ROYAL FAMILY STIRS CAFE TOWN CROWD

Evening Star, Issue 26030, 19 February 1947, Page 7

ROYAL FAMILY STIRS CAFE TOWN CROWD

TEH THOUSAND SING‘FOR THEY ARE JOLLY GOOD FELLOWS'

(Rec. 11.10 a.m.) CAPE TOWN, Feb. 18. A crowd of 10,000 sang “ For they are jolly good fellows ” and cheered when their Majesties and , the Princesses walked across the Grand Paarde, which is Cape Town’s main square, to. greet 50 , blue-clad wounded soldiers from the Wynberg military hospital. It was a spontaneous action, made after their Majesties had held an open-air reception and leading notabilities and loyal addresses had bean presented to them. Their Majesties and the Princesses, in the blazing heat, drove through the crowded streets to the square. Cape Town’s prominent womenfolk in froqks of every colour and with gay parasols made the gayest scene as they stood in brilliant sunshine on the dais of the white Royal pavilion in the middle of the square facing Table Mountain. The King wore an admiral’s white uniform. The Queen was dressed in parma violet with a picture hat rimmed with an enormous matching how in front. Princess Elizabeth wore sky blue and a wide straw l matching picture hat, while Princess Margaret had a figured silk frock and a bonnet-shaped hat. On their arrival at the dais, enormous baskets of many varieties of flowers were presented to the Queen and the Princesses, whose dresses. are causing a great stir. The reception was primarily a function for prominent Europeans of the .Cape Province and Cape Town. . The King, replying to loyal addresses, slud: “It was here at the foot of Table Mountain that the door of South Africa was opened. _lt was from your province that civilisation was first carried into the vast dark stretches of the hinterland by the fortitude and untiring determination of your God-fearing forbears. Well indeed was this corner of Africa called Cape of Good Hope, for it became the cradle of a great nation.” It was then—at the end of the official proceedings—that the inci- ( dent occurred which stirred the imagination of the crowd. The Queen Was just about to enter a big open car with the King and Princesses, when she noticed some ex-servicemen in blue. The Royal Family turned and went together entirely surrounded by the crowd to talk with the men. Some started “ For they are jolly good fellows,” and 10,000 took up the refrain. Even the local people admit that the intense heat the Royal Family is experiencing is unusual. The King was obviously feeling it somewhat unconifortable, but the Queen and the Princesses looked remarkably cool in their summery frocks. Neither the Queen nor the Princesses were using parasols, though the heat was so great that some people were affected, and women were fanning themselves while listening to the speeches. While receiving notabilities, the King saw the Cape’s biggest mountain fire ever raging 10 miles away, where firefighters have been fighting for three days to protect towns near the fire.