Royal visits - What was on the menu?

State Library of Queensland has a large collection of bits and pieces about royalty and their visits to Queensland.

Among the brochures and programmes and invitations you will find quite a few menus for official luncheons and dinners held over the last 100 years.

1920  Prince of Wales.  This banquet at Finney's Cafe was topped off with cheese straws.

Gaily printed in the shape of a pineapple, it is one of the earliest menus in the 'royal visits' collection.

Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) visited in 1920 on behalf of his father, King George V, to thank Australians for the part they had played in World War I.

1959 - Fruit salad and ice-cream for lunch with Princess Alice

Princess Alice (1883-1981) was the mother of Lady May Abel-Smith, wife of Queensland's Governor, and the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria.

 2011 - The Queen is served wattle seed macaroons

When the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh visited Southbank in 2011 the luncheon menu bristled with Queensland place names, from Mooloolaba king prawns to Gympie green bean bundles.

More information about royal visits to Queensland.

Come into the library to browse through the "Royalty and royal visits" ephemera.  The John Oxley Library is open 7 days a week from 10am to 5pm.

Joan Bruce - State Library of Queensland