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The Duchess of Cornwall is used to receiving flowers from fans, what doesn’t usually happen is the giver battling to take back their gift. So it was with young Elizabeth Colquhuon who following a storytime session in the Western Australian State Library this morning engaged in a tug of war tussle with the Duchess over a posy of pink flowers.
Elizabeth just didn’t want to give up the flowers and kept on grabbing them back from the laughing royal who playfully hit the tot on the head with the bouquet, much to Elizabeth’s delight.
Her mother Chantelle, 39, was quite overcome by the encounter and admitted that her daughter, who will be two years old, on New Year’s Eve is “strong-willed” at home.
“We’re Cornish, so especially wanted to meet the Duchess [of Cornwall],” said Chantelle afterwards, still laughing at her daughter’s playful battle with Camilla who as a grandmother of five is well schooled in playing with toddlers.
Elizabeth was one of a group of 30 or so children and their parents, who were lucky enough to meet and talk to the Duchess on this final day of the royal tour at a story reading session. Linda Thorne, part of the facility’s Better Beginnings program read Baby Ways, while colleague Michelle Compton read Bush Bash, a counting book featuring Australian animals.
The Duchess was entranced by the children’s reactions during the reading and then crouched down among the cross-legged throng to meet her audience. Among them was six-year-old Olivia Coles who was wearing a tiara and offered the Duchess another posy of flowers.
The Duchess of Cornwall is an avid reader and ferociously passionate about promoting literacy in children and adults so today’s visit to the Western Australian State Library in Perth to learn about the Learning English Through Storytime program was particularly pertinent for the royal. In the UK Her Royal Highness is the patron of a clutch of literacy charities and also presents the Man Booker Prize each year.
A small crowd had gathered outside in the 35 degree heat to greet Camilla with more inside the library hoping to say hello. Her Royal Highness was met by the Chairman of the State Library of Western Australia, Dr Margaret Nowak and State Librarian and CEO Margaret Allen who together guided The Duchess through the visit. Novak said that the visit was organised at the request of Clarence House and she was really thrilled that the Library was chosen.
Inside, first stop was an exhibition of New Zealand Hairy Maclary children’s author Dame Lynley Dodd. The Duchess is a particular fan of the author having bought the books for her grandchildren and was excited to see the exhibition which included original illustrations from the books.
When asked which of the book’s characters she like best, The Duchess replied “I still like Harry Maclary. He’s the star of it.”
Of particular interest to the Duchess was the Storylines program which was introduced in 2013, in consultation with Indigenous communities. The idea is to collect, restore and strengthen community memory.
The culturally grounded program also provides literacy and learning opportunities for Aboriginal people. There the Duchess spoke to Grace Jeffries, 26, her Aunty Lorice Douglas, 48, and Lorice’s father Tim Douglas, 73, who is Senior Loreman in Roebourne, in the Pilbara region.
