THE ROYAL COUPLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26626, 24 November 1947, Page 5

THE ROYAL COUPLE

HONEYMOON IN ROMSEY ARRIVAL AT BROADLANDS Rec. 8 p.m. LONDON, Nov. 22. Prince Philip jumped from the car on arriving at Broadlands, where the Royal couple will spend their honeymoon, before the chauffeur could open the door, and hand in hand with Princess Elizabeth ran up the five steps to open the doors of the south wing, where they were greeted with smiling courtesy by the butler, says the Daily Mail special correspondent at Romsey. As they crossed the threshhoid the Princess squeezed the Duke’s hand, saying: “It has been a wonderful wedding, but it is lovely to be here at last.” The Princess insisted on exploring their honeymoon home at once, and the butler showed them the nine rooms in which they are to live for a fortnight. The London Gazette announces that the Privy Council has ordered an amendment in the Book of Common Prayer by inserting the words “ The Duke of Edinburgh ” after the words “ The Princess Elizabeth ” in prayers for the Royal Family. Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip when they attend the morning service at Romsey Abbey will not sit in the raised Broadlands pew usually occupied by the Mountbatten family, but in ordinary chairs at the front nave. Princess Elizabeth told the vicar Canon W. B. Corban, that they desired to be ordinary members of the congregation. She also requested that no special service be arranged, and that the visit be without pomp and ceremony. The police, however, will line the mile route from Broadlands estate through Romsey to the Abbey gates. History of Wedding Ring

Princess Elizabeth’s wedding ring was made from the same nugget of Welsh gold and by the same craftsman as her mother’s wedding ring. A retired West End jeweller, Mr W. Bertolle, told Reuter’s Court correspondent that when Princess Elizabeth became engaged, he wrote her saying that he had sufficient "of the nugget from which the Queen’s wedding ring was made to make another ring. “The Princess was delighted with the idea. I took the size of her finger and gave the gold to the craftsman who made her mother’s ring. The Duke of Edinburgh later gave v me an inscription to be engraved on the inside of the ring.” More Gifts Arriving Wedding gifts of all kinds, which neither the Princess nor her husband have yet seen, have been arriving at Buckingham Palace and St. James’s Palace during the past three days. Queen Mary spent a considerable time yesterday supervising the unpacking at Marlborough House of the remaining wedding presents. The Berlin correspondent of The Times said that a German resident in the United! States sector of Berlin has sent Princess Elizabeth a ring of diamonds and turquoise as a wedding present. A message accompanied the gift, and in a covering letter to General Sir Brian Robertson, Military Governor and Commander-in-Chief, the writer asks that his name should not be revealed. “I am a man without importance, just a common German citizen,” he says, “ but I think we Germans should feel some obligation towards Ryitishers—and I myself have good reasons for feeling so.” Communist Press Report In contrast to the remainder of the British press, which devoted almost the whole of their issues of yesterday and torday to the reporting of the royal wedding, a report published by the Communist Daily Worker in a 12-line paragraph placed inconspicuously at the bottom of its front page was as follows: “ Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, formerly Philip Mountbatten, were married at Westminster Abbey to-day. The ceremony was performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Abbey was crowded with 2500 guests. Large crowds lined the route of the procession and gathered outside Buckingham Palace.”