Touring royals meet up with Australian military families
王室滿足參觀與澳大利亞軍人家屬
April 20, 2014, 12:25 am TWN
BRISBANE, Australia -- Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate met with the families of Australian soldiers killed in recent conflicts Saturday and took a front-row fighter jet seat as their tour headed north.
Huge crowds turned out to greet the imperial pair, who began their day at the Amberley Air Force base with military formalities including a guard of honor and flyover by two F/A-18 Super Hornets.
William, who trained with Britain's Royal Air Force and whose grandmother Queen Elizabeth II is Australia's head of state, was first to inspect the next-generation Boeing fighter jet, offering his wife a tongue-in-cheek invitation as he climbed aboard.
“Do you fancy jumping in the back?” he joked.
Dressed in a blue and white poppy print dress from L.K. Bennett, the Duchess took straight to the cockpit, keenly inspecting the jet's dials and controls.
Poppies are a symbol of remembrance in the military community.
Air Force chief Air Marshall Geoff Brown said the couple were impressed by the Australian weather compared with neighboring New Zealand, where they were last week.
During their tour of the base twins Elijah and Tobee Dyer, aged three-and-a-half, presented Kate with a tiny boomerang — an Aboriginal tool — for her infant son George who remained in Sydney on Saturday.
“It's for George from us,” Elijah told the duchess.
Prince George has been a big hit on his first tour abroad, winning a legion of his own fans including six-month-old Alyssa McCabe, who was offered up by mother Jillian for a play-date and held fast to Kate's hand when introduced, prompting laughs about her “iron grip.”
Another, 10-month-old Grace Farrelly, won the crowd over during a later meet and greet in central Brisbane with a floral head-dress and pink t-shirt emblazoned with “Marry Me George.”
After planting a tree at the base's memorial garden the Duke and Duchess hosted a reception for the families of Australian troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Widow Nicole Pearce, whose husband David was killed by a roadside bomb in Uruzgan in 2007, said she was touched by Kate's interest in her story.
“She was sincerely quite sad for us to think David was only over there for two weeks when he was killed,” said Pearce.
“It is bittersweet. I'd rather have Dave here, and the reason we're here is because he's not,” she added.
“But I think he would be really proud, really honored to think we had an opportunity like this.”
From the base, Kate and William moved onto an official gala lunch with guests including solo youth sailor Jessica Watson and Olympic hurdles champion Sally Pearson.
“This is the future King and Queen, it's so exciting,” said Pearson.
Some 10,000 well-wishers and avid monarchists queued for hours to catch a glimpse of the couple as they took a stroll after lunch in the city center, shaking hands and pausing for photos.
They were bombarded with gifts including flowers, stuffed native animal toys and chocolate Easter eggs.
A small Aboriginal land rights protest was dispersed by police before their arrival.
The royals have returned to Sydney where they will attend an Easter Sunday church service and visit the city's Taronga Zoo, where an enclosure housing the native marsupial bilby has been named in Prince George's honor.
布里斯班,澳大利亞 - 英國威廉王子和他的妻子凱特會見了在最近的衝突中喪生星期六澳大利亞士兵的家屬,並採取了前排戰鬥機座椅作為他們的旅遊為首的北方。
王室夫婦贈送了一個飛去來為他們的襁褓中的兒子,喬治,並在布里斯班,澳大利亞第三大城市的一個走馬觀花的遊覽高興奧運會和普通人一樣。
巨大的人群橫空出世,迎接帝王對,誰開始了他們一天在安伯利空軍基地的軍事手續,包括榮譽和天橋由兩個F/A-18超級大黃蜂後衛。
威廉,誰訓練與英國皇家空軍和其祖母女王伊麗莎白二世為國家澳大利亞的頭,是先視察下一代波音戰鬥機,提供他妻子的舌頭在臉頰的邀請,因為他上了車。
“難道你喜歡在後面跳?”他開玩笑說。
身著從LK Bennett的藍色和白色的罌粟印花裙,公爵夫人拿了直奔駕駛艙,敏銳地檢查飛機的錶盤和控制。
罌粟是紀念在眷村的象徵。
空軍總航空馬歇爾傑夫·布朗說,這對夫妻是由澳大利亞的天氣印象深刻的鄰國新西蘭,上週他們在那裡進行比較。
在他們巡演的基礎雙胞胎利亞和藤兵衛代爾,年齡三和一個一半,凱特提出一個小小的自食其果 - 原住民工具 - 為她襁褓中的兒子喬治·誰留在悉尼週六。
“這是喬治從我們來說,”以利亞告訴公爵夫人。
喬治王子一直在他的第一次巡迴演出大受歡迎國外,贏得了自己的球迷,包括6個月大的阿莉莎麥凱布,誰是提供由母親吉利安的播放日期和推出的時候緊緊抱住凱特的手軍團,提示笑著對她的“鐵腕”。
另外,10個月大的恩典法雷利,贏得了觀眾在稍後的見面會在布里斯本的中心與花卉頭飾和粉紅色T卹,上面印有“嫁給我喬治。”
種植一棵樹在該基地的紀念花園後,公爵和公爵夫人舉行招待會在伊拉克和阿富汗陣亡澳大利亞軍隊的家屬。
寡婦妮可·皮爾斯,她的丈夫大衛於2007年殺害在烏魯茲甘省的路邊炸彈,說她被感動了凱特在她的故事的興趣。
“她是非常真誠的悲傷,我們認為大衛是只在那邊了兩個星期,當他被殺害了,”皮爾斯說。
“這是苦樂參半。我寧願有戴夫在這裡,我們在這裡的原因是因為他不是,“她補充說。
“但我想他會很驕傲,真的很榮幸地認為我們有這樣的機會。”
由底座,凱特和威廉走上正式的晚宴午餐嘉賓包括獨奏青年水手傑西卡·沃森和奧運會跨欄冠軍薩莉皮爾遜。
“這是未來的國王和王后,它是如此令人興奮的,”皮爾遜說。
有些10,000好心人和熱心君主排隊數小時趕上夫婦的一瞥,因為他們採取了閒逛午飯後在市中心,握手和暫停的照片。
他們被轟炸的禮物,包括鮮花,毛絨本土動物玩具和巧克力復活節彩蛋。
一個小的原住民土地權抗議他們的到來之前被警察驅散。
王室已經回到悉尼,他們將參加一個復活節禮拜,參觀這個城市的Taronga動物園,那裡的外殼外殼本土有袋動物bilby已被任命為喬治王子城的榮譽。
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