On Princess Diana’s first foreign tour, to Australia and New Zealand, she was only 21 with a ten month old baby Prince William in tow, and faced a barrage of anti-royal sentiment.
She and Prince Charles landed in Australia in March 1983. The Daily Mail reported at the time that Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke did not even bow to the couple, although his wife Hazel did.
At first, the anti-royal Hawke dismissed his visit as not “the most important thing” he would do in his first months as the country’s new leader, historian Robert Lacey said in his book Battle Of Brothers.
He had only been chosen earlier that year and Charles and Diana were originally invited by former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.
However, by the end of the journey they had won the hearts of many Australians.
The Princess of Wales and Prince Charles waved to the crowd at Perth’s Bentley Hockey Stadium during their visit to Australia in 1983.
Diana holding Prince William as they arrive at Alice Springs airport at the start of their tour in March 1983.
Diana, wearing a peach dress designed by Bellville Sassoon, is greeted by the public during a walk on March 25, 1983 in Canberra.
Diana attracted a lot of attention during the tour and large crowds gathered to see the princess.
Lacey told how one photographer, Jayne Fincher, said: ‘We went to Sydney and wanted to photograph her with the Opera House, but just when we got there it was like the whole of Sydney had left.
“It was just a sea of people… and all you could see was the top of this little pink hat floating.”
The profound impact Diana was having was also noted by her husband, who would be greeted by disappointed crowds as he walked to her side and his wife to the other.
Lacey told how Charles jokingly said: ‘It’s not fair, is it? You’d better ask for your money back.
The Prince of Wales lends a loving hand to Diana during their first tour together in Australia
The Prince and Princess of Wales wave to the crowd during a visit to the ginger factory in Yandina, Queensland, in April 1983.
The couple visit Cockatoo, Victoria, as large crowds gather to see them.
The couple, with Prince William, arrived in Australia in March 1983. During the tour, a well-known Maori agitator cheated on the couple.
Princess Diana, a ‘little pink hat floating’ in the crowd outside the Sydney Opera House
The trip reportedly even brought the young couple closer, with Diana often holding Charles’ hand in the car.
Although not everyone at the mass gatherings happily greeted the Prince and Princess of Wales.
One protester, “a known Maori agitator”, taunted the couple, a confidential document revealed.
The report was written by the then New Zealand High Commissioner, Sir Richard Stratton, for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Diana and Charles pose for photographs at Ayers Rock (now known as Uluru) in the Northern Territory.
The couple visiting Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne in April 1983.
Charles and Diana stand outside Government House in Canberra, where they met Prime Minister Bob Hawke and his wife Hazel.
It said: ‘The professional protesters, mainly white, had little impact. A well-known Maori agitator presented his nude – and gruesome! – down (supposedly the worst Maori insult, but I have my doubts!) to Their Royal Highnesses as they drove to Wellington from the airport.
The document also contained details of Diana’s personal success on the tour and how “New Zealanders wanted above all to see the Princess of Wales, and so they did, especially on the numerous ‘walkabouts’.”
Sir Richard added: “Princess Diana’s clothes and homely gestures (in the best English sense) towards children and Prince Charles’s witty speeches won special recognition.”
Prince William was only ten months old at the time and traveled to Australia and New Zealand with his parents.
The couple were riding a Land Rover at the Hands Oval sports ground in Western Australia as Diana accepts gifts from the children.
Holding flowers, Diana speaks to supporters with Charles as they arrive at the RAAF base at Fairbairn in Canberra, Australia.
How the Daily Mail reported on the tour in 1983
He stayed with a nanny at Woomargama sheep station in New South Wales and Charles and Diana flew regularly to be with him.
William even crawled for the first time during the trip and his parents were there to witness and enjoy the moment.
The couple’s second child, Prince Harry, was born the following year, on September 15, 1984, in the Lindo wing of St Mary’s Hospital in London.
