The Press WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1974. A family on holiday

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33446, 30 January 1974, Page 16

The Press WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1974. A family on holiday

Often divided by their duties, the Royal Family will be reunited in Christchurch today. Their visit here, like that of all who have come to the Commonwealth Games, should be a happy holiday. No great State occasions have been arranged; the note of informality, so often struck during the last visit by the Royal Family in 1970, has been recalled since the Duke of Edinburgh arrived a week ago to open the Games. It was maintained yesterday by Prince Charles, who is combining a visit to the Games with his duties as a Naval officer. Even when the Queen, Princess Anne, and her husband, Captain Mark Phillips, arrive this afternoon the Royal visit is not likely to distract attention from the Games. Their attendance will certainly embellish the occasion and, for most people, add something to its excitement and importance as a Commonwealth meeting. The Queen has been making her first visit to the Cook Islands; and this can have been no small matter in the life of a small community. She will leave Christchurch for a short but busy round of engagements in New Zealand. These will include the State opening of Parliament and the Waitangi Day celebrations in the Bay of Islands. Others in the party, too, have much travelling ahead of them in an itinerary which includes visits to some of New Zealand’s smaller towns — Alexandra, Rangiora, Masterton, and Ngaruawahia. In Christchurch, the Royal Family will be Games visitors on holiday, and probably just as stirred and diverted as thousands of others. The Games are the thing, and the Royal visit confirms this.