Queen Elizabeth's Australia visit

Even avowed republicans such as the Australian Opposition leader, Kim Beazley, could not fail to be moved by the queen's address following her arrival in Sydney. Once again, she accomplished that rare feat of being able to say something significant without offending anyone. The proverbial visitor from Outer Space, surveying the scene, would not have guessed that she had been at the center of constitutional controversy a mere four months earlier, when Australians opted to retain the monarchy in a heated referendum campaign.

The queen's ability to do this may be ascribed as much to the manner as to the particular content of her remarks, though on this occasion they brought out those qualities to the full. Her sense of duty to Australia was reminiscent of someone who has taken their wedding vows seriously, for better or worse, for the past 48 years of her reign. She made clear that she would continue to do so if -- and only if -- the country still need her.

She gave no indication of whether she felt pleasure of displeasure over the recent debates in Australia. Both she and her subjects may have embraced change, but the capacity of this impeccably constitutional monarch to behave in an impeccable way remains gloriously undiminished.

-- The Daily Telegraph, London