Published originally on The Spinoff
In 1981, Ginette McDonald stood on the stage of Auckland’s St James Theatre and directly addressed Queen Elizabeth II. It was a glitzy, glamorous Royal Variety Performance and McDonald was appearing as her comedic alter ego Lyn of Tawa, a suburban housewife with a thick New Zealand accent who had burst onto our TV screens a few years earlier. “It’d be really neat if you could visit us in Tawa sometime,” Lyn told Her Royal Highness, chewing gum earnestly. “As a matter of fact, you were supposed to come this Sunday and open the Tawa memorial paddling pool, but Mrs Crosbie down the Town Hall got the envelopes mixed up.”
