THEIR MAJESTIES RETURN TO-DAY

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25181, 12 May 1947, Page 7

THEIR MAJESTIES RETURN TO-DAY

PORTSMOUTH CROWDED FOR WELCOME

pm ! LONDON, May 10, A blue and gold “Welcome Home” lg 7i Ji jr 1 r ?°, unt £ the steps of the blitzed Guildhall in Portsmouth, Where the Lord Mayor and Corporation will receive Their Majesties after they come ashore from H.M.S. Vanguard on Monday morning. The people of Portsmouth have placed flags and bunting along the mile route from the dockto the Guildhall. Visitors have been arriving at Portsmouth since Friday, and all hotels and boarding houses are booked out. It is expected that thousands more will arrive on Monday by bus, railway, and long-distance coaches. Tile Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, aboard the Trinity House yacht Patricia, will be the first members of the Royal Family to greet Their Majesties. Queen Mary and other members of the Royal Family will not meet Their Majesties until their arrival at Waterloo Station.

Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret steered the Vanguard to-day as the battleship neared the end of the 6000 miles voyage from South Africa. Princess Elizabeth spun the wheel when an order to alter course 25 degrees to starboard came from the bridge. Princess Margaret, when Princess Elizabeth had steadied the ship on the new course, took the wheel, and, obeying a further order, altered course 25 degrees to port, to bring the Vanguard back on her true course. The Princesses also visited the engine and boiler rooms and the mess deck. Princess Elizabeth, in the boiler room, slowed the ship when instructed by the chief engineer. The Princesses wore blue dungarees and heavy gloves.