Queen St crowd subdued

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33454, 8 February 1974, Page 2

Queen St crowd subdued

(A'eiP Zealand Press Association* AUCKLAND, February 7. Tougher crowd control measures resulted in few problems for the Royal Family today when they met their largest crowd of the visit in Queen Street, Auckland.

More than 300 police kept the lunchtime crowd, esti-j mated at 20,000, behind aj single rope barrier as the' Royal Family walked be-; tween the 246 shopping com- i plex and the Town Hall.i When some of the crowd; attempted to follow the Royal; Family up the corridor; formed by the barriers police: stepped in and moved them' back. After a civic luncheon, the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Anne and her; husband, Captain Mark Phil-I lips spent an hour in a sweltering 28 degrees watch-; ing community groups at the Auckland Domain. Girl guides were making pikelets and the Royal visitors sampled the cooking. Princess Anne and Captain Phillips later drove to Ellers-i lie racecourse to attend a working rally and display by the Riding for the Disabled Association. They then atten-

. ded a Save the Children Fund reception at the War i Memorial Museum. ; The Royal tour ends tomori row. In spite of this being the 'biggest crowd it was ceritainly the quietest. Most ■simply stared at the visitors' ■(out of curiosity, a few, ■ clapped but hardly any (raised a cheer.

Tunnel through.—The ■•Wellington City Council’s’ • §250,000 pilot tunnel under- ; neath Mount Victoria broke through on the eastern facing shortly after 10 o’clock yesterday morning. Four dust-covered tunnelersi [climbed out of a hole to shake hands with the Mayor iof Wellington (Sir Francis iKitts). No date has been set ■ for starting on the tunnel it-j self, to be financed by the National Roads Board.—: (P.A.)