WELCOME HOME!

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23864, 19 July 1939, Page 14

WELCOME HOME!

THEIR MAJESTIES RETURN TUMULTUOUS LONDON RECEPTION CROWDS MASS OUTSIDE PALACE EXCITED GREETING BY PRINCESSES (From Our Own Correspondent) LONDON, June 26. One of the largest crowds London has seen since the days of the coronation turned out to welcome the King and Queen back from their Canadian tour. Masses lined the route all the way from Waterloo station to Buckingham Palace, and then poured into the Mall to stand outside the iron railing and shout “We want the King” until shortly before midnight. It was probably one of the warmest and most spontaneous demonstrations of loyalty towards the Throne seen for several years, and in one respect even exceeded those during the coronation celebrations. At that time pageantry was not without attraction; but this week there was the feeling that the King and Queen had achieved a personal triumph and had proved their ability by making their tour both in Canada and America far more successful than was even expected. The crowd’s cheers echoed warm congratulations rather than plain compliment. “Hello, Mummy!” The first to greet the King and Queen for their home-coming were the two Princesses. They went out to meet the Empress of Britain in the destroyer, Kempenfelt, and after scrambling aboard the liner they rushed up to the Queen, their eyes dancing with excitement. “Hullo, Mummy!” shouted Princess Elizabeth. “Hullo!” echoed. Princess Margaret. “We had; a lovely time on ):he destroyer,” said Princess Elizabeth, when the greetings were over.

The Princesses asked to be shown over the royal suite and the principal public rooms, and they were conducted personally by the King and Queen, who, in between leamr ing what their children had done in their absence, had to answer numerous questions about the tour and the voyage- home. •• 4 ■■" l ~ The Princesses learned that the King and Queen and their suite had followed the time-honoured custom of " last night at sea ” with ,a v gala dinner, with balloons,, crackers, festoons, and paper hats, and that the King had worn a,paper hat, too. Could they not have a gaja luncheon to-day? they asked. Chief Stewatd Frank Moss was summoned' and when luncheon was served in the specially-partitioned royal dining-room, in the main saloon, the Processes were delighted to see balloons, festoons and paper hats and to watch their royal father, in his uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet, ready to go ashore, bursting balloons for their benefit and blowing all manner of squeakers and other unmusical instruments. Princess Margaret got so excited that she kicked a heel off her shoe, which had to be takerv to a stewardess for repair so that she could be presentable for the. formal reception ashore. Frequently, a- the ship came up Southampton Water, she would hurry to the porthole to see the fleet of pleasure steamers, yachts and motor craft accompanying the liner and run back to the King, saying: “ Daddy, come and wave to the people.” The two smallest bellboys on. the ship presented the Princesses with giant panda dolls, to which everyone on the staff had contributed a penny. Queen Mary’s Welcome Southampton gave the King and Queen the greatest welcome in its history Just as the vessel came alongside the quay, Queen Mary came from the decorated shed and,with her the Duke of Gloucester, in majorgeneral’s uniform, and the Duke of Kent, wearing, for the first time, the uniform of a rear-admiral. Queen Mary stood at the foot, ox the gangway looking up at the ship, whose decks and portholes were thronged with members of the crew. The King and Queen waved to her. She waved back vigorously. Then she went on board with the other members of the Royal Family, and spent about 20 minutes with the King and Queen in their private suite. , The King led the way down the gang-plank, followed by the Queen holding Princess Margaret by the hand. Then came Queen Mary with Princess Elizabeth, The band of railway workers struck up the National Anthem, and after the usual presentations the royal party got into cars and drove through Southampton’s streets to the civic centre, to receive another big welcome before entering the train for the last stage of their journey to London. / On the route from Southampton to Waterloo were groups of people at every crossing, anxious to pay their tribute to the King and Queen on their return. Children were sitting or leaning on wire fences; workmen engaged on half-built houses had turned scaffolding to grand, stands; and in the meadows and pieces of waste ground cars were parked so that their occupants might not miss the, opportunity of greeting the royal train with cheers as it passed. Flags were flying all along the line. At Waterloo At Waterloo there was a simple, unhurried ceremony, which gaye.thb King and QUeen a few peaceful moments in Which to meet members of their family, their principal Ministers, and their friends. . No .welcome could have been more appropriate , or. more moving, and it was scarcely surprising , that those few hundreds who were there to watch should have felt constrained to‘keep silent throughout kuCh a reunion. Mr ’ Chamberlain, Lord Crewe, Lord Halifax, Mr Joseph Kennedy, (the American Ambassador), Sir Philip Game, and the Mayor _ of Lambeth, resplendent with his triple gold chains" of office, stood in line to shake hands with the King, the Queen, and the. Princesses. Both ■ Princesses, . after several hours’ reunion with their, parents, were still obviously thrilled and excited.

