ROYAL TRAIN IN SOUTH AFRICA ON LONG JOURNEY

Wanganui Chronicle, 24 February 1947, Page 5

ROYAL TRAIN IN SOUTH AFRICA ON LONG JOURNEY

Reed. 8 p.m. London, Feb. 22. Their Majesties and the Princesse~ have begun a 10,000 miles tour oi South Africa in the ivory-coloured Birmingham-built Royal train, reports Reuter's special correspondent aboard the train.

They had their first dinner on the train last night in the midst of a vineyard where the train stopped at a specially-built siding. The farmer on whose land the siding was built organised a barbeque fo- the occasion, and Ihose on the .loyal train and pilot trains could see a roasting fire' a quarter of a mile away. Their Majesties walked alongside the dusty track to the locomotive, where they chatted with the train crew and afterwards to members of the watching crowd.

The Royal train stopped earlier Wellington and Wolseley for wat'”’. and reached Worcester, the centre ot the "grape country" nt 10 am. The stations at both Wellington and Wolseley were lined with scarlet flowering bushes. Tito Queen waved greetings to the crowds which gathered at the stations. Crowds of white and coloured people cheered and waved at everv wavside station through which the train passed. Post offices on the Ro'-nl and pilot trains sold more than 1000 sets of commemorative stamps bearing their Majesties’ pictures. A travelling transmitter van handled thousands of words from correspondents to the world’s Press. As the train was approaching Worcester the Princesses travelled for miles on the footplate o' the locomotive Their Majesties at Worcester station chatted with children of British servicemen who are stationed in Nigeria, East Africa and India. The children handed the Queen a bouquet. The Nationalist Opposition news“Dle Burger,” which Dr. alan once edited, declared that the Crown’s prestige in South Africa and Brilain would be increased by the I King’s return to his homeland in her hour of need. The Associated Press correspondent emphasises that this is the first adverse comment on the Royal tour. The Royal Family’s popularity already has been broadly established.. The Indians, although some of their leaders exhorted them to ignore the tour, have so far shown no signs of a boycott. A number of Capetown’s leading Indian merchants attended the ball for non-Europeans.