Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in Victoria Ave, Whanganui.
Friday, January 8, 1954. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were well into their 1953/54 New Zealand tour: a whirlwind trip of civic receptions, brass and pipe bands, marching girls, military processions, bunting, displays, excited crowds, decorated towns and cities and a host of royal engagements kept the royals and the
citizens of New Zealand busy.
In Whanganui, Victoria Ave was strung with banners welcoming the royal couple and the streets were lined with well-wishers and, of course, photographers. John Souter was there, and so was his best friend, Ian Jolley, with his wife, Thelma, and daughter Carol.
Carol was not yet 3 but she remembers being told to get out of the gutter and stop throwing stones.
"Get up! The Queen's coming!" said her mother. "I was told to go and sit on the concrete nib at the back of the footpath," says Carol, now Carol Couper.
Ian had brought his Pentax camera and the photos on this page are taken by him. As the Queen and Prince Philip went past in the open-backed car, he took a photograph, little knowing his daughter's image would be caught reflected in the black paint of the vehicle.
