Australians Prepare Enthusiastic Reception For The King And Queen

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 14657, 28 April 1948, Page 5

Australians Prepare Enthusiastic Reception For The King And Queen

SYDNEY MAKING READY FOR VISIT OF ROYAL FAMILY

All sections of the Australian community are preparing an enthusiastic welcome for the Kim? and Queen and Princess Margaret. The Governor-General,,Mr McKell, has cable;! both an official and a private message of welcome. .Sydney's reception will be the greatest celebration the city has ever bad, according to the Lord Mayor Mr R. J. Hartley. The visit will be the fourth Royal visit oversea:; since the Coronation in 1937. The ethers were to'France, Canada and the United State:.; and Africa.

H.M.S. Vanguard, the Royal tour ship, will sail via Panama, as it is too big to go through the Suez Canal without difficulty. The King's Flight, which was used by the King and Queen for air travel in .South Africa, will be used again in Australia'and New Zealand. It is led by Air-Commodore E. H. Fielden. Ten Months' Preparation ■

It will take 10 months to organise the Royal tour. Mr Chifley, Attorney-General Evatt and Senate Government Leader Senator Ashley will be in charge. When Mr Chifley announced the Royal tour he said:— "The knowledge that their Majesties and Princess Margaret will at a comparatively early date visit us will give the greatest satisfaction to all Australians, and I have asked the Governor-General to express our gratitude to his Majesty. "All will look forward eagerly to the opportunity of showing here in Australia the.feelings of pride and affection we have for the Royal Family.''' "Knit Empire Bonds" The Premier of New South Wales, Mr -McGirr, said: The Royal visit will be acclaimed by the whole of the people and will serve to knit more closely the bonds that unite the British Empire. ''The State gladly accepts the Prime Minister's invitation to cooperate. Everything possible will be done to ensure that their Majesties and the Princess will be given a welcome befitting the occasion." The Federal Opposition leader, Mr Menzies, said in Melbourne:— "It needs no words of mine to assure them that they will have an enormous welcome.from the people of Australia, who have a boundless admiration and affection for them." The Lord Mayor of Sydney (Aid. R. J. Eartley): "You can be assured

wo will give the King and Queen and Princess Margaret the greatest civic reception and celebration Sydney has ever seen.

Mr Allan Fraser, who travelled as a journalist with the King and Queen on their 1927 tour: "The pleasure of Australians at the visit will be equalled by the King's pleasure. "He is carrying out. his own personal wish in coming. In 1927 he told me: "These are the people I like. I shall come back the first chance I get." No Formal Dress Neither Prime Minister _ Chifley nor any member of the Cabinet will break Labour tradition to wear formal clothes during the Royal visit No Minister v/ill wear the full evening dress normally required for dinners the King attends. Few Cabinet members will even wear dinner jackets for night functions. When Mr Chifley received his Privy Councillorship from the King in London in 1946, he horrified British officials by refusing to wear knee-breeches. When they said it was impossible to go without knee-breeches Mr Chifley is reported to have replied: "I'll bet you I got through without them. 1 ' Dining later with the King and Queen at night, he wore a blue serge suit. A State ball and State dinner, with receptions and dinners at Yarralumla. will be the main Canberra functions. This will be the national capital's third State ball—first was in King's Hall after the King, then Duke of York, had opened Parliament; second was for the Duke of Gloucester. It is now believed that the Governor-General, Mr McKell, recently engaged Mr Collier, butler to the Duke of Gloucester, to supervise arrangements fer the King at Yarralumla.