Albany received royal visitors on the weekend. My husband, Peter Watson MLA and I were honoured to join The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall at the Albany Heritage Park on a very warm spring day. Pete shook the royal hands and was in good company with veterans, Murray Maxton and Harold Martin, as well as his ex-ABC colleague, Freeman of the City Annette Knight. I also spotted an excited ‘Granny Grommet’ who’d arrived early to meet the Prince. And there was more ‘Granny Grommet excitement to follow…
Albany Children’s Librarian, Dora Adeline was invited to travel to Perth to meet The Duchess of Cornwall with the WA Family Literacy Better Beginnings Team at The State Library. This celebration of early literacy was a perfect opportunity for Dora to present HRH with books by local authors. I was honoured that Dora took a copy of Granny Grommet and Me as well as Gabriel Evans’ new Christmas title The Mice and the Shoemaker.
It was fun inscribing a book to ‘the royal babies and their family’ and I hope Prince George and Princess Charlotte enjoy reading about grannies surfing on the south coast of Western Australia. It may even inspire Their Royal Highnesses to grab a boogie board and head down to Brighton…
Before I heard that Dora would be presenting Granny Grommet and Me, I had already arranged to add copies of Lighthouse Girl and Light Horse Boy to the selection of Albany gifts that would accompany Their Royal Highnesses home. The Royals seemed to enjoy walking through the avenue of first AIF ship names and the view of King George Sound and Breaksea Island was beautiful on Saturday, so perhaps the story of a young girl waving to the departing soldiers, nurses and horses in 1914 will be a fitting memory of their day in Western Australia.
Thank you to Hamish and Lockie Cameron from Paperbark Merchants for donating a book and to Dora Adeline and The State Library for supporting WA authors.
diannewolfer 
What an exciting time you have been having Dianne!!
Yes indeed 2015 has been a huge year….