A long time ago, in an era that many of us still remember - albeit somewhat faintly - kids made their own fun.
In the case of a group of youngsters, who lived in Darling Street in Hamilton South in the 1950s, they played the coronation game.
"This photo was taken on the day of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation on June 2, 1953," Fishing Point's Richard Devon said.
Richard's sister Suellyn, then almost five, was designated as the Queen.
Richard is at the rear of the procession, with his neighbours Peter, Neville and Richard ahead of him.
The boys were aged eight and nine.
"We all lived within 100 metres of each other in Darling Street and Gordon Avenue in Hamilton South," Richard said.
"Neville sadly passed away some years ago; the rest of us are still breathing. Certainly we were all monarchists in those days."
Richard said he was "quite fascinated by the monarchy" at age nine.
"To me it was almost akin to a religion of some sort in those days. Being born in 1944 during World War II, my father was overseas with the Australian Army at the time.
"Also having a grandfather who had served with the Australian Army in Belgium and France in World War I, wars and the monarchy seemed to be a normal aspect of Australian life back in those days."
Richard added that the monarchy was then "held in high regard by the majority".
"When the Queen visited Newcastle in 1954, all the schools sent their students to various posts to get glimpses of the Queen and Prince Philip," he said.
"I think that the abdication of Edward VIII added to the intrigue and mystique of the monarchy in those days, even for youngsters listening to news broadcasts [on the radio - TV hadn't arrived yet] and reading newspapers."
The Queen's death attracted saturation media coverage, leaving many scratching their heads. Nonetheless, attention is expected to turn again to whether Australia should become a republic.
"I believe that the end result of Queen Elizabeth's reign is that she alone added some normality and dignity to what is seemingly an unstable world," Richard said.
"We now have a king who is younger than me. I well remember his days at Timbertop [Charles spent six months at Geelong Grammar's Timbertop campus in the Victorian Alps].
"Whilst there have been some unfortunate incidents within the royal family, both before and during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, nevertheless the Queen always dealt succinctly with these matters.
"So I believe that in the next five to 10 years, Australia should concentrate on its own problems and let the monarchy run its natural course."
Richard said the British will decide "if and when the monarchy ever finishes".
"However, with Charles seemingly stepping up to the mark as King Charles and Prince William and his wife extremely popular, I can see the monarchy continuing for quite some time. I think that Australia, if and when it becomes a republic, will still closely associate itself with both the UK and the monarchy."
Crew Cuts
Incidentally, Richard says he and neighbour Peter featured in the Herald's Topics column in 1955.
"We went together to a barber shop in Merewether and returned home with crew cuts, a new fashion at the time. We did this without our parents' permission. How the world has changed," he said.
