Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 28
  1. #1
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204

    Queen was not consulted before Whitlam was sacked


    https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/royals/palace-letters-from-john-kerr-show-prince-charles-was-in-the-loop/news-story/fe62ad2923332d192f4ff2b6aea7612e

    Palace letters from John Kerr show Prince Charles was in the loop

    Buckingham Palace has issued a rare statement surrounding the Queen after secret palace letters were finally released after 45 years.


    In a move that could upend decades of Royal secrets, private letters shared between the Queen and then-Governor General that led to Gough Whitlam's sacking will finally be rel...


    Buckingham Palace has issued a rare statement insisting the release of secret letters prove the Queen played “no part” in the plot to dismiss Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975.
    The letters, released following a High Court battle, reveal that Governor General Sir John Kerr did not telegraph his plan to sack the Prime Minister in his correspondence with Buckingham Palace.
    “At Her Majesty’s Coronation on 2 June, 1953, the Queen swore an oath to govern the Peoples of Australia “according to their respective laws and customs.”
    RELATED: ‘Palace letters’ to be released this week


    Queen Elizabeth II last month in Windsor, England. Picture: Toby MelvilleSource:Getty Images

    Throughout her reign, Her Majesty has consistently demonstrated this support for Australia, the primacy of the Australian people, which the letters reflect,’’ the Palace statement said.
    “While the royal household believes in the longstanding convention that all conversations between prime ministers, governor generals and the Queen are private, the release of the letters by the National Archives Australia confirms that neither Her Majesty nor the Royal Household had any part to play in Kerr’s decision to dismiss Whitlam.”
    However, the correspondence also reveals Palace officials discussed the Governor-General’s reserve powers to sack the PM.
    “It is often argued that such powers no longer exist. I think those powers do exist, and the fact that they do, even if they are not used, affects the situation and the way people think and act,” the Queen’s private secretary Sir Martin Charteris wrote in 1975.
    “But to use them is a heavy responsibility and it is only at the very end when there is demonstrably no other course that they should be used.”

    Demonstration against the Dissolution of Parliament by Sir John Kerr and support for Mr Gough Whitlam at Parliament House, 1975.Source:Supplied

    The letters also reveal the Queen was not enthusiastic about the idea of Prince Charles becoming Australia’s governor-general until he was married.
    In a letter to Governor-General Sir John Kerr, the Queen’s private secretary Sir Martin Charteris said that despite some raising the option in the wake of the 1975 crisis that it would be important for him to have “a lady by his side’’ to do the job.
    “I think the point we must all bear in mind is that I do not believe The Queen would look with favour on Prince Charles becoming Governor-General of Australia until such time as he has a settled married life,” Sir Martin wrote.
    “No one will know better than you how important it is for a governor-general to have a lady by his side for the performance of his duties.
    “The prospect, therefore, of The Prince of Wales becoming Governor-General of Australia must remain in the unforeseeable future.”
    Bombshell correspondence between the Queen and the Governor-General over the 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam Government has revealed she was left in the dark over the final decision to sack the government.
    But the letters confirm that the heir-to-the-throne, the then 26-year-old Prince Charles was in the loop over the constitutional crisis and talking to the Governor-General Sir John Kerr over his fears that he would be sacked by Gough Whitlam, as previously suggested in historian Professor Jenny Hocking’s book.
    The release of the letters today, nearly 45 years after the Governor-General sacked the Whitlam Government, follows a High Court legal battle launched by Professor Hocking.
    In 1000 pages of documents, the key letter from Governor-General Sir John Kerr to Buckingham Palace on November 11, 1975 confirms the Queen was not consulted on the decision.

