” she said.
The Warburton Motel also took to Facebook to share the fond memory of a Warburton woman who encountered the royal couple as a child.
Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth visited Warburton Hospital in 1954. At the time the original homestead ‘Wonwondah’ stood directly across the road, where the Warburton Motel now stands.
The now elderly woman lived in the homestead as a child. Opposite the hospital entrance, on the fenceline of the homestead (now the motel) was the last spot the postman would stop. As a result, there was a whole row of letterboxes all lined up out the front, where residents would come down off the mountain to collect their mail.
While Prince Philip and the Queen exited the hospital driveway, kids from the homestead were all hanging over the fence to try and get a glimpse of the royals.
As the car left the driveway, the Queen ushered her driver to stop and wound down her window. Both she and Prince Philip were curious to know why there were so many letterboxes but only one house. The kids explained how it worked and, happy with the response, the royals said their farewells and went on their way.
“It’s odd to think that a 99-year-old royal from half way across the world was once hanging out the window of his car at the motel property shooting the breeze with some local kids now in their 70s. Truly a small world. RIP,” read the Warburton Motel post.
Visits to Australia were not uncommon for Prince Philip, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison commending him for his service to the Commonwealth and his ties to our country.
“He presided as patron or president of nearly 50 organisations in Australia. Given his full service, Prince Philip also had a strong connection to the Australian Defence Force,” Mr Morrison said in a statement shortly after Philip’s death was made public.
One particular visit by the Queen and Prince Philip to the Yarra Ranges has become infamous, despite the royals keeping it under wraps for over 50 years.
During their gruelling 1954 Commonwealth Tour, the couple spent the weekend of March 6 to 8 relaxing at O’Shannessy Lodge in Warburton. It was their only free weekend in Victoria during the trip and the only place the royals stayed other than Government House and aboard the Royal Train.
With 27-year-old Elizabeth only recently crowned Queen, the 1954 royal tour was the a huge event for both Australia and the royals. But the loved-up young couple proved they were not immune to a quarrel, with an argument between the pair retold years later in royal writer Robert Hardman’s 2011 novel, ‘Our Queen’. The incident, during which the Queen is alleged to have thrown sports equipment at Philip, has also been recreated in season one of the Netflix drama ‘The Crown’. Allegedly the tiff was caught on camera but the footage later destroyed on request of the royal couple.
Monbulk CFA lowered its flag to half mast on Saturday 10 April in respect of the Prince.
