Getting to know the King

One of the great things about Alice Springs was that it punched above its weight as a ‘romantic’ tourist destination, and since it was a small town of only 14,000 people, we could often meet famous visitors passing by, writes Victor Kline.

I was working as a lawyer in the mid to late 70’s. Alice Springs. Paul Everingham and Co. I was only 24 years old when I first came to join the company. paul At the age of 32, he was senior partner and also Solicitor General of the Northern District.

The idea was for me to be his house counsel and do all the court hearings for the firm’s various branches in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek and of course Alice.

We were all very young at the time and, like most Territorians, were running on high-octane hooch most of the time. Paul would become Prime Minister at the age of 34 and eventually become a federal member for the Northern Territory at the age of 41 Methusalian. He was our leader in law, politics and larrikinism. But more on that another time.

One of the great things about Alice Springs was that it punched above its weight as a ‘romantic’ tourist destination. Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) and perhaps even more thanks to Nevil Shute’s bestselling book A Town Like Aliceand later the movie based on it. So everyone was looking for an excuse to visit.

And since this was a small town of only 14,000 people, we often met famous visitors passing by.

I need to shake hands John Denver and most skyhooks. I also met the Prime Minister of the time and exchanged ideas. Gough Whitlamaccompanied by a very young friend Paul Keating. And I talked music one-on-one with the world-famous virtuoso violinist. Jack Glatzer. But more on that another time.

Now I want to tell you about the craziest visit. This person came from His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, then heir to the British throne – these days more like, by the grace of God, Henry III, ruler of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Known as Charles, Defender of the Faith.

I can tell you that once we’re done with him, it won’t be easy to defend his faith in the residents of Alice Springs.

Charles was single at the time and all the ‘joys’ of his marriage Lady Diana Spencer lie forward. So he was still young and relatively carefree, and he stood on a very shaky platform, hastily standing next to the mayor on the main street, and gave a very funny speech to the whole town. Much later I remember thinking what a perfect metaphor this platform was. At the time, the town of Alice Springs was a pretty shaky platform for some unstable lawyers and politicians.

When Charles finished his speech, the Mayor announced that today was the Prince’s birthday and thought it would be a good idea if we all sang together. ‘Happy birthday’ him. The Mayor’s impromptu and unilateral decision to direct this surprise to the Prince and the townspeople emphasized the value of thinking things through and perhaps even consulting beforehand.

To begin with, it was certainly an embarrassing moment for nobles and commoners alike, especially as the deaf Mayor set off alone and unaccompanied. But we all joined in and it all went down as well as any over-the-top birthday song:

“Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday my dear…”

And then everyone stopped. There was complete silence as no one knew what to say to him. I don’t think the Court etiquette book would have helped, even if we had a copy. What title do you use for the Prince of Wales? ‘Happy birthday’ Sung by the people of a provincial town and led by a red-faced mayor on a shaky platform?

‘Charles’, ‘Charlie’ and ‘Prince’ were among the options flashing through our collective minds, but none of them seemed quite right and so we all stopped there. Finally, after minutes of agonizing silence, broken only by the distant howl of a dingo, the Mayor blurted out alone in his deaf, shrill, trembling voice:

“Your Royal Magnificence”.

Later that month, the Mayor lost the mayoral election to local attorney Brian Martin (later to become Chief Judge of the Northern District), but the jury is probably still out on whether this and subsequent events that day were entirely responsible for the defeat.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Mayor called me and invited my then-wife Agatha and me to the reception he was planning for the Prince that night. He elaborately explained how he had gathered all the lawyers and other professionals because he couldn’t trust anyone in the town not to make fools of themselves. Although flattered, as a ‘socialist’ and thus almost by definition an anti-monarchist, I politely declined.

I immediately called Agatha and told her how funny it was that we had been invited before anyone else to a reception for the heir to the British throne. Agatha, in her own words, was as much a left winger as I was.

“Did you accept it?” he asked.

“Of course not,” I said laughing.

“What?!” he shouted on the phone again “What?!”

There was silence. I was confused.

“Call them back!” he asked. “How could you deprive me of the chance to meet the Prince!”

Agatha later became a staunch Antipodean supporter of Donald Trump. So of course, in retrospect, his reaction seems much more explainable. Frankly, his “commitment” to socialism at the time was just a teenage flirtation.

Anyway, I called the Mayor and explained that my wife was very angry with me and asked if we could still come. He was very happy that he was still having trouble finding enough responsible people to fill the room.

That night, we arrived a little late at the ‘welcome venue’, which until two days earlier had been an animal breeding laboratory. The Mayor’s creative use of this for the royal reception would have consequences, as would many things the Mayor didn’t think through.

The prince was already there and meddling. I must say, despite all my anti-monarchist beliefs, I was quite attracted to this man against my will. He seemed to have the common touch and was quite comfortable with everyone he talked to.

I don’t remember what I actually said to him or what he said to me. But I remember he really cared about who I was and what I was doing in the Australian outback. Of course I knew this couldn’t be true. How many thousands of people did he meet every week? How could he care about a passer-by like me?

Still, I’m ashamed to admit that I was at least a victim of his aristocratic charm. I too have watched with great interest the ups and downs of his ‘career’ over the years. And because of that meeting, I was never as fierce a Republican as I and others wanted me to be. Personal contact is still the most important part of politics. I guess the bottom line was that Charles had a job to do, which involved influencing the people of the realm, and he was good at his job.

Miss Alice Springs remained cool even when the latter literally pinned her to the wall with his outstretched arm over her shoulder and said:

“Good day, Prince! How’s it going?”

“I’m really good!” he replied in his clear, well-known accent. “And you?”

“Bit a shitty day” he said. “But I can’t complain.”

She then went on to tell him much of her life story, culminating in the tragic injustice of only placing second in the Miss Alice Springs Pageant.

Later that evening, the entire party, including the Prince, is brought down by an attack, no doubt due to the Mayor’s failure to properly clean the animal breeding laboratory before turning it into a royal dining venue. shigella flexneri dysentery.

This particular tension was severe and many townspeople were hospitalized. One or two of them were even on the critical list. Agatha and I were leaking badly and were to the point of so much nausea and fatigue that we literally couldn’t get out of bed. We had to lie in the middle of our leaks for almost 24 hours.

The next night, when we were still very weak, I remember turning on the television to see Prince Charles speaking at a reception in Perth. We could barely move, but he was there, not only standing upright, but talking and smiling to boot. I remember thinking that either he had a medical team far superior to anything we could find at Alice Springs Hospital, or he had the coolness of that famous British singer.

Years later, while I was in London promoting my first novel, I sent him a copy and a note reminding me of our meeting. I’m not sure why I did this. Of course I knew it was impossible for him to remember me.

But I was pretty sure he would remember the Mayor, the swinging platform, the Second Miss Alice Springs, and Shigella flexneri dysentery.

I received a polite handwritten note from Equerry:

‘His Majesty is very grateful for your gift. However, his acceptance of this cannot be used for promotional purposes.’

Victor Kline is an author and attorney who focuses on philanthropic work for refugees and asylum seekers. You can follow Victor on Twitter/X @victorklineTNL.

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