Queen Elizabeth’s Former Private Secretary Says Australia Treated the Queen Like Taylor Swift: ‘It Was Electric’

Mar. 15, 2025

Victoria Jones/PA Wire;Getty

Queen Elizabethwas actual royalty, but her former press secretary said her fame was comparable to pop music royalty.

“I remember the crowds, the big Aussie barbeque in Perth, which was the last big event. It felt like the Queen wasTaylor Swift,” Andersen said. “Honestly, the crowds were enormous — cheering. It was electric.”

The Queen first visited Australia in 1954, when she was just two years into what would become a historic 70-year reign that ended when she died on Sept. 8, 2022 at age 96. She would go on to visit the Commonwealth realm 14 more times before that final 2011 tour, bringing her total number of visits to 16.

Queen Elizabeth greets the crowds on arrival at Fairbairn base on Oct. 19, 2011 in Canberra, Australia.Alex Coppel - Pool/Getty

Alex Coppel - Pool/Getty

Andersen pointed to “the crowds, the genuine people, just the adoration” that the Queen and her husband,Prince Philip, encountered when they visited the country.

“It was a real boost for the Queen and Prince Philip, because you never know how many people are going to be interested — but clearly they were,” she said.

The King and Queen were met with large crowds while in Australia, where they visited both Sydney and Canberra. On Tuesday, Oct. 22, the Royal Family Instagram account captioned a photo of a crowd in Sydney, “Wow Sydney, what a turnout!” alongside a starry-eyed smile emoji and a heart hands emoji.

But the reception wasn’t 100% positive. In a shocking moment of the tour while in Canberra,lawmaker Lidia Thorpe, an Aboriginal Australian politician, confronted the King, 75, at the Australian Parliament on Monday, Oct. 21, yelling in part, “This is not your land. This is not your land. You are not my King, you are not our king,” according tovideos taken from the event.

A palace source pointed to the crowds that greeted King Charles and Queen Camilla, 77, saying the royal couple was “deeply grateful to the many thousands who turned out to support them, and are only sorry they didn’t have a chance to stop and talk to every single one. The warmth and scale of the reception was truly awesome.”

King Charles and Queen Camilla depart following a service at St. Thomas’s Anglican Church on Oct. 20, 2024 in Sydney, Australia.Dean Lewins - Pool/Getty

Dean Lewins - Pool/Getty

Can’t get enough of PEOPLE’s Royals coverage?Sign up for our free Royals newsletterto get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

Charles became only the second British monarch — and the first British King — to visit Australia. Thefirst monarch to visit, of course, was his mother, Queen Elizabeth, when she visited forthe first time70 years ago. According to Australia’s Centre of Democracy, it’s estimated thatclose to 75% of Australia’s populationsaw her in person on that 1954 visit alone.

“Royal visits are a part of the history of national pride in Australia. This was especially the case for the 1954 tour,” according to the Centre. “For Australia, the visit was a chance to promote the post-war development of the country, while for the Crown, it was a chance to strengthen alliances throughout the Commonwealth countries.”

source: people.com