FUTURE OF PRINCESS

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27795, 21 October 1955, Page 13

FUTURE OF PRINCESS

Call For Early Statement

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 20. The “Daily Telegraph” today called for an official statement to put an end to the present soeculation about Princess Margaret. , „ . The newspaper said that the official statement last Friday that no announcement was at present contemplated concerning Princess Margaret s personal affairs implied that it was hoped that speculation would be damped down and the Princess’s privacy respected. “Since that time the Princess and Group Captain Peter Townsend have met on each day, with but one exception. These facts are quite naturally explained by the supposition that an engagement nas already been arranged. But since there has been no positive announcement, speculation, abroad as much as in this country, instead of being quieted, has daily increased.” Saying that constitutional issues were involved requiring the attention of Parliament when it reassembles, the "Daily Telegraph” added: “There really seems no reason why the facts should not be stated without elaboration of the cpnsequences which will form the subject of Parliamentary proceedings.” The paper asked whether “this long drawn out business, ’ apart from being irksome to the two people most closely affected, was not unfair to the Royal Family as a whole. “The longer any element of mystery is allowed to linger in this affair, the more deplorable the publicity is likely to become. Let us all reflect how intolerable the atmosphere of the last week would seem if it surrounded ourselves and let it be ended in justice to the Royal Family and in tne interests of the institution of the monarchy.” ■ . Most newspapers today publish pictures of members of the Royal Family, including the Queen and Princess Margaret, at a dinner last night, attended by high Church dignitaries, at Lambeth Palace, the esidence of the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. G. F. Fisher). The dinner followed a service of rededication in the palace chapel, rebuilt after being extensively damaged during the war. Yesterday was the first day in a full week that Princess Margaret and Group Captain Townsend had failed to spend some time together.