Buckingham Palace, 30 December 1974
Secret
When we met at Windsor on Boxing Day I promised to let you have a letter summarising The Queen’s views on Mr Whitlam’s proposal to establish an Australian system of Honours on the lines of the Order of Canada.
Her Majesty considers that this proposal is a good one, in principle, and she is ready to approve it and to give it her support. It is never easy, however, anywhere, to gain public approval for a new Order, or a new system of Honours. When first introduced they are likely to be received with suspicion, and experience shows that it takes some years before they become established and respected in the minds of people.
The Queen considers, therefore, that every effort should be made to make the new Australian system of Honours as attractive and non-controversial as possible.
Her Majesty believes that its initial popularity might be enhanced if its introduction into use was made to coincide with the Jubilee of 1977. The fact that the system was to be established would, of course, be announced long before that, but the process of working it out in detail, getting the greatest possible agreement for it, and producing the insignia could, in any circumstances, well take the best part of two years.
The Queen appreciates that one of the main objects in establishing the new system of Honours is that it should become a unifying force in Australia and she believes that it would help to achieve this aim if the States are associated as much as possible with the plans for setting it up as well as with its ultimate administration as visualised in paragraph 4 of the paper outlining the proposed scheme of which the Governor-General sent me a copy.
The Queen also recognizes that it is the Prime Minister’s hope and intention that the system of Australian Honours should, in course of time, replace British Honours throughout Australia. As we know, however, there are considerations which would make it unconstitutional for The Queen to give her support to this long term aim. Apart from these considerations, Her Majesty is sure that it would be a mistake to try to hurry this process, because doing so would be divisive and would thus defeat one of the main objects of the proposal.
There are obvious difficulties and disadvantages in running two systems of Honours together, but these need not be insuperable. Once the new system is established and has become accepted, the chances of being able to reach general agreement for the discontinuance of British Honours will be that much greater.
As I explained to you, now that the new Order of Canada has been established, The Queen is once more making use of Classes III, IV and V, of the Royal Victorian Order to reward those who have given her personal service on the occasion of visits to Canada. The Queen hopes that a similar arrangement could be reached in Australia.
What will the next step be? One possibility would be for the Prime Minister to make a formal submission to The Queen asking for Her Majesty’s approval, in principle, for the establishment of the new system. Once this had been done the way would be open for some public statement to be made signifying The Queen’s support for it. In so far as the submission or any public statement is concerned, it is, of course, important that Her Majesty’s constitutional position in respect of British Honours is preserved. Perhaps, therefore, you could let me have drafts for both if it is decided to proceed on these lines.
[UKNA: FCO 24/1934]