In April 1920 Edward VIII, the Prince of Wales, embarked on a 3 month sightseeing visit to Australia. A thank you for the men and women who served in the Great War, his visit was warmly welcomed among large sections of Australian society.

In July his tour moved onto the Trans Australian Railway. Some of the country offices on the line were given permission to close for part of the day so that staff could take part in celebrations. Other staff were granted a holiday with pay. Free travel was provided on the Tea and Sugar Train for groups of children and their parents so they could see the future king, and the Port Augusta railway station was decorated with pennants and Empire flags.

Part of the Prince’s journey was in a specially built saloon car from Port Augusta. The car was entirely self-contained for the prince and his 28 staff, including sleeping quarters, a kitchen and bathroom.

The train timetable was adjusted so that the prince had a comfortable sleep after arriving at Terowie, and the opportunity to obtain some exercise along the way.

Going off the rails

After a good start, the prince's Royal train was derailed at Wilgarup in Western Australia. The tracks were parting due to excessive moisture and continuous vehicle movement on a nearby road. Luckily, the train had already slowed earlier due to a stray cow on the track.

The prince was quite jovial when climbing from the overturned train, commenting: 'This is great fun, I knew somehow this bally train would go off the line.' He also remarked that 'At last we've done one thing that wasn't on the official programme'. The Prince was most impressed that his whisky flask had not been broken.

Stowaways and thorny devils

The newspapers reported that the Royal train carried a stowaway from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta. An unknown person jumped on the train and hid in the lavatory labelled ‘Ladies Only’, travelling undisturbed for 1100 miles.

Sub-Lieutenant Lord Louis Mountbatten, travelling with the Prince of Wales, requested to see a ‘Mountain Devil' during the train journey. The task of obtaining the lizard was given to Daisy Bates. Daisy Bates was an amateur anthropologist who lived at Ooldea for 16 years with the First Nations people. Daisy managed to capture one of the reptiles, which she passed onto the authorities. The devil travelled on the line and was duly presented to Mountbatten.

Daisy was also asked to gather a group of First Nations people at Ooldea to meet the prince. She organised 7 groups, all wanting to do their own traditional dance. After some negotiation they performed a spirit dance, provided a demonstration of daily tasks including crushing seeds, sifting ants from the earth, and making boomerangs and spears. The prince was delighted and stayed an hour beyond the scheduled time, trying his hand at boomerang and spear throwing. Commonwealth railways supplied provisions for the First Nations people as a thank you, and the prince received numerous gifts.

So what did all this cost? In November 1920 an account for royal visit costs on the Trans-Australian railway were sent to the Secretary of the Commonwealth Treasury in Melbourne for payment. The whole trip cost a total of £2373.18, around $200,000 today.

Prince Edward would not visit Australia again. However, his niece, Queen Elizabeth II, would break records by visiting Australia a total of 16 times during her reign.