Queen’s Royal Tours of Australia and New Zealand Gallery Editions Plate

When Buckingham Palace announced that Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II would no longer be undertaking royal tours, it was a time of sadness and reflection amongst royal watchers around the world. Those tours became defining moment of our lives. With each new visit to our shores, Her Majesty gained a greater understanding of who we are as a nation. As she learned of our potential, our culture and our enthusiasm for the future, her admiration for us grew as did our affection for her. It was a relationship that grew stronger, richer and more rewarding with each tour. While these events are of the past, Her Majesty still holds Australia and New Zealand in the greatest esteem. Today, the past returns with a vibrancy and vigour in a luminous new tribute crafted to a true gallery standard. 65 years after that first visit, the Queen’s Royal Tours of Australia and New Zealand Gallery Editions Plate lets you relive the splendour of Her Majesty’s most famous royal tours brought to you in the refinement of Heirloom Porcelain®. This collectors edition is exclusive only to The Bradford Exchange.

A royal blue tableau, rich and elegant, provides the fitting canvas upon which to recall Her Majesty’s glorious tours. The central image depicts the Queen greeting guests at a State Banquet in Canberra in February of 1954. Her first tour of Australia and the first of any British monarch, this significant event heralded the start of a royal tradition that continued for six glorious decades. Wearing the famed Wattle Dress, her valentine to the people of Australia, Her Majesty is portrayed with an elegance and dignified bearing that has defined her almost seventy year reign. Surrounding this nation-defining first, are scenes from the 1963 tour of Australia and New Zealand. A 1977 image shows Her Majesty wearing a Maori cloak honouring the diversity of New Zealand’s people. From 1982, the Queen is delighted to take part in the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. The 1992 tour sees a rapturous monarch at Parliament House in Canberra. The 21st century brought Her Majesty to Sydney engaging with school children in 2006 and finally and most poignantly in 2011, Her Majesty waves farewell to Perth and symbolically all of Australia and New Zealand as she concludes her tours forever. A time-honoured process undertaken by skilled ceramic artisans fires the plate multiple times ensuring the lasting brilliance of each joyous image. With an almost three dimensional glow that only Heirloom Porcelain® can impart, the tours and Her Majesty’s affection for us come to vibrant life once more. The design is uplifted through the generous appointment of rich 22-carat gold accents. From the floral pattern blossoming around the portraits, to the title, tour years, 65th anniversary acknowledgement of the first royal tour, through to Her Majesty’s royal crest and personal cipher, the gold shimmers with an elegance befitting such an important milestone. Strong demand is expect so don’t delay, order yours now!

Features

This Queen’s Royal Tours of Australia and New Zealand Gallery Editions Plate exclusive to The Bradford Exchange features: