Read it through once

It was on September 17th, 1900, that the Colonial Office first announced the assent of Her Majesty the Queen to the request presented by the combined Australian Colonies that H. R. H. the Duke of York should open their newly-established Parliament in the spring of 1901. It was stated in this announcement that "Her Majesty at the same time wishes to signify her sense of the loyalty and devotion which have prompted the spontaneous aid so liberally offered by all the Colonies in the South African war and of the splendid gallantry of her Colonial troops." After the death of the Queen it was feared that the time might not be considered opportune for so distant a journey by the Heir to the Throne, but on February 14th, 1901, the King announced in his speech to Parliament that the proposed Australian trip would not be abandoned, and that it would be extended to the Dominion of Canada. "I still desire to give effect to her late Majesty's wishes * * * as an evidence of her interest, as well as my own, in all that concerns the welfare of my subjects beyond the seas."