Queen Elizabeth II arrives in Canberra of Australia

Queen Elizabeth II and her 90- year-old husband Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip on Wednesday arrived in Canberra of Australia to start her 11-day visit. This is the Queen's 16th visit of Australia as monarch. The couple's British Airways 777 jet touched down at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Fairbairn in Canberra. A crowd of about 100 Australians, including children waving Australian flags, gathered at the airport to welcome the couple's arrival. The Queen, who was wearing a blue-green coat and matching hat, made her way down the plane stairs smiling and waving to cheers and applause. She was then greeted by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Governor-General Quentin Bryce. "I believe she is very well respected by Australians and I think she is going to be warmly received from the moment she sets foot on Australian soil," Gillard told reporters in Canberra shortly before the Queen's arrival. Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott are expected to meet the Queen on Friday, ahead of a parliamentary reception hosted by Gillard and her partner Tim Mathieson at Parliament House. The royal couple will spend the weekend in Canberra, where they are scheduled to have lunch with a group of 40 people reportedly including actor Geoffrey Rush, who starred as a speech therapist in The King's Speech, a film about the Queen's father, King George VI. They will visit Brisbane next week, where they are to meet flood helps and victims, before returning to Canberra and continuing on to Melbourne on Wednesday. Their itinerary will then take them to Perth ahead of the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on Friday and they will depart on Saturday, October 29. The royal couple's last visit to Australia was in 2006 to attend the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.