"Of course we have Queen Elizabeth as head of state, but in many ways we are a kind of republic. We don't have royals in Australia, so it was kind of unusual to run into those kind of people. But aside from that it was quite ordinary"
About this Quote
There is a practiced tightrope act in Mary Elizabeth Donaldson's phrasing: reverence without romance, monarchy without mystique. Speaking as an Australian who married into European royalty, she uses the plainest possible language to deflate the aura that royal institutions depend on. "Of course" signals compliance with constitutional fact, not emotional allegiance. Queen Elizabeth is acknowledged as head of state the way you acknowledge the weather: obvious, external, not especially intimate.
The sharper move is calling Australia "a kind of republic". It's not a policy argument so much as a cultural self-description: Australian civic identity runs on egalitarian instincts, suspicion of inherited status, and a preference for the ordinary over the ceremonious. By saying "we don't have royals in Australia", she frames royalty as a social category - "those kind of people" - almost like a niche subculture you might unexpectedly encounter abroad. The distancing matters. It lets her speak about royalty without sounding like a convert, which is crucial for someone whose public role risks alienating the national temperament she came from.
Then she lands the line that does the real work: "aside from that it was quite ordinary". It's a deliberate anti-fairy-tale. The subtext is both personal and strategic: I'm still the same person; this world isn't enchanted; don't overread the costume. In an era of tabloid mythmaking and celebrity monarchy, her understatement becomes a form of control - a way to domesticate royalty, to make it legible to modern skeptics, and to keep her own story from being swallowed by the institution.
The sharper move is calling Australia "a kind of republic". It's not a policy argument so much as a cultural self-description: Australian civic identity runs on egalitarian instincts, suspicion of inherited status, and a preference for the ordinary over the ceremonious. By saying "we don't have royals in Australia", she frames royalty as a social category - "those kind of people" - almost like a niche subculture you might unexpectedly encounter abroad. The distancing matters. It lets her speak about royalty without sounding like a convert, which is crucial for someone whose public role risks alienating the national temperament she came from.
Then she lands the line that does the real work: "aside from that it was quite ordinary". It's a deliberate anti-fairy-tale. The subtext is both personal and strategic: I'm still the same person; this world isn't enchanted; don't overread the costume. In an era of tabloid mythmaking and celebrity monarchy, her understatement becomes a form of control - a way to domesticate royalty, to make it legible to modern skeptics, and to keep her own story from being swallowed by the institution.
Quote Details
| Topic | Travel |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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