“Many of the members didn’t feel that with our multicultural community of people from 200 nations that it was necessarily relevant for the Queen to be mentioned,” said Belinda Allen, the director of Girl Guides Australia.
Now the young girls from the historic organisation won’t be required to “do my duty to God, to serve the Queen and my country”. Instead they will pledge to “be true to myself and to serve my community and Australia”.
Cub Scouts in Australia will now be given a choice as to whether they include Queen Liz in their speech, which marks the moment when a Cub, Cub Scout, Brownie or Girl Guide officially becomes a member of the group.
Not everone is happy with the new plans. “The Queen is the Queen of Australia and our head of state and with this change the Girl Guides are now telling their children that they need have no regard for the institutions of our governance,” Phillip Benwell of the Australian Monarchist League told The Guardian.
“If the Girl Guides think they will achieve greater numbers by removing the very essence of what they are, then I feel they are sadly mistaken.”
There are over 10 million members of the Girl Guides around the world.
Main image: A group of girl guides at Waterloo station, London, in 1938 preparing for a long journey home to Australia after an extended visit to England during which they were inspected by the King and Queen at Sandringham (Getty images)