As she passed Lord Halifax, Princess Margaret made some observation which caused the Foreign Secretary to smile broadly. Princess Margaret stood, a shy, diminutive figure in front of Mr Kennedy before he, looking high over her head, had realised she was there. When he suddenly became aware of her presence* he bent down and »sr-

tended his hand, which the little Princess grasped quickly. Princess Elizabeth whispered something into his ear. Several times Princess Margaret turned to gaze inquiringly, at the 8.8.C.’s television camera. Not many miles separate Waterloo Station from Buckingham Palace, but at the station barriers, and at every accessible spot which the royal carriage would pass,' people had been content to wait for hours —and to feel themselves amply re-, warded by seeing the procession’ for' a few fleeting moments. They carried away with them an unforgettable picture—the King, a quiet, happy smile lighting up his face as he raised his hand again and again v to the salute in answer to the plaudits of the crowds; the Queen, a gracious, charming figure, smiling, too, but undoubtedly profoundly moved. All the way from the station the story is the same —great, cheering crowds, waving hats, handkerchiefs, and flags; overhead, banners and bunting blowing about vigorously, as if they, too, were animated 1 by unseen hands. Continuous Wave of Sound Spectators were massed thickly all along the roads, numbers of them people in humble circumstances of life. There went up a-welcoming shout as the first carriage, in which were the King, the Queen, and the Princesses, came out from the station * entrance. The cheering was like a continuous wave of sound, rising in a succession of crescendos. In Parliament Square it could be heard gathering volume as the procession moved over Westminster Bridge and reaching a climax as the escorting Life Guards turned into the square. ,

There, Parliament paid, in a significant and probably, unprecedented way, its homage and tribute to the King and Queer!, Both Houses had suspended. their sittings,, and members came out to line 'the> pavements, Ministers were the first representatives, of the Houses of Parliament to be seen by the King, and Queen .as their carriage turned into Parliament square; • '.-v ■ The, area outside Buckingham Palace was black with people who had-.waited long and patiently in the best of humour. Round the Victoria Monument they laughed uproariously as a very serious sergeant, catching a lion /by the/tail, swung: himself up beside the statue-of the feminine farmer with the masculine boots—'‘f (jilt 1 -of 'New Zealand' ’“Und crawled after -two' bbys, - "tfie Onw persons in the/crowd unaware that they were being stalked, j Here, a gust, of wind /played, a prank on Princess Elizabeth. If caught her wide-brimmed straw hat: and it blew off among the crowd. •; After the ' Kingfp and 'Queen had passed through the palace gates f he, crowd df police and .Stampeded , across : the' roadway, up to the -Bala.ce railings; The; white of h moUtited ppl&ef -man. made, a cphkpiPuous .island in an, obean of heads/ / The: ptfxwd 'extended in a . solid- /mass -from the Palace gates’fait idqwii the-Mali- ■ /! ■ -Tribute, w;-r' One. of the "biggest' cheers ekex heard in London welcomed the King and Queen , when, with Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, they came out on their own balcony immediately after they got home. The people refused to go away hours later, and after dinner the King and Queen had .to come .out again and. acknowledge their cheers. Officials said the crowds were bigger than even at the Jubilee or the Corona-, tion. Police • cordons were broken several times, and ‘ mounted rein-' forcements had to be called up.

Many in the crowd began to disperse after the King and Queen had appeared with the-Princesses,' but. fresh people took their places. Hundreds of cars were parked four deep in the approaches to the Palace, taxis rolled up with new arrivals and , extra police, had to be brought on duty. Shouts of the crowd could he heard a quarter of a mile away . Just before 9 o’clock the King and Queen made a second appearance and .were greeted with another roar of cheers. The crowds remained until after 11 o’clock. It was a memorable day both for. their Majesties and their subjects