Rush on for Royal tour

Press, 12 January 1977, Page 3

Rush on for Royal tour

PA Wellington With the impending Ro\al tour, there have been few holiday breaks for the 10 industrious persons in the Royal visit office of the Department of Internal Affairs. “We are racing the schedule, which has to be; finished before the Royal; party leaves Britain on February 7,” said a spokesman 1 for the office yesterday. The schedule, detailing the! complex tour arrangements, will be sent to London so that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh can peruse it on their way to New Zealand in the Royal yacht Britannia. The inter - departmental group of 10 has been in volved in arrangements fot transport, functions, timetables, public relations, procedures, and the multitude of other tasks that must be

organised if the tour is to run smoothly. "There is no problem at present with communication between here and Buckingham Palace, but once the Queen and the Duke of Edm burgh leave, communication will become much more diffi cult.” the spokesman said. No major problems have occurred for the group, who are a very experienced team "For many of them, this is their third full-scale Royal visit — but of course nothing can be taken for granted,” the spokesman said. The Britannia will arrive at Auckland on February 22 The Royal party will depart by air from Christchurch on March 7. Altogether, the Queen will visit 21 cities and towns during the visit, as well as open ing Parliament and attending a number of open-au gatherings.