A right royal occasion
As the world prepares to farewell Prince Philip following his death on April 9, South Canterbury residents fondly recall his visits to the region. Rachael Comer reports.
Allan Sherson says his memory may be fading, but he has the photographic evidence to jog his memory of the time he met Prince Philip.
The 89-year-old Timaru man joined thousands of people at Ashbury Park on January 25, 1954, to greet the Queen and Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh when the pair toured New Zealand.
Philip, 99, died at Windsor Castle on April 9.
He was the longest-serving royal consort in British history. His funeral will be held on Saturday (local time) in England.
Members of the royal family have visited South Canterbury several times.
At the 1954 visit, Sherson stood in line to meet the royals as they walked through Ashbury Park.
‘‘I was a lieutenant in the Armoured Corps back in the CMT [compulsory military training] days,’’ Sherson said. ‘‘I was the 2IC of the local corps.’’
He said he was ‘‘very proud’’ to be in line to meet the Queen and Prince Philip, and even prouder when he realised a commercial photographer at the time had captured the moment he saluted the duke.
‘‘It has been a photo I have always displayed proudly.’’
Sherson was sad to hear of the prince’s passing but thought he had lived a good life.
‘‘It was probably his wish not to suffer too long.’’
Meanwhile, Temuka resident Mary Hand recalled the royal visit to her home town of Fairlie in 1970.
‘‘The royals did a walk through the Fairlie Domain. I was a Brownie at the time and us and the Girl Guides were all lined up behind a rope at the side of the track.
‘‘Prince Philip came past and said: Hello, how are you? and shook my hand. I remember being lost for words and unable to reply.
‘‘I have never forgotten it, 50 years later.
‘‘He was a quietly spoken man and seemed very nice.’’
March 2, 1977, is a date etched in
Shirley Piddington’s memory.
‘‘I remember so well the excitement of the Silver Jubilee tour,’’ the Timaru woman said.
‘‘The Queen and the duke in Timaru – it was amazing.
‘‘Plus the royal yacht Britannia was moored in the harbour adding to the glamour of the visit.’’
She said thousands gathered on Caroline Bay ‘‘abuzz with excitement’’.
‘‘Fortunately the drizzly day cleared just before the royals arrived.
‘‘Dozens of displays were set up.’’
Piddington, and late husband Bill, were members of the South Canterbury Vintage Car Club and their vehicle was part of a display during the visit.
‘‘We drove down in our 1910 Regal Car. It was so exciting – we were to see the Queen and the duke close up.’’
Piddington said she was almost weak at the knees.
‘‘I remember the crowd seemed quiet then a buzz started – they were on their way.
‘‘Then they were standing in front of us – unbelievable.
Her husband bowed to them and she said to him afterwards ‘‘I didn’t know you were going to do that’’.
He replied: ‘‘I didn’t know either’’.
Piddington said gazing at the Queen it was her ‘‘lovely English rose complexion that had often been commented on that took my eye’’.
‘‘The duke asked Bill about his car and commented on the badges displayed on it [every rally completed qualifies for a badge].
‘‘He said: I see you enjoy the rallying. The Queen gave me a big smile and I welcomed her to Timaru.
‘‘The royals were escorted by Mr Hervey the mayor [also a member of the vintage car club].’’
Piddington, who described herself as a royalist, said thinking back to the 1930s she, and her sister, as did so many youngsters at the time – always followed the news of ‘‘the little princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose’’.
‘‘As a teenager Margaret asked that the Rose be dropped off.
‘‘We would see an occasional photo in a newspaper or magazine and also on the English newsreel at the movies,’’ Piddington said.
‘‘From those days it has just remained part of my life.’’
Bruce Campbell also provided Stuff with photos of his uncle and aunt – Terry and Earlene Wilson – and family from the South Canterbury Vintage Car Club from a 1970s visit.
Campbell said that on seeing his uncle’s Rolls-Royce Phantom 2, the prince asked Terry:
‘‘When did you prise this out of England?’’
And the Queen asked: ‘‘Does it go?’’
Photographic memory
For Timaru man Bruce Appelbe the death of Prince Philip has brought up memories of his late brother, Ron, who photographed the royal visit to the region in 1954, and who went on to become part of a historic moment in time – involving another member of the monarchy.
Bruce Appelbe still has a stack of photographs taken by his brother as the Queen and Prince Philip made their way to Ashbury Park, in Timaru, addressing a large crowd.
While his brother was recording the moment with his camera, Bruce Appelbe was a young boy watching from the crowd at Ashbury Park – the pair’s father, Les, helping to make the archway put in place at the park to acknowledge the visit.
Bruce Appelbe said his brother, who died in 2004, was a professional photographer who started working for Bill Woods, of Timaru’s Langwood Studios.
He covered the royals’ visit to the region as part of his work with the studio.
‘‘He was a partner in Langwood and went to Germany in 1955/56 to learn colour photography – there was a school there in Cologne for two years.
‘‘He did his course and went to London to wait for a ship to come back home.’’
During his illustrious career in photography, where he ended up working in New York, Ron became part of magazine history in 1960 when his colour photograph of Princess Margaret, just married to Antony Armstrong-Jones, left for the Caribbean on their honeymoon.
The photo was received in Sydney within a few hours of it being captured.
The picture, taken by Woman’s Day photographers Peter Abbey and Ron, was heralded at the time as a new technical development for Australian colour magazines.
The technique required to send the photograph was made even more challenging by the fact Ron was colour-blind, Appelbe said.
He said it was nice to have his brother’s legacy live on through his images of the royal tour to Timaru.
The prince’s death had prompted Appelbe to get the photographs out and remember his brother, and a time when South Canterbury was excited about its brush with royalty.