CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
As of last Thursday night, the longest-ever reign of Queen Elizabeth II is over. Her eldest son and heir, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, 73, immediately became King Charles III upon her death.
While this news triggers a new era for the Royal Family, it also means that thousands of different institutions throughout the Commonwealth are now staring at months of logistics and administrational paperwork, as they begin the long road to replacing the late Queen with the new King on coins, letterheads and buildings.
However, one of the biggest rebranding exercises will be changing the name of the northeastern Australian state of ‘Queensland’.
As of tomorrow, the second largest and third most populated state on the Australian continent will be known as ‘Kingsland’.
It’s a move that has been signed off on by both the Kingsland Palaszczuk Government and the Kingsland sympathiser Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“This was always going to happen once the Queen passed” said Kingsland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
“I know a lot of my voters thought Queensland might’ve been named after me, but it wasn’t, it was named after the Queens of the British royal family. But now they have a King. So it’s makes sense to change it – for many reasons”
“This decision not only reflects the changing of the guard in the royal family, but also the changing landscape of Australian rugby league and boxing”
Palaszczuk says this name-change almost happened a decade before the Queen died, during the iconic 8-in-a-row Queensland State Of Origin series streak.
“Kingslander just sounds better. To honour our neckless noble Kings in Maroon. But out of respect, we waited until a 96-year-old woman on the other side of the planet relenquished her title as our head of state”
Prime Minister Albanese says the ‘Kingsland’ name-change couldn’t come at a better time, ahead of Thursday night’s main event boxing match in Brisbane.
“We’ve got the King of New South Wales, Paul Gallen, versus two Kings of Kingsland, back to back, in the shape of Ben Hannant and Justin Hodges”
“Althought know most Kingslanders view Gallen as a bit of a clown or a jester. This is still a battle of kings”
The Origin Rumble will take place on Live Event and Kayo on Thursday 15 September from 7pm AEST.
