Queen Relaxed, Happy At Start Of Southern Tour

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30057, 15 February 1963, Page 2

Queen Relaxed, Happy At Start Of Southern Tour

What was said about the Queen looking pale, tired and solemn in the North Island no longer applied when Her Majesty arrived in Nelson. She was the Queen New Zealanders remembered of nine years ago, responsive to cheers and interested in everything around her. She smiled spontaneously and looked refreshed and happy.

It may have been the tonic effect of the warm sun after the fickle Wellington weather and the more personal greetings of smaller places, but this first day in the South Island was a good day for the Queen and for the thousands of people who waited for a glimpse of her from Nelson through to Picton.

Well-organised as it ta, ttie Queen's second visit is no less strenuous and little less formal than the first. It is shorter, but there is still the strain of ceremonial drives, acknowledging cheers from

long lanes of people who have waited for many hours. And this time the crowds are more widely dispersed, stiretching farther than in 1954. The public had decided that it is better to walk along a route and stand in single line rather than be in an eight-deep crush at a particulaT vantage point. Tiring Programme

Then there are the public welcomes. perhaps three a day. Through these the Queen sits with thousands of eyes on her watching for something unexpected or a fleeting expression of boredom on her face. She must always appear absorbed in any kind of entertainment presented to her, whether it

appeals or not or whether it is the first or the fifth of its kind in a day. After all this, there must be many times when she would prefer a quiet night at hone watching television or reading. But most evenings she has to change into formal array for a reception, the theatre or a banquet, for instance, and is expected to look animated and sparkling for the public and television cameras.

The condensed. 12-day tour is packed with engagements of this kind and there has been little time for the Queen to rest until the free day in the Britannia sailing between Picton and Port Chalmers.

It is inevitable that photographs of the Queen should

pick up tell-tale signs of fatigue some days. Coming from Britain’s icy winter, the Queen naturally looked paile when she arrived in the glaring summer sun at W aitangi among bronzed New Zealanders. But her pallor, which aroused so much comment and some concern, has already given way to a tinge of light tan. Stronger Colours

The Queen is wearing much stronger colours on this visit —bright pinks, blues and greens. So far all her day dresses have been silk. The aquamarine blue silk jacket dress and upturned hat of matching silk, which the Queen wore on her first day in the South Island, was one of her most becoming outfits. Her skirts are longer than those she wore for her Canadian tour of 1950. She does not wear stiletto heels. Lady-in-waiting to the Queen is Miss Mary Morrison, a tall brunette. The Countess of Leicester was unable to come to New Zealand because of ill-health.