Goulburn boy's gift to the King didn't go unnoticed

A 12-year-old Goulburn boy received perhaps the best birthday present ever in the mail this week.

Ivan Pearce and his family were among the crowd of 3000 who turned out to see King Charles and Queen Camilla pay their respects at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on Monday, 21 October.

And they came prepared.

“My brother ran into the servo and got the Tim Tams for me on the way there because I worked out the King’s birthday is six days before my 12th birthday,” Ivan told Region afterwards.

“I thought it would be nice if I got him a present.”

The King turned 75 on 14 November, and Ivan, 12, on the 20th.

The family arrived at the memorial with about two hours to spare and took up a place next to ‘Hephner’, the white alpaca (also from Goulburn, and now perhaps most famous for spitting on the King).

“We thought the alpaca might get his attention and he’d be more likely to come over,” Ivan explained.

It worked. As King Charles walked by, Ivan won His Majesty’s attention by sticking the packet out towards him.

“He said, ‘Do you recommend them?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, they’re quite good.’ And then he took them and continued walking.”

But that wasn’t the end of it. Australian biscuit company Arnott’s, which produces Tim Tams, came across the news and agreed to send Ivan his own birthday present.

It arrived in the mail shortly afterwards – a massive special-edition Tim Tam 60th anniversary gift box, packed with various flavours of the biscuit and two mugs (for dunking, of course).

An attached handwritten card read: “To the Pearce family, we agree a pack of Tim Tam bikkies makes the best birthday present (and we heard Ivan has a special day coming up)! There’s a little something for you to enjoy together as a family. Warmest wishes, your friends at Arnott’s.”

“He absolutely loved it,” his mum Claire said.

“He is blown away and especially loves the little teacups. It is the sweetest memory for him.”

The King himself is no stranger to Tim Tams.

During an earlier visit to Canberra as Prince of Wales in November 2012, he was greeting crowds alongside the Duchess of Cornwall (as Camilla was then) on Queen Elizabeth Terrace when a Canberra woman wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with an image of Queen Elizabeth II stretched out her arm to give Charles a packet of Tim Tams.

“Happy birthday for next week,” she said.

The Prince replied: “You’re very kind” and “What I’ve discovered is that you have to dunk them.”

But it seems Ivan has gone one better. The family, who describes Tim Tams with a cup of tea as a “big thing for us”, is looking forward to the next few weeks. Or is that days?

“Because there are `soooo’ many I think they will be more complacent to be honest, and go through them quickly,” Claire admits.

“Like, ‘Oh, there are so many, I’ll just have another’.”