STATE VISIT OF SHAH

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28888, 7 May 1959, Page 15

STATE VISIT OF SHAH

Civic Reception At Guildhall

(Rec. 11.30 p.m.) LONDON, May 6. Attended by an escort of the Household Cavalry, the Shah of Persia will drive in an open carriage from Buckingham Palace to Guildhall today to receive the traditional hospitality of the city. The second day of the Shah’s State visit begins with the reception by him of the Commonwealth High Commissioners and the heads of missions of the diplomatic corps at Buckingham Palace. The Shah will be entertained at lunch in Guildhall.

He will return to the Palace by car in the afternoon, and later today will visit the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Tonight the Shah will entertain the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the Royal - Family to dinner at the Iranian Embassy.

Last evening the Shah was guest of honour at a resplendent Court banquet The Queen, who was hostess at Buckingham Palace, welcomed the 39-year-old Shah when he arrived at Victoria Railway Station. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were joined by Princess Margaret and other members of the Royal Family in the welcoming party at Victoria. The Princess curtsied low to the Shah, and said: “What a beautiful day for you.” Also present were the British Prime Minister (Mr Macmillan), the Foreign Secretary (Mr Selwyn Lloyd) and other civil and military leaders. Soon after his arrival, the Shah, himself a qualified pilot, was appointed to the Royal Air Force in the honorary rank of Air Chief Marshal. The Queen handed him the warrant before lunch. The Queen gave the Shah a tortoiseshell bracket clock, with an eight-day movement, made for the Eastern market by a London clockmaker in 1760. This is the Shah’s first State visit to Britain, though he came here unofficially in 1948 and 1955.

Singer to Marry.—Eddie Fisher announced today he would marry Elizabeth Taylor at the actress’s Las Vegas home next Tuesday.— I Hollywood, May 6.