That’s because the late monarch, who died on Thursday (September 8), left a secret letter to the citizens of Sydney that cannot be opened until 2085. The Queen died “peacefully” at Balmoral Castle aged 96, after 70 years on the throne. As Australia’s head of state, she wrote a letter that was hidden in a time capsule in a building dedicated to her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. To celebrate the restoration of the Queen Victoria Building in 1986, the late monarch addressed the mysterious letter to the Lord Mayor of Sydney. According to News.com.au, the instructions in the letter read: “On a suitable day to be chosen by you in the year 2085 AD, you would like to open this envelope and convey to the citizens of Sydney my message to them”. The letter, simply signed ‘Elizabeth’, has been kept in a glass case in a restricted part of the building since the Queen wrote it. It is reported that not even the Queen’s staff know the contents of the letter. The Queen Victoria Building was first built in 1898 to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee. It was almost demolished in the 1950s to make way for the car park, but the effort to restore the building won. Queen Elizabeth II signs the visitor’s book at Parliament House in Canberra March 27, 2000 as Australian Prime Minister John Howard stands in the background (NEWS LTD POOL/AFP via Getty Imag) Now that the Queen is gone, King Charles III is Britain’s new monarch and the head of state of 15 Commonwealth realms, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and some Caribbean nations. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country would have a public holiday on Thursday, September 22, to mourn the Queen’s death. It will be officially named Her Majesty The Queen’s National Day of Mourning and will take place after her funeral, which falls on Monday 19 September. This is because the Albanian and Governor-General David Harley will be in the UK to attend the funeral and will return home on Wednesday 21 September. Follow the latest updates following the death of Queen Elizabeth II here
