Australia’s first Indigenous doctor and West Australian Professor Helen Milroy is among 10 “everyday Australians” exclusively invited to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London next week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced.
It was earlier revealed champion racehorse trainer Chris Waller, and Australian of the Year and wheelchair tennis star Dylan Alcott are also on the invite list.
The remaining Australians on the guest list include Senior Australian of the Year Valmai Dempsey, 2021 Senior Australian of the Year Dr Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann, Australian of the Year Local Hero Shanna Whan, Queensland’s Local Hero Saba Abraham, Tasmania’s Local Hero Kim Smith, South Australia’s Young Australian of the Year Trudy Lin, and Co-Creator of i4give Day and Foundation Danny Abdallah.
The group has been selected by the Prime Minister at the request of Buckingham Palace to mark the Queen’s life at the Westminster Abbey service on Monday.
But under strict protocols, they are the only 10 people invited to the funeral from Australia outside of the dignitaries, and cannot take their partners due to tight guest numbers.
Those dignitaries include Mr Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon, Governor-General David Hurley and his wife, Linda, and Australia’s Acting High Commissioner to the UK Lynette Wood — who is the first Australian to have met with King Charles III since his accession.
Mr Albanese said the 10 Australians would travel with him to the UK on Thursday evening, along with Pacific Island leaders who have taken up his offer to travel on his plane to London.
“It was a request from the palace, that 10 everyday citizens who make contributions to the local communities be invited to the Queen’s funeral,” Mr Albanese said.
“The Australians who have been invited, I think, embody an extraordinary contribution to our nation. We have made sure that all six State and two Territories are represented. There is an appropriate breadth of Australians as part of the delegation.”
Prof Milroy, who was the 2021 WA Australian of the Year, is an expert in child and adolescent psychiatry and has been a pioneer in research, education and training in Aboriginal and child mental health and recovery from grief and trauma for more than 25 years.
She has also played a key role on numerous mental health advisory committees and boards, including the National Mental Health Commission, and has supported the Aboriginal and medical workforce in applying Indigenous knowledge and cultural models of care.
Mr Waller, who was the thoroughbred trainer of champion mare Winx, looked after a number of the Queen’s horses and built a close relationship with her over the years.
While Mr Alcott famously made the Queen giggle during a Zoom call in May after being named Australian of the Year, which showed Her Majesty’s sharp sense of humour.
The Prime Minister will meet with King Charles in London on the weekend with a key topic of discussion being a possible royal tour of Australia.
He also plans to meet his new British Prime Minister Liz Truss.
“We agreed tentatively to have a bilateral meeting that would take place this Sunday,” Mr Albanese said.
“My priority has been getting these details in place.”
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