Royals

The odd couple: Queen and Duke swap glares onstage

The odd couple: Queen and Duke swap glares onstage

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in Brisbane today.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip might be two of the world’s most famous people, but today they showed they are just like any other old married couple.

The royals were in Brisbane’s South Bank region to open a new storm water storage facility.

The queen rose to make a short speech, praising Queenslanders for their courage and fortitude during the recent natural disasters, and was returning to her seat when Philip began gesturing wildly at her.

In pictures: Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Australia

Her Majesty paused and shot Philip an irritated look as he continued to point behind her, to the plaque she had forgotten to unveil.

With another withering stare at the Duke, the queen tottered back across the stage to do her duty, while Philip barely concealed a roll of the eyes.

Plaque unveiled, the queen resumed her place next to her husband, shooting him one more frosty glance as he smirked and looked away.

Fortunately, the queen’s reception in Brisbane was far from frosty. The crowds in the Queensland capital were by far the biggest of the royal tour so far.

More than 45,000 people packed into the South Bank to welcome the queen, many bringing British flags and one woman even taking along her three corgis.

In pictures: Previous royal visits to Australia

After the opening, the royal couple attended a private meeting with 200 people affected by the state’s recent natural disasters, including survivors and members of the emergency services.

They then returned to Canberra, where they will tomorrow visit the National War Memorial before flying to Melbourne on Wednesday.

Video: Queen praises Queenslanders

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