Canberra was welcoming royalty on this day in 1978 with a visit from Crown Princess Beatrix and Prince Klaus of the Netherlands.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The heir to the Dutch throne was met on the lawns of Parliament House by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, with the Netherlands and Australian national anthems played by the Royal Military College band.
Around 10 members of the Canberra Dutch community greeted the royals with a banner and waved red, white and blue Netherlands flags.
The Princess was seen to be pleased with the small crowd, rewarding them with a smile.
The couple were set to visit the Australian War Memorial, attend a parliamentary luncheon and meet representatives of the Netherlands community.
Princess Beatrix would also place a commemorative stone at the site of the Dutch Club in Mawson before heading to a dinner at which the Netherlands Ambassador, Mr Einile Schiff, would be the event's host.
Following the visit to Canberra, the couple would then head to Sydney for the next stage of their 12-day stay in Australia.
