The first British royal visit to Bendigo was in December 1867, when Queen Victoria’s fourth child, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, toured the Golden City. The celebrations marking HRH’s visit were soon marred by tragedy however, when three young boys died in a fire that took hold of a processional float laden with fireworks. The Galatea Float Tragedy, as the incident is remembered, was not the only disaster to mark this inaugural royal visit to Bendigo: the Prince Alfred Ballroom, specially erected outside the Town Hall for a special reception, was destroyed by fire the night before the event was to take place. 

This exhibition will showcase the eventful visits of the British Royal Family to Bendigo, from ecstatic crowds for Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1954 to Sun Loong’s special performance for Prince Charles and Princess Diana as they waved from the balcony of the Shamrock Hotel in 1983.

Southern Cross TV8's broadcast of Prince Charles and Princess Diana's visit to Bendigo in 1983