    John Kerr’s letter to the palace that was released today.Source:Supplied


    The letter shows the Queen did not know about the decision to dismiss the Whitlam government.Source:Supplied

    “I decided to take the step I took without informing the Palace in advance ... it was better for Her Majesty NOT to know,” Sir John Kerr’s letter states.
    On November 20, the Governor-General also wrote he did not warn Gough Whitlam he was considering sacking him as it would put the Queen in an “impossible position.”
    “If in the period of 24 hours in which he was considering his position he advised the Queen that I should be immediately dismissed, the position would then have been that either I would be, in fact, trying to dismiss him while he was trying to dismiss me - an impossible position for the Queen,’’ Sir John Kerr wrote.
    “I simply could not risk the outcome for the sake of the monarchy.”
    The trove of documents also reveals that on October 2, Sir John Kerr discussed his concerns that the Prime Minister Gough Whitlam would ask the Queen to sack him as Governor-General.
    “Prince Charles told me a good deal, and you’d spoken of the possibility of the Prime Minister advising the Queen to terminate your commission... at the end of the road, the Queen - as a constitutional sovereign - would have no option but to follow the advice of her Prime Minister,’’ Martin Charteris, the Queen’s private secretary, replied.
    “I believe the more one thinks about them, the less likely they are to happen - the umbrella/rain syndrome.”

    Warning: Be cautious if you are a fragile pink

  2. #2
    The Dentist English Noodles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Gaslightingshire
    Posts
    17,808
    QE2 has always loved Australia and the Australian people.

  3. #3
    Thailand Expat
    panama hat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Last Online
    21-10-2023 @ 08:08 AM
    Location
    Way, Way South of the border now - thank God!
    Posts
    32,680
    Yup, and she can go fuck herself with along with her sprog . . . the Whitlam purge was diabolical

  4. #4
    I'm in Jail

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Last Online
    08-02-2023 @ 01:23 PM
    Location
    I'm Dead
    Posts
    7,133

  5. #5
    The Dentist English Noodles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Gaslightingshire
    Posts
    17,808







  6. #6
    I'm in Jail

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Last Online
    08-02-2023 @ 01:23 PM
    Location
    I'm Dead
    Posts
    7,133
    The Royal servants of the Queen.

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat
    Buckaroo Banzai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Last Online
    03-08-2023 @ 01:50 PM
    Location
    My couch
    Posts
    4,889
    I find myself in loss for words.

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    Yup, and she can go fuck herself with along with her sprog . . . the Whitlam purge was diabolical
    Plausible deniability?

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat
    panama hat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Last Online
    21-10-2023 @ 08:08 AM
    Location
    Way, Way South of the border now - thank God!
    Posts
    32,680
    Quote Originally Posted by TheRealKW View Post
    Plausible deniability?
    Quite likely . . . the GG is her rep anyway - he can't do anything without her say-so.

    And with halfwits like chico getting all nationalistic with his union jack wife-beater singlet - all is well while Britannia sinks

  10. #10
    Thailand Expat

    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Last Online
    29-11-2023 @ 01:10 PM
    Posts
    1,815
    Many fingers in that pie.
    Whitlam’s 1977 book mentioned a meeting with an American who told him they’d not interfere in Australian politics again but he subsequently refused to comment on that.
    Whitlam was an arrogant incompetent pussy whose government was a shambles.
    The dismissal was wrong but the peasants didn’t disapprove of it.

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat David48atTD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Palace Far from Worries
    Posts
    14,393
    I like 'ole Libby.

    I'm not a Republican.

    I like Turnbull, much respect.

    Don't like Charles.

    Meghan Markle is a bitch ... Harry is a pussy-whipped insipid Royal.

    Queen was not consulted before Whitlam was sacked-giphy-gif


    In the Royal Family ... everyone should be judged on their merits.

  12. #12
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Home
    Posts
    33,533
    Quote Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai View Post
    I find myself in loss for words.
    You appear to be taking revenge on those still captive.

  13. #13
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Home
    Posts
    33,533
    Quote Originally Posted by David48atTD View Post
    In the Royal Family ... everyone should be judged on their merits.
    Well that only works if you're not a Republican.

    And the media work hard to depict the members of the family according to their approval ratings with the powers that be.

    You are clearly swallowing the media depictions whole.

  14. #14
    Thailand Expat
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    38,456
    I like Charles actually. Didn't like Di.

  15. #15
    Thailand Expat

    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Last Online
    29-11-2023 @ 01:10 PM
    Posts
    1,815
    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    I like Charles actually.
    I can't like anybody who'd contemplate being a tampon.

