THE KING COMES HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20332, 13 August 1929, Page 9

THE KING COMES HOME.

WINDSOR TO LONDON.

TWENTY MILES OF CHEERS.

CROWD RUSH PALACE GATES.

[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

LONDON, July 12,

The Royal Standard is now floating over Buckingham Palace, for the King has come home again. From Windsor to Westminster the King made his way back to his home in his capital city through roads and streets which were lined with his subjects. Scarcely a moment throughout the drive from castle to palace was His Majesty out of sound of the cheering, which testified to tho mingled feelings of relief and gladness at tho return of a beloved Sovereign re-« stored once more to health.

Windsor as a farewell gave an anticipation of the hearty acclamation which in London was accorded in greeting. No window or balcony for the length of the High Street was without its onlooker, and even from the mullioned windows of the castle were heads peering out to catch a parting glimpse of the King. Twenty miles of cheers, flowers and flags—sucli is the simple record of the homeward journey. In many places the car travelled on a highway made soft with rose petals, showered in profusion in its path. Behind travelled a procession of motorists —three abreast—as they drove along the Great West Road—a Sovereign's unofficial escort.

Near the Royal Albert Hall the King and Queen transferred from a motor-car to an open carriage drawn by four horses. Kensington Gardens were lined with people as galleries round an arena, and the Albert Memorial was seized upon as a vantage point. The Little Princess. There was a happy incident as the landau passed down Piccadilly. On the balcony of the first floor of No. 145, Piccadilly, the Duke and Duchess of York stood with Princess Mary, Viscountess Lascellcs, and Viscount Lnscelles. Princess Mary's two sons and the little Princess Elizabeth completed the group. During the time of waiting Princess Elizabeth was watched by the crowds below waving her white-gloved hands in lie L*' excitement. At last the carriage approached, and as the horses pranced by the Princess raised a small Union Jack in salute. Her little flag did not escape the notice of her grandfather, who, smiling, waved back. The Queen joined in acknowledgment of the greeting of the little granddaughter. Tho King, it was seen, looked entirely well. Ho wore a silk hat and carried a pink rose in the buttonhole of his overcoat. Tho Queen wore a coat of gold tissue trimmed with fur and a toque of pale pink and grey. The escort moved off westward toward Queen's Gate, and behind it came the outriders in their Royal livery and the four bay horses with postilions drawing tho Royal carriage. The procession passed along the short stretch of roadway between tha Albert Hall and Queen's Gale and swung round into Kensington Gardens. A storm of cheering marked every yard of its passage, and rolled on down the long crowded avenue to Hyde Park Corner and bevond.

| The King and Queen repeatedly acknowledged the cheers, while those who uttered them seemed never satisfied that they were adequate to express all that they were intended to convey. At Buckingham Palace. In front of the courtyard at Buckingham Palace the more enthusiastic had been waiting since eight o'clock iu the morning. A hundred or two privileged persons were assembled inside the Courtyard. Presently distinguished people be.gan to arrive. Prince George drove his own car to the door. About half-past eleven the King of Spain came. Not long befora the appointed time Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles were observed standing at a window near the balcony, with their two sons; and Prince and Princess Arthur of Connaught., , Practically every window in.the front of the Palace was now crowded with watchers. Viscount Byng rode up to the gate on -a white horse, and amid great excitement Princess Elizabeth was espied with the Duke and Duchess of York at a far window. There was no announcement of .the procession's coming except the slow crescendo of cheering along the Mall. The first of, the Life Guards and the outriders swept round the corner suddenly; the King had arrived. Above the Palace the Royal Standard went to th 9 masthead. The cheers were still resounding and the last of the Life Guards had scarcely ridden through the Palace gates when the crowd broke through the line of police and rushed across the road, f Two policemen were just in. time to shut, the gates before the loyalist rush. On The Balcony. Presently a family group formed on the balcony of the Palace lMr^ n S His Majesty, silk hat in hand J folio bv the Queen. Then came of Wales, the Duke and Duchess °f M rv With Princess Htabfth, a „d Viscount Lascelles, mlbU£r i "s. s rssfti greet King -4» on *> lo tho Duke of Then he d Elizabeth from ? ork ' 'IX Sns and handed her to the her ,nuse ; Vitl (he gdden-haired little Princess standing on the balustrade, held safely by the Queen, the group was complete The response was immediate. The cheering swelled again m » deafening crash, and flags and handkerchiefs were fluttered once more delightedly. Tho throng afterwards appeared reluctant to disperse, but when it became ceitain that the King would not be seen again peoplo slowly drifted awav. Those who tarried were able lo cheer the Duko and Duchess of York and the Prun*-of Wales as they left the Palace. The Prince's car for a few moments was enculfed bv a rush of girls, some of whom jumped on to the running-board to wave •md call a greeting, and loot police had to clear a way for the car to return to York House.