CLIMAX OF TOUR

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28414, 22 October 1957, Page 13

CLIMAX OF TOUR

Crowded Day In New York (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11 p.m.) NEW YORK, October 21 Queen Elizabeth will become “Queen of New York” today to reign for 16 whirlwind hours over the towering metropolis of the new world. It will be a spectacular—although exhausting—climax to the 10-day Royal progress through North America. This morning, New York, with its 8,000,000 people, was ready to unroll the red carpet for the Queen, who is already the most talked about personality of the year in this country. Amid the steel, copper and aluminium skyscrapers, the Queen will never stop and never have more than a few moments to rest and change her costume in the packed programme that has been planned.

Her schedule, which includes a dozen major events, will begin soon after breakfast and will end shortly before midnight when she and the Duke of Edinburgh will step aboard their aircraft to return to Britain.

The Queen today will play a double role—that of a sightseer and also that of a monarch to be seen and applauded. Throughout her long day, she will be the most tightly guarded person in the country. She will be protected every yard of the 36 miles she will cover by land and water.

New York’s Police Department —on its mettle to ensure that the Queen shall see and be seen by millions of New Yorkers without disturbance or inconvenience—is putting 4689 of its men and women on duty for the day. Police helicopters will hover over the newly-painted Army ferryboat which will bring the Queen and the Duke across the Hudson to Manhattan from Staten Island, where they will arrive from Washington.

About 600 detectives have been specially assigned to mingle with the crowds, comb the Royal routes and overlooking buildings, as well as to check organisations and individuals thought likely to harbour grudges against Britain and the monarchy. There will also be a special police guard of a captain and eight patrolmen—all over six feet three inches in height and most of them of Irish descent—who will act as a personal bodyguard.