    They're a bunch of twits (except for Princess Anne ...) and Aussies who support a foreign monarchy need to think a bit harder.
    But Aussies, although they pride themselves on being independent take-no-crap people, are in reality a bunch of snivelling forelock-tugging crawlers by and large. So they don't mind having a King Charles Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in the pipeline.

  16. #16
    Thailand Expat
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    38,456
    If you want aussies to vote for something better, you've got to show them something better. That's why the last Referendum died in the ass.

  17. #17
    I'm in Jail

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Last Online
    08-02-2023 @ 01:23 PM
    Location
    I'm Dead
    Posts
    7,133
    Quote Originally Posted by docmartin View Post
    foreign monarchy
    Foreign?

    The flag is your homeland.

  18. #18
    Thailand Expat

    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Last Online
    29-11-2023 @ 01:10 PM
    Posts
    1,815
    Polling suggests that an Australian republic is even less appealing than it was twenty years ago.
    The model offered at the referendum was pretty crap by design and the facebookisation of culture has made people less interested in concepts than ever.

  19. #19
    Thailand Expat

    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Last Online
    29-11-2023 @ 01:10 PM
    Posts
    1,815
    Quote Originally Posted by Chico View Post
    Foreign?

    The flag is your homeland.
    Not sure what you mean by that but the monarchy of the UK isn't mine. And I'm not a 'sovereign person' wackjob - I just refuse to acknowledge the muppets.

  20. #20
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Home
    Posts
    33,533
    Quote Originally Posted by Chico View Post
    Foreign? The flag is your homeland.
    Here's one so incapable of grasping the concepts that he can't even troll on them.

    Facebook didn't create these unfortunates, it's merely one of the stages they make fools of themselves on.

  21. #21
    I'm in Jail

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Last Online
    08-02-2023 @ 01:23 PM
    Location
    I'm Dead
    Posts
    7,133
    Squirrel you still not got a job?

    have a read squirrel and educate yourself.

    Powers and functions of the Governor-General

    – Parliament of Australia

  22. #22
    Thailand Expat
    panama hat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Last Online
    21-10-2023 @ 08:08 AM
    Location
    Way, Way South of the border now - thank God!
    Posts
    32,680
    Quote Originally Posted by docmartin View Post
    So they don't mind having a King Charles Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in the pipeline.
    It's irrelevant as they have no bearing on the country . . .

    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    If you want aussies to vote for something better, you've got to show them something better.
    So, you're saying being a monarchy is better? If you want Aussies to change something you need to force them to vote

    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    That's why the last Referendum died in the ass.
    You really do talk some shit. As docmartin says, the model offered couldn't reach consensus, the issue was how a president selected. This caused a split in the republican ranks.

    Quote Originally Posted by docmartin View Post
    The model offered at the referendum was pretty crap by design
    Quote Originally Posted by Chico View Post
    Foreign?
    Yes, you utter moron

  23. #23
    Thailand Expat
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    38,456
    You really do talk some shit.
    Yeh, some shit e'hh-

    Votes %
    Yes 4,591,563 39.34%
    No 7,080,998 60.66%
    Valid votes 11,672,561 99.05%
    Invalid or blank votes 112,474 0.95%
    Total votes 11,785,035 100.00%
    Registered voters/turnout 12,392,040 95.1%


    Eat it.

  24. #24
    Thailand Expat
    panama hat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Last Online
    21-10-2023 @ 08:08 AM
    Location
    Way, Way South of the border now - thank God!
    Posts
    32,680
    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Eat it.
    Eat what? The fact that you're grossly undervaluing republican sentiment in the referendum? That the 'Yes' vote was 40% (including mine) despite the split among those on the 'Yes' side? That the sticking point was not yes or no, rather:
    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    the issue was how a president would be selected. This caused a split in the republican ranks.
    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    That's why the last Referendum died in the ass.
    Hardly

    Yes, you do talk some shit

  25. #25
    I'm in Jail

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Last Online
    08-02-2023 @ 01:23 PM
    Location
    I'm Dead
    Posts
    7,133
    Not sure why the old man,gets so excited about most things, his roots supposedly aren't even from the worlds greatest colonial masters,/commonwealth countries.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •