1958: Her ’grace and friendliness’
‘‘For the second time in four years, Christchurch today will be honoured by a Royal visit,’’ The Press wrote on February 12, 1958.
‘‘For the Queen Mother this will be the end of an arduous but triumphant tour of the Dominion.’’
Christchurch was the Queen Mother’s last New Zealand stop before she flew from Harewood to Canberra. The Press reported that her home during her short time in Christchurch was part of the same suite at the Clarendon Hotel used by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1954.
‘‘The Royal suite on the first floor faces the Avon river, the beds of red and white geraniums, sloping lawns and a lily pond behind the Scott statue. It will be a soothing outlook for Her Majesty, after a tiring day of travel.’’
In an editorial, The Press looked forward to the Queen Mother getting her ‘‘first impression of the most English of New Zealand’s cities’’.
The Press observed the crowds as she was driven into the city.
‘‘ ‘Children hanging like ripe fruit on the trees’ was the picturesque phrase in which one mother described the scene in Fendalton road, opposite the end of Harakeke street, when the Queen Mother arrived.
‘‘Adults, too, made their gesture in this area. A retired naval officer hung a White Ensign outside his home, a butcher’s shop near Stratford street was bright with flags, and gardens had patriotic colours.’’ During a civic reception, the Queen Mother told US Navy Lieutenant Morton Beebe she would very much like to visit Antarctica. Unfortunately, it never happened.
Only two days after welcoming the Queen Mother in an editorial, The Press published a second, titled ‘‘Au Revoir’’. It praised ‘‘her unfailing grace and friendliness’’ and said that the British Commonwealth embodied all that is most admirable and durable in the human character, ‘‘love, tolerance, selflessness, and devotion to duty’’.