I saw Her passing by!

I saw her! I saw her! And do you know what she was doing? She was “passing by”—and quite fast for that matter. On the way to lunch at the Exhibition Building here in Melbourne at about 1pm Wednesday afternoon. I got a wave from Prince Philip; he was on our side of the big limo, and there were only a couple of us at that point on the street. Her Maj was on the other side, and I caught a glimpse of her grey curls and one of those large upsidedown conical hats she has taken to wearing of late.

Any way, nice to know she is actually in town. It was, as I think I remarked, almost twenty years ago that I saw her last, in North Adelaide. She was “passing by” a little slower then. Actually got out of the limo. I wonder, if she had been sitting on the street side of the car this time, if she might not have told the driver to stop, since she hadn’t seen me for so long…

It puts one in mind of the Michael Leunig poem:

“I did but see her passing by, she passed me by quite fast.
I saw her passing by again when several years had passed.
And then at some much later stage she passed me by once more
And there were further passings-by and these I also saw.
I did but see her passing by, I don't know what it means;
Perhaps it's not my problem, but a problem of the Queen's.”