The late Susan Renouf , then Mrs Peacock, wife of the politician Andrew Peacock, once appeared in an advertisement for Sheridan bedsheets . Being a good sport, she apparently wore fleecy-lined underwear to Darwin to launch the Northern Territory's most dazzling art exhibition-Grandeur of Light-showcasing the watercolours of Harold Thomas , designer of the National Aboriginal flag , in September 1989.
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Lady Renouf , second from the right, in Darwin with late NT Administrator Commodore Eric Johnston; on her right , artist Harold Thomas . Others, from the left , are Harold Thomas Junior and the head of the Raintree Aboriginal Art Gallery , Shirley Collins , who organised the major event , financially ruined by her involvement in the poorly organised Bank of America Down Under Tour of the USA before the Sydney Olympics .
The grand event faced disaster due to the Ansett airline strike. In desperation , Ms Collins asked the RAAF if they could fly Lady Renouf to Darwin. The RAAF agreed to her urgent request , but said the plane would be a Hercules in which it would be cold , so the VIP should be advised to wear fleecy lined underwear.She and daughter Caroline Peacock subsequently lobbed in Darwin courtesy of the RAAF, no questions asked about their undergarments.  Lady Renouf and Shirley Collins in foreground of this snap of the glittering evening . A week before the launch, Lord McAlpine , the British Tory treasurer , who owned parts of Broome , Western Australian , had flown to Darwin in his own jet for a private viewing and offered to buy the entire exhibition for $100,000, this no doubt warming the cockles of the artist's heart . |
