TEA WITH ROYAL FAMILY

Camp News, Volume 2, Issue 71, 2 May 1941, Page 6

TEA WITH ROYAL FAMILY

New Zealand Airmen

Nearly 40 New Zealanders, including pilot officers and sergeants, had tea with the King and Queen and the two Princesses at Windsor Castle shortly after their arrival in Britain from New Zealand. They were first shown over Windsor Castle by Eady Hardinge, wife of Sir Alexander Hardinge. -Among the New Zealand airmen were Pilot Officers J. Alastair Graham and D. Herrick, G.C. (Hastings), R. Morrow (Christchurch), and Sergeants J. N. Grace (Wellington) and P. Millar (Masterton). “We were all very surprised and elated when Lady Hardinge told us to get ready to have tea with the King and Queen after she had shown us over the castle,” said Pilot Officer Graham. “The first sign we had that the Royal Family was coming was five little dogs which came whirling into the room. We sat round the fire and talked.

“The Princesses controlled the dogs pretty well but I noticed that when the Queen was not looking one of the puppies jumped up and stole her cake. I told the King how we in New Zealand had got up at 4 o’lcock in the morning to listen to his speech at the outbreak of .war. He was very interested in what we told him about our training, since, of course, he is a pilot himself.

“Both- the King and Queen asked us questions about our voyage from New 'Zealand, and recalled their own stay there. They were both absolutely charming to us. The Princesses talked to us about the dogs and were very entertaining.”

Recently Sergeant Grace was the navigator in an aeroplane in which Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands made a flight over Scotland.