At the schools and the surf clubs, the flags hung at halfmast. On the tallest sail of the Sydney Opera House, an image of a bejewelled Queen Elizabeth II beamed across the harbour.
There were speeches of great solemnity, quiet ceremonies of memorial, bouquets left at the gates of government houses around the country. But for many in Australia, one of the 14 realms of the Commonwealth of which Queen Elizabeth II was head of state, her death, aged 96, has been met with
