Such Was Life: A Right Royal Train Wreck
Were it not for a stray cow, the railway near Bridgetown might be remembered as the place that Edward, Prince of Wales, died. In which case there would have been no King Edward the Eighth, no Wallis Simpson, no abdication and no British Royal praising Hitler and the Nazis.
It was 1920 and Prince Edward, heir to the British throne, was sent on a tour of the Empire to shore up support after the horrors of the first world war. Styled as the Digger Prince for his service in the Grenadier Guards during the war, Edward led a colourful life of scandal, controversy and glamorous extravagance.
But he was incredibly popular among large sections of Australian society. The 1920 royal tour of Australia lasted for 3 months and took the prince and his entourage to over 100 cities and towns throughout Australia. It was highly planned and very tightly scheduled. It involved a seemingly endless series of receptions, balls, race meets and welcomes by local notables. To our modern eyes perhaps the most notable feature of such tours were the elaborate decorations that greeted the prince in every town and city.
