Once a Urana boy, Frederick Fox received a lieutenancy of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) in 1999 for distinguished personal service to a sovereign and was named Britain’s Australian of the Year in 2013 for his success in an international career in design.
In what was a likely longshot when the Urana Progress Association used a unique drawcard to invite King Charles III and Queen Camilla to visit the Urana Courthouse Museum during their visit to Australia this month.
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The museum permanently hosts an exhibition in honour of former local and famous milliner Frederick (Freddie) Fox LVO* featuring approximately 60 hats and personal correspondence, including from the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Frederick Fox was born in Urana in 1931, he was one of nine children and at the age of 10 he developed a unique talent for recreating hats for his mother and sisters.
Fox ended up forging a successful millinery career, including designing hats for members of the royal family and other celebrities around the world.
He designed more than 350 hats for Queen Elizabeth II over a 35-year period and designed hats for other members of the British Royal Family namely Diana, Princess of Wales.
More notable were his flying-saucer-shaped hats that he designed for Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and Princess Alice. Other famous clients for Fox included Hillary Clinton and Joan Collins.
He is also credited for the egg-shaped, white leather Moon Shuttle Stewardess helmets of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
A few of Frederick Fox’s famous hats worn by the royal family: Princess Diana in Italy, 1985; Princess Michael at Ascot, 1996; Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee June, 2002.
Urana Progress Association Secretary Wendy Mallon said it was an opportunity not to be missed inviting the monarchs, despite their jam-packed schedule.
“The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has advised that our invitation (sent on August 30) was forwarded to Buckingham Palace,” Ms Mallon said.
“Our proposal was considered by officials at Buckingham Palace and Australian and State Government officials but we have since received an email from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet stating in part; "unfortunately on this occasion, it is not possible to include your proposal in Their Majesties' program".
“We knew it was a 'long shot' but King Charles would have known Freddie so we thought 'nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Ms Mallon said.
Pictured at Urana’s Courthouse Museum are volunteers Jenny Hearn and Christine Mansell.
Fox received a lieutenancy of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) in 1999 for distinguished personal service to a sovereign and was named Britain’s Australian of the Year in 2013 for his success in an international career in design.
Frederick’s millinery career and business also grew from ‘re-creating’ bridal hats during the war when money and embellishments were in short supply.
Fox is recognised as one of the world’s most innovative designers and perhaps Australia’s greatest contributor to the golden age of millinery fashion.
“Frederick Fox passed away in 2013, and the permanent exhibition at the museum is his legacy,” Ms Mallon said.
Some of Fox’s hats on display at the Urana Courthouse Museum.
A visit to the region was a real possibility for the monarchs if their itinerary was made longer with Yarrawonga Mulwala included.
Since December last year, the Yarrawonga Mulwala Bridge Centenary Committee has been in constant communication with the palace about the prospect of King Charles unveiling a plaque to mark the bridge’s 100th anniversary.
While in Yarrawonga, an added attraction for the King would have been a short visit and even a cruise on the P.S. Cumberoona, which King Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, launched in Albury during her visit in 1988 during Australia’s bicentenary celebrations.
Unfortunately, the committee were notified in mid-September of the King’s shortened schedule and the subsequent inability to include Yarrawonga during his visit.
The monarch’s shortened schedule will now include visits to famous landmarks, the Sydney Opera House and Parliament House in Canberra, and a tasting of NSW’s finest produce at a community barbecue.
They will spend just six days in Australia and part of the King’s first long-haul trip following his February cancer diagnosis and will arrive on Friday, October 18.
It will be the King’s 16th visit to Australia but his first since becoming Australia’s head of state after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
He and Queen Camilla last toured Australia in 2018 to open the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, while the last major working royal to visit our shores was Princess Anne in 2022.
After they visit Australia, they will head to Samoa to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting with 56 other leaders from across Asia, the Pacific, the Caribbean and Africa.
If you would like to see Freddie Fox’s unique exhibition the Urana Court House Museum is located at 13 William Street, Urana and is open Tuesdays 9:30am-3pm and Saturdays 10am-2pm. Or other times by appointment; phone Wendy on 0429 208 240.
