Duke Favours Relaxed Attitude To Press

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28413, 21 October 1957, Page 11

Duke Favours Relaxed Attitude To Press

(Rec. 8 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 19. The Duke of Edinburgh told reporters at a reception in Washington last night that he was in favour of a much more relaxed attitude towards the press by the Royal Family in Britain, as well as overseas.

During an interval in presentations to the Queen at the British Embassj' reception, the Duke gave an impromptu press reception to a group of British and American reporters, the “Daily Express” correspondent said today. His assertion that he and the Queen were as accessible in London as they were in the United states was amazing, the “Daily Express” said.

[There have been complaints recently from several quarters that press relations between Buckingham Palace and British newspapers were bad.]

The “Daily Express” correspondent said that it seemed that the Duke was dropping a hint that whatever had been the case before, the Queen and he now intended being more accessible to reporters. This meant breaking down the high hedge set up by courtiers and advisers who had so often tended to bedevil public relations with Buckingham Palace Press Conference “How many of you fellows go to the President’s news conference?”! the Duke asked. Between 200 and 300, he was told. “Well, there you are,” he said. “If we did that same thing, we’d get two people.” He said his observation was that the hundreds of reporters following the Royal visitors, “press and press and work all day and then, when they sit down to write it. find they have nothing to write about."

At another point, he said with a laugh: “You fellows miss the point. We don’t make the news." He said that, as far as he was concerned, the point was that the British Monarchy reigned, but did not rule—and the British press

and people were well aware oi that.

The Duke was asked whether he ever before had spoken to a group of reporters.

“Well, I met them at a club perhaps,” he said. “But if I did this sort of thing, then you might expect to continue the contact and I m afraid that could not be done.”

Satellites The reporters asked the Duke if he had learned anything about satellites during his talk with 20 top American scientists today. “Oh, nothing I didn’t know already,” he replied. “Of course. I’m certainly no scientist.” A reporter asked would people ever get to the moon?

“Well, you have to have escape velocity enough to break away from the earth’s gravity and that’s pretty tricky,” said the Duke. Did he think the visit of the Queen would stimulate more cooperation ’between British and American nuclear-space scientists? “That, brother, is up to you,” he said, and led the laughter. The Duke was emphatic about the scientific nature of Western satellite research. He said the

“whole thing has been muddled up” to confuse pure science with a cold war race.