News that King Charles III will tour Australia soon brought back memories from my childhood, when my mother would dutifully fill the car with her children and head off to meet the Queen.

On one occasion, Her Majesty was due to visit the Spastic Centre of NSW (now, Cerebral Palsy Alliance), which was located in the nearby suburb of Allambie Heights. We lined up along the drive leading into the main building ( I don't remember any Union Jacks in hand) and waited while the Monarch met with the good people inside. Then in a flash she was off, a hand waving by a passenger window in the back of a Rolls Royce. It did seem exciting to us back then.

It is hard to say how the republican issue will play out in coming decades. The steam seems to have gone out of the debate - the world being as unstable as it is - more Australians are siding with what they know and what works best. The antics of royals such as Andrew and Harry ( who should surely have heeded the lessons provided by Edward VIII) have not helped the royal cause and Australia's population is changing in any event.

No more the Anglo-Celtic supermajority, though its influence is still overwhelming. Things can flip very quickly, though in the antipodes, we are not unaccustomed to watching the paint dry, whilst the grass grows.

That day in 1970.