ROYAL LUNCH IN INN

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28490, 21 January 1958, Page 13

ROYAL LUNCH IN INN

Informal Visit To Village “Pub” (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 8 pm.) LONDON, Jan. 19. The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne lunched with some friends in a country public house last week, the ‘‘Sunday Express” diarist reported. The ‘‘pub” was the King’s Head in the village of Great Bircham, a few miles from Sandringham where the Royal Family is on holiday. Although they took over the public dining-room with all cutlery and glasses, they supplied their own food. The manager of the King’s Head was reported to have said: “We were warned by telephone only a short time before they arrived. ‘‘We had a few guests for lunch and they moved into our private dining-room. No-one was inconvenienced. Everyone was far too excited to worry about such a minor upheaval.” Nospne hid waited on the Royal party. They helped themselves from picnic hampers of cold chicken, ham, salad and bottles of wine and lemonade. The manager told the diarist that the party stayed for about an hour and everything was so quiet and informal that hardly anyone in the village knew about the visit. The King’s Head is a typical East Anglia whitewashed “pub.” It is 100 years old. Cold weather had caused the sudden change of plans from an outdoor picnic to the King’s Head lunch, the diarist said. Prince Goes Shopping Prince Charles went shopping in the crowded High street at King’s Lynn, Norfolk, on Saturday afternoon. He spent almost an hour at a bookseller’s shop and made several small purchases. The visit, a surprise one, was completely informal and it was some time before other customers in the shop knew he was there. Prince Charles, accompanied by two women members of the Royal Household and a detective, had driven the eight miles to Kings Lynn from Sandringham House.