The Press MONDAY, MARCH 8, 1948, The Royal Visit

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25437, 8 March 1948, Page 6

The Press MONDAY, MARCH 8, 1948, The Royal Visit

Ever since the announcement almost two years ago of the intended visit of the Royal Family to South Africa in 1947, New Zealanders have hoped they would not have long to wait before enjoying the same privilege and sharing the same pleasure as the South Africans. The Prime Minister of New Zealand clearly expressed the wishes of the country when he said that there was “ a “ permanent invitation ” to Their Majesties to visit New Zealand and that it was hoped they would find it possible to do so “as soon as “ practicable ” after the South African visit. The pleasure of New Zealanders at the announcebient from Buckingham Palace will be tempered only by regret that, unlike the South Africans, they will hot be able to welcome Princess Elizabeth. There is, of course, a standing invitation to Princess Elizabeth and her husband to come to New Zealand; and the people of the Dominion will hope that it, too, can be accepted in the very early future. From the first years of their reign the King and Queen made clear their desire to visit all the countries of the Commonwealth and to meet all its diverse peoples. The war interrupted their plans after they had visited Canada (and the United States) in 1939. With the South African tour last year they took up the broken threads. The extraordinary triumph of that tour is fresh in mind. South Africa forgot for the time being its sharply divided loyalties and associations: in its joyous welcome there was a unity of sentiment and a warmth of emotion that were utterly unexpected. “ The immediate experi- “ ence has been tremendous ”, said General Smuts at the State luncheon before the departure of the Royal Family, “ and its after ef- “ fects will endure and become “ part of the history of this land ”. The King and Queen are pot strangers to this Dominion or to Australia; but they will find big changes in both since their visit as Duke and Duchess of York in 1927. They will find zio change in the hearts of the people unless it is a new warmth of affection born of peril, hardship, and suffering commonly shared in the last 10 difficult and eventful years. Australians and New Zealanders will be grateful for a visit that gives reality to a constitutional abstraction; but their interest will be overwhelmingly human and personal. This is as it should be, because it is in the promotion of close personal understanding among the peoples of the Commonwealth that the King and Queen have rendered "it their greatest service. All its citizens have a sense of the constant interest of th and Queen in every aspect of their lives. “It is the function Vof the King ”, said “ The Times ” in referring to the South African tour, “to symbolise and by his vis- “ ible presence to strengthen all “ those potent forces in the human “ mind making for brotherhood be- “ tween the nations of the Common- “ wealth—forces which it is difficult “to put into language and impossible to generate through institutions”. The Royal party will be welcomed as King, Queen, and Princess; but they will be taken into the hearts of the people as friends.