Her Majesty The Queen's last official duty in the national capital might have been a sombre one under grey skies yesterday, but residents weren't about to let their honorary Canberran slip away without a fond farewell.
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About 1000 people, including 500 school children, braved the rain and the cold to catch a glimpse of the Queen as she made her seventh visit to the Australian War Memorial.
Their loyalty was rewarded, with the monarch spending almost 10 minutes doing a lap of the barriers chatting and accepting cards and flowers en route to her waiting black Range Rover at the end of the visit.
She had come prepared for the weather with a taupe coat and hat over a teal and cream floral print dress.
After basing herself in Canberra for her Australian tour, the Queen will leave the national capital for Melbourne today. Later this afternoon the royal couple will travel to Perth and will attend Friday's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The Queen leaves the country on Saturday.
At the War Memorial yesterday, Ken Gillam, one of 16 veterans and war widows presented to the royal party, said he would have ''chatted up'' the Queen if there hadn't been so many other people around. A corporal during the siege of Tobruk 70 years ago, Mr Gillam - now 91 - is the ACT president of the Rats of Tobruk Association.
He said the Queen was a remarkable person.
''I said to her, 'Your Majesty, I did see you before in England in June 1940', and she was very interested.''
Mr Gillam, who had enlisted at 19 in 1939, was in England during the Battle of Britain. He and his mates had been building fortifications to stop Hitler's troops when King George VI, Queen Elizabeth's father, conducted an inspection. ''The Queen, she was the Princess Elizabeth then, was there in the background.''
On her first visit to the AWM, in 1954, the Queen was escorted by its founder Charles Bean. Her escorts yesterday were AWM council chairman General Peter Cosgrove (retired) and Parliamentary Defence Secretary Senator David Feeney. Highlights included the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Hall of Memory, a viewing of the Afghanistan war memorial and the meeting with veterans and current servicemen and women.
The Queen and Prince Philip paid tribute to Australia's war dead. The card on the wreath, headed Buckingham Palace, reads: ''In Memory of the Glorious Dead - Elizabeth R and Philip.''
Both the Queen and Prince Philip served during World War II. During the latter part of the war, the Princess Elizabeth was a driver and mechanic with the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service. Prince Philip served in the Royal Navy.
As the Last Post was played by Corporal Luke Glasson, a single poppy from the royal wreath fell to the floor.
Brigadier Chris Roberts (retired), a Vietnam veteran who was meeting the Queen for the first time, said he had been very impressed.
''What struck me was she spoke to everybody - the veterans and the young soldiers, sailors and airmen.''
Brigadier Roberts, a troop commander with the 3rd SAS squadron in Vietnam in 1969, said the Queen had expressed an interest in his experiences.
Other former service personnel to be presented to the Queen and Prince Philip included Kokoda veteran Bede Tongs, Battle of Britain flier Air Vice-Marshal Desmond Hall, coronation guard member Colin Kahn and Vietnam war nurse Maureen Patch.
