For many, she was a portrait adorned by flags or a face on a coin. But for ordinary Australians who met the Queen, a transformation took place — she became human. Here are some of their stories.
The boy who shunned the Queen
Two tiny boys standing on their tiptoes in the small town of Uppingham, in England's Midlands, waiting to catch a glimpse of the Queen.
This was seven-year-old Martin Killips and his four-year-old brother Mark, in 1964.
Martin remembers Prince Philip stopping and chatting regularly along the route. The Queen, however, didn't speak to anyone.
That was until she reached them.
"She stood in front of Mark and said, "Hello, who are you?" Martin said. She was met with silence.
Three times the Queen asked Mark his name. Each time he glanced up at her, then swung his head the other way.
"I asked my brother why he hadn't bothered to answer the Queen.
"Was that the Queen?" Mark asked his brother.
"She wasn't wearing a crown so I didn't think it could be her!"
Mark was killed in a motorcycle accident when he was 18.
"I treasure this memory of him, turning his nose up at the Queen of England on that cold blustery day back in 1964," Martin said.
The girl who missed the perfect shot
Sitting cross-legged in Sydney's Martin Place during a school excursion, the last person Catherine Zgolak expected to see there was the Queen.
Ten years old at the time, Catherine's reflexes kicked in.
She grabbed her Kodak Brownie camera and stood up, eager to snap a photo.
"I remember being reprimanded by teachers, hearing them shout at me, 'sit down, NOW!'," she recalled
"The Queen turned full frontal, looked directly into my camera and grinned broadly until I’d finished snapping and closed the shutter.
"I’ll never forget the bemused smile I received from the Queen as I fumbled while opening my camera.
"After I clicked, she nodded her approval that I’d achieved my shot, and then strolled on," she said.
Although the photo Catherine snapped didn't develop properly, she said the memory will forever be etched in her mind.
The poet who broke the rules
In 1987, Australian poet and novelist Philip Salom received news that his third book, Sky Poems, was shortlisted for the British Airways Commonwealth Poetry Prize in London.
The winner would receive a meeting with the Queen herself.
Philip attended the event believing his book had little chance against the British and Commonwealth poets.
They announced him as the winner.
"The Queen approached me very slowly, then stopped in front of me."
"Being a country boy at heart, I immediately reached out my hand and with almost no hesitation, she shook it."
The royal rule of thumb is to only move in for a handshake if the Queen initiated the action first.
"She just kept smiling at me. It was as if she showed no sign of weariness, despite 35 years of these encounters," he said.
The royal guard invited to tea
Former royal guard Robert Krouse remembers feeling sweat rolling down the back of his scarlet tunic and underneath his bearskin hat.
The year was 1960, and he was inside London's St James Palace. It was one of the hottest days on record.
Twenty-year-old Robert was standing at his sentry box, when Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon approached — better known as the Queen mother.
"I was flummoxed and panicked. I didn't have time to present arms properly to her," he said.
"She said, 'Don't bother with that dear, it's so hot I thought you may like a cup of tea'."
The Queen mother asked Robert to call over the other guard on duty. As he marched over, he had a confounded look on his face.
"I told him the Queen's mother brought out tea for us. We both agreed that cold drinks would have been more suitable, but who on earth would be game to say so," he said
"No other guardsmen said they were served tea by the Queen mother."
Robert remembers the Queen mother wearing a pale suit and a hat.
"She looked as dry as a bone with not a drop of perspiration on her."
The singer who'd never curtseyed
Charli Moore never thought she would be attempting to curtsey in front of the Queen.
A member of the Australian Girls Choir in 2011, Charli was 17 when she was granted a once in a lifetime opportunity to sing for the Queen during her visit to Australia.
To add to the pressure of the situation, the Queen was also joined by then prime minister Julia Gillard.
"A pair of teenagers curtseying for the first time — what a hilarious sight for the Queen."
"I'll never forget the Queen and Julia Gillard laughing along with us as we tried to curtsey elegantly," she said.
"They looked like they enjoyed the sight of it."
Now 28, Charli says this is one of the proudest moments of her life.
"I couldn't believe that such an important person would be interested in me — an ordinary 17-year-old girl from Sydney," she said.
The girl from Boronia
Linda Cain was 12 years old when the Queen visited Victoria in 1954.
As she walked down a never-ending line of exhilarated parents and children, the Queen spotted Linda.
"She approached me and asked me where I lived," Linda said.
"I said I lived in Boronia.
"The Queen replied, 'Oh yes, that's where they grow the daffodils.'
"I was astounded she knew that! Most people I meet have never heard of Boronia," she said.
"It will forever be a special memory to me."
The kitchen hand who caught her perfume
Australian Stephen Hipwell was working in the kitchen of London's St George's hospital in 1980.
The Queen was the patron of this hospital at the time, and she was paying a visit there one day.
Stephen and his friends were running all across the hospital, trying to catch a glimpse of the Queen as she passed by.
"We were standing in a corridor with half a dozen people, when she stopped directly in front of me," he said.
"She asked me, 'Do you work in the kitchen?' Stephen said yes, letting out a sliver of his Aussie accent.
"Oh, you're Australian?" the Queen said to Stephen.
Stephen said they talked about how he was on a working holiday.
"I remember being surprised that she even knew about working holidays," he said. "But she was a highly informed person who had an affection for Australia."
Years later, Stephen can't seem to erase one detail of this counter from his mind: the smell of the Queen's perfume.
"She wore the most beautiful perfume. I think it was the scent of violets," he said.
The girl picked out from the crowd
In 2011, at seven years old, Hannah Murrells met the Queen upon her arrival in Canberra.
Standing on her tiptoes behind the barricades in a sea of children there to represent their schools, a security guard noticed her desperately trying to see over the crowds.
He went up to her and picked her to greet the Queen.
Now 18, Hannah says she can still remember every second of their interaction.
"I was so starstruck when we met," she said. "I completely forgot to curtsy, and froze when she spoke to me.
"I gave her a bouquet of tulips, to which she replied, 'Oh, even more flowers!'"
From the crowd, Hannah's mum captured the exact moment.
The next day, it was printed on the front page of a newspaper.
The boy who achieved his dream
Whenever someone asked Darryl Easton what he wanted to be when he grew up, his response never changed: a royal guard for the Queen.
At 21 years old in 1963, Darryl achieved his dream.
"I will never forget the moment the Queen stopped and asked me how long I had been serving," he said.
"I remember replying, "Three years, your majesty" as sternly as I could.
"To this day, I still wonder why she stopped and asked only me out of all the other guards."
Later in life, after getting married and having kids, Darryl pulled out the old trunk that kept his army clothes, including the uniform from this unforgettable day.
"I decided to let the kids use them for dress-up and playing," he said.
"Who knows, maybe it will inspire them to follow the same path I did."
The selfless soldier
In 1954, William Waddell Sydney Sommerville was presented with an MBE — the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire — for his exemplary military service.
It was presented to him by the Queen.
William's daughter, Barbara, remembers her mum being so excited to attend the presentation that "she went out and bought a new hat with the hopes of catching the Queen's eye".
After her dad passed away, Barbara arranged for his military medals and his citation, signed by the Queen, to be framed separately, and given to her siblings.
"I was very close to my dad, so to have these hanging on my walls … it's very special to me," she said.
"Seeing that signature on my father’s citation is a reminder of the Queen's colossal presence in our lives."
