The Kerr Palace Letters

the personalities and events of the time
political developments and public sentiment in Australia
the workings of the Australian Government and Parliament
the official duties and responsibilities of the Governor-General
the relationship between the Palace, the Queen’s Private Secretary and the Governor-General
constitutional issues, including the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975.

Read the Kerr Palace Letters

You can download the Kerr Palace Letters as PDFs or view them on RecordSearch, our collection database.

Use the correspondence summary for each part to find the letters you’re looking for.

Part 1 (15 August 1974 to 8 October 1975)

Part 2 (10 October 1975 to 3 December 1975)

Part 3 (16 December 1975 to 27 May 1976)

Part 4 (8 June 1976 to 22 September 1976)

Part 5 (18 September 1976 to 14 July 1977)

Part 6 (19 July 1977 to 5 December 1977)

Background

Sir John Robert Kerr was Australia’s 18th governor-general, holding the position from 11 July 1974 to 8 December 1977.

Kerr’s term is mostly remembered for his dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government and installation of the ‘caretaker’ Fraser government on 11 November 1975.

During his term as governor-general, Kerr communicated regularly with Buckingham Palace through the Private Secretary to the Queen. In August 1978, David Smith, Official Secretary to the Governor-General, deposited this correspondence into the custody of the National Archives of Australia.

Released to the public in 2020, the series of records consists of 212 letters in six files.

Most of the letters were exchanged between Kerr and Sir Martin Charteris, the Queen’s Private Secretary. David Smith occasionally sent letters, as did the Queen, her Deputy Private Secretary Sir Philip Moore and her Assistant Private Secretary Sir William Heseltine.

Key people represented in the letters

Sir Martin Charteris GCB GCVO OBE

Sir Martin Charteris was appointed Queen Elizabeth’s Assistant Private Secretary in 1952 after a military career. He became the Queen’s Private Secretary in 1972.

Charteris’s role included advising the Queen on everyday issues and sensitivities, organising her tours and writing speeches. He was heavily involved in planning the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. He retired the same year and was appointed Lord Charteris of Amisfield.

Sir Martin Charteris died in 1999.

Sir Philip Moore GCB GCVO CMG QSO PC

Sir William Heseltine GCB GCVO AC QSO

Born in Wyalkatchem, Western Australia, William Heseltine worked in the Australian public service and was Private Secretary to Prime Minister Robert Menzies from 1955 to 1959.

After a stint with the Liberal Party of Australia, Heseltine joined the Press Office of the Royal Household in 1965. He became the Queen’s Press Secretary in 1968, Assistant Private Secretary in 1972 and Deputy Private Secretary in 1977.

In 1986 Heseltine was appointed Private Secretary to the Sovereign and Keeper of the Queen’s Archives. He retired in 1990.

Sir David Smith KCVO AO

Other resources

Books and guides

The Whitlam years – essays on the Cabinet documents of the 1972–1975 Whitlam Government
Gough Whitlam: guide to archives of Australia’s prime ministers
Malcolm Fraser: guide to archives of Australia’s prime ministers

Fact sheets

Our collection

RecordSearch, our collection database, has many Commonwealth records created by the Governor-General and the Whitlam and Fraser governments, including Cabinet records and Cabinet notebooks.

You can also explore the personal records of Sir John Kerr (CP 266), Gough Whitlam (CP 99) and Malcolm Fraser (CP 51).