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  • The Palace Letters

  • The Queen, the Governor-General, and the Plot to Dismiss Gough Whitlam
  • By: Jenny Hocking
  • Narrated by: Katherine Littrell
  • Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (63 ratings)

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The Palace Letters

By: Jenny Hocking
Narrated by: Katherine Littrell
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Publisher's Summary

What role did the queen play in Governor-General Sir John Kerr’s plans to dismiss Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975, unleashing one of the most divisive episodes in Australia’s political history? And why weren’t we told?

Under the cover of being designated as private correspondence, the letters between the queen and the governor-general about the dismissal have been locked away for decades in the National Archives of Australia, and embargoed by the queen - potentially forever. This ruse has furthered the fiction that the queen and the palace had no warning of or role in Kerr’s actions.

In the face of this, Professor Jenny Hocking embarked on a four-year legal battle to force the Archives to release the letters. In 2015, she mounted a crowd-funded campaign, securing a stellar pro bono team that took her case all the way to the High Court of Australia.

Now, drawing on never-before-published material from Kerr’s archives and her submissions to the court, Hocking traces the collusion and deception behind the dismissal, and charts the secret role of High Court judges; the leader of the opposition, Malcolm Fraser; and the queen’s private secretary in fostering and supporting Kerr’s actions.

Hocking also reveals the obstruction, intrigue, and duplicity she faced, raising disturbing questions about the role of the National Archives in preventing access to its own historical material and in enforcing royal secrecy over its documents.

©2020 Jenny Hocking (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

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The Truth is always..compelling

Just a massive eye opener, and a credit to the tenacity of Professor Hocking to reach the truth.

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Brilliant

Simply outstanding.
A record of duplicity at the highest levels of Australian and colonial government written by a remarkable academic researcher and narrated with feeling and empathy.

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Riveting book!

Prof Jenny Hocking is one of Australia's finest historians. My only issue with this audiobook was the American accent of the narrator which made the quotes from historic Australian figures jarring

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Read and re-read! Fantastic!

What a trove of history! A must read for Australian political history buffs. Highly recommend.

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Brilliant

Can’t thank Jenny enough for her tireless efforts, amazing to hear what actually happened! Thanks very much

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A great revelation of the biggest Royal Collusion

I love this book about Prof Hocking's remarkable effort to expose the truth behind sacking of one of the Australia's most progressive governments led by Gough Whitlam. All Australians deserves to know the Royal secret that undermined it's progress and ugly side of the conspirators some of whom holding knighthood.

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Brilliantly researched and articulated.

Thiis book is a phenomenal price of work on the colonial expansion of empire and the intersection of empire with the democratic functions of independent country. A structure which is bred from the Divine Right of Kings has no tole in the form and function of any democracy. This story is as old as time, yet a clear example of power privilege and the soul of many old stale, pale ,males who are still tethered to the bossom of empire. Gough was brilliant leader and this ugly ego led chapter by Kerr is symbolic of royal lies and colonial abuse still hauting Australia.

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Reignited the Rage!

The amazing true story of the role The Establishment played in Gough Whitlam's dismissal in 1975 and how decades later they fought tooth and claw with taxpayers' money to hide the correspondence that lays it bare for all to see.

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A small man seeking stature

When Sir John Kerr became Governor General of Australia he left behind his life as a senior judge in New South Wales. It was a role in which he would have been accorded considerable respect and standing by those around him. A few years later, after his dismissal of Whitlam in 1975 and as he left Yarralumla for the last time as GG, even his political allies viewed him with barely disguised distaste. More widely he was thought of with contempt or, in lighter moments, held up to ridicule.

This book tells the fascinating story of how a lengthy legal battle finally forced the Australian Archive to release the letters which do much to illuminate just what a detestable man Kerr was. A cringing monarchist forever seeking approval from Buckingham Palace, he was a weak man in thrall to deluded vanity and a public stature he thought he could occupy but could not grow into.

An essential book for anyone interested in Australian political history and, as if another one were needed, a powerful demonstration of the need for Australia to finally stand on its own two feet as a republic.

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Essential reading for any student of Australian history.

This provides an insight into the events of 1975, which changed the course of politics and public policy for the worse. The author’s determination to bring the Palace letters into full view is commendable and enhances the historical knowledge base on which future discussions will depend.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.