QUEEN’S MESSAGE: Challenge very demanding

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33241, 2 June 1973, Page 15

QUEEN’S MESSAGE: Challenge very demanding

(N.Z.P A.-Reuter—Copyrtpt.

LONDON. June I.

rhe Queen, the head of the British Commonwealth of 32 nations, said toda\ that no other association of independent nations in the world’s history had given such scope for development of new relationships between individuals and government.

“The challenges are veryreal, and very demanding.” the Queen said in her traditional message on the eve of

Commonwealth Day. “If we fail to meet them, our successors will reflect sadly on a wonderful opportunity lost. If we succeed, we shall not only build a stronger and happier Commonwealth, but we shall show that mankind is capable of living in peace

and amity on a scale never achieved before.”

i The Commonwealth was |not for governments or statesmen alone, but for all its people, the Queen went on. ;The Commonwealth would be i what its people willed it to be. I The global association provided practical opportunities Tor its members to co-oper-ate, to serve each other, and to break down the fences between peoples. It called for the interest, curiosity, and concern of all, and especially of its 400 m young people who were under 25. “We must keep our friendship alive and, at the same time, never forget the importance of devising further ways of strengthening the links between us,” the Queen said. Commonwealth Day will be observed at a special interdenominational service in Westminster Abbey later today, which will be attended (by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, and representatives of the Commonwealth diplomatic missions in London. The service will include readings of passages from the religious works of the Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu, and Christian faiths. Mrs Pierre Trudeau, the young wife of the Canadian I Prime Minister, is listed among the distinguished congregation.

Trudeau aloof The Canadian House of .Commons yesterday defeated, [for the second successive day, a motion to send congratulations to Princess Anne on her engagement to Lieutenant Mark Phillips. A spokesman for the Prime Minister (Mr Trudeau), asked if Mr Trudeau had sent a congratulatory telegram, replied: "No, and I don’t think there will be any.” — Ottawa, June 1.