Learning, in 1926, that the Duke and Duchess of York would visit the Blue Mountains before opening Parliament House in Canberra in 1927, the Blue Mountains District Anzac Memorial Hospital Committee invited Their Royal Highnesses to open the new hospital.
As the date of the visit approached, the committee had not received an official response from tour organisers, nor was the contractor building the hospital ready to hand it over.
Both parties informed the committee that any approved opening had to be small. No members of the public could be invited, neither WWI Diggers nor relatives of deceased soldiers.
Mr H. J. Wootton “enscrolled” in gold the names of the “deathless dead” on the honour boards and the central board, highlighting the Duchess’s role in the opening.
Even as the Royal couple retired to lunch at the Carrington Hotel on the March 31, no official sanction had been given.
After lunch, the Royal party visited the Meeting of the Waters, rejoined the Great Western Road at Leura Mall and headed to Govetts Leap.
The motorcade proceeded slowly up the hill towards Katoomba through a cheering throng of people.
Suddenly, a figure stepped out of the watching crowd into the roadway and held out his arms, barring the progress of the Royal car.
This was Mr J. Dooley, State Member, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and a member of the hospital committee.
He asked the Duke to inspect the hospital but the Duke refused because they were already running late.
Mr Dooley appealed to the Duchess who persuaded the Duke to alight.
The hospital was inspected. The Duchess unveiled the Honour-boards. Mr Dooley was triumphant. The Royal party continued its journey.
But the affair did not end there.
Returned servicemen and their families believed that the hospital committee and Mr Dooley had “usurped the rightful position of the relatives of the fallen, and had insulted both the living and the dead” (Age, June 15, 1927).
An angry meeting of the Katoomba sub-branch of the R.S. and S.I.L.A (Returned Soldiers Sailors and Airmen Imperial League of Australia) condemned the affair. A letter of protest was sent to the Duke.
In June, a public tribunal was held. Judge Bevan felt that “the name of the Duchess of York was most improperly used. Her consent had not been obtained…until she arrived in Katoomba” (Sun, June 14, 1927).
Lord Cavan, the Duke’s Chief of Staff, apologised to the Diggers and the relatives of the deceased, as did the Hospital Committee, explaining that it “took what may have appeared unconstitutional methods… but no slight was meant.” (Sun, June 14, 1927).
Today, we remember that the Duchess of York opened the hospital 75 years to the day before she died.
- Robyne Ridge is publicity officer for Blue Mountains Historical Society.
