The Palace Letters to Sir William Deane: Royal Secrecy and Archival Compliance

In May 2022, the High Court of Australia ruled that the correspondence between Governor-General Sir John Kerr and Queen Elizabeth II constituted Commonwealth records and not ‘personal’ records as the National Archives of Australia (NAA) claimed. The NAA held similar correspondence between the Queen and six other Governors-General but did not release it for almost two years, much of it redacted. A freedom-of-information (FOI) request revealed the extensive consultation the NAA undertook to decide what would be redacted and when those records would be released. The Palace featured in this consultation fifteen times, and was closely involved in the final decisions on access. The largest number of redactions occurred in the letters from the Queen to Sir William Deane, during his tenure 1996–2001 which included the 1999 republic referendum. We requested an internal review by the NAA under the Archives Act of the original redactions. This paper examines what was revealed in the eighteen folios for which the original redactions were reversed following review. Much of the previously redacted material related to comments by the Queen about timing of Royal visits, and Australia’s deliberations in 1998–1999 about the republic. We argue that this now open material would not have ‘unreasonably affected’ the Monarch’s reputation had it been revealed, and should not have been concealed under the Archives Act.