Cynical Washington won over

Press, 12 November 1985, Page 10

Cynical Washington won over

NZPA-Reuter Washington

The Prince and Princess of Wales are defying a public opinion poll prediction that Americans were largely indifferent to their visit to Washington.

The extent of excitement about their first joint visit to Washington became apparent yesterday when a crowd of more than 5000 turned out at their first public appearance, a service in the National Cathedral in Washington. An even bigger crowd is expected today when they visit a suburban shopping mall on the last day of their three-day visit to Washington.

Many long-time Washington residents had predicted that the visit would fall victim to the indifference the city usually shows to most visiting dignitaries and celebrities.

This opinion seemed to be

reinforced a week ago when “The Washington Post” published a poll showing that 67 per cent of Americans had no opinion about Prince Charles and 58 per cent felt the same way about his wife. But those who predicted that the visit would fall flat reckoned without the power of television.

Every night last week television stations carriedextensive advance coverage of the visit, constantly repeating the Royal pair’s itinerary and telling Americans how to behave in the presence of royalty. The television coverage succeeded in projecting the personality of Prince Charles, who had visited Washington before, and, more particularly, of his wife, who had not.

When they landed on Sunday from Australia at a bleak Air Force base east of Washington the crowd was

mostly restricted to the families of the British community, who had been invited, and United States Air Force families.

But throughout the day there were increasing signs that Washingtonians were ready to go out of their way to catch a glimpse of the pair. A small group gathered outside the British Embassy to watch them come and go. When the pair attended a celebrity ball given in their honour at the White House, a hundred or more waited in the chilly night, hanging on to the wrought iron fence to catch a glimpse of them. And at the Washington Cathedral the first arrivals were beginning to gather, unrolling sleeping bags and blankets on the steps to spend the night in wait. By dawn there were already too many people in the queues that snaked

round the huge cathedral on three sides to occupy the 3000 public seats available to hear Prince Charles read the lesson.

One small group of university students from Pennsylvania waited 31 hours to be first in line. Two nurses from Buffalo, New York, set out on an impulse and drove 770 km to get to the cathedral by nightfall. A couple of thousand more continued to pour in after sunrise and most of them had to listen to the service on loudspeakers outside.

British Embassy officials were clearly nervous about the size of the crowd expected at the shopping mall today. “It could be very big indeed,” said a spokesman, Andrew Burns. ® Martin Galvin, head of a group that raises funds for

the 1.R.A., led a protest outside the White House during the dinner in honour of the Royal couple.

About 50 demonstrators circled outside one of the entrances to the White House, carrying banners and shouting slogans including “Brits Out” and “Charles and Di out.”

Mr Galvin, who is publicity director of Noraid, is banned from the United Kingdom by a Home Secretary’s exclusion order. Two months ago he was smuggled into Londonderry to appear at the funeral of an I.R.A. man who died in an attack on the police that went wrong. Mr Galvin said in Washington that the demonstration was being organised because the Royal couple “symbolise all the things that have brought conflict to Ireland over the past 16 years.”