THE ROYAL TREATMENT
The 1947 tour of Southern Africa by Britain’s royal family is vibrantly evoked, writes Karina M Szczurek
The monarchy is not my cup of tea, thus I was rather surprised how
thoroughly Graham Viney’s The Last Hurrah: South Africa and the
Royal Tour of 1947 charmed me. Talking about the book to other readers, it has also been intriguing to discover how firmly this particular historical moment is lodged in the psyche of the country, no matter where you or your family stood on the broad spectrum of local politics of the era.
Viney’s portrayal of the complex time before the infamous elections of 1948, and the role the royal visit played in it, brings the bygone days with all their vibrant possibilities and uncertainties to life. There is a strong sense that it all could have turned out differently. It is a dizzying thought, which should not be underestimated, especially at present, when South Africa is once again transitioning before a potentially monumental election and so much could be at stake.
Viney writes with flair. His is a strikingly literary tour of the British royal family’s grand visit to SA as he puts his readers in the front seat, or rather in the main carriages of the White Train that transported the distinguished guests over vast distances around the country from February to April 1947. Viney asks us “to conjure up the pervading smells of heat and dust, of acrid railway-engine smoke and cinders, of eucalyptus and pepper trees, of Yardley’s Lavender and the friendly tang of the Indian Ocean on a summer’s morning”, among a list of other sensations that his evocative descriptions capture for us to enjoy. They allow a total immersion in the past, akin to time travel.
“I could hardly believe that anything could be so beautiful,” wrote Princess Elizabeth after her first sighting of Table Mountain. Up close, we witness the royals arriving in Cape Town by ship, trekking across this part of the continent as far as Victoria Falls and Durban, and stopping along the way wherever people gathered to welcome them.
It was a spectacle like no other. “‘We have to be seen to be believed’ is an oftrepeated adage of the Royal Family,” Viney reminds us. Anyone who followed the most recent royal wedding in Britain might understand how everywhere the royal family appeared at the time (long before television and the Internet), people of all races and creeds flocked to see them. The visit provided rare opportunities “in the context of the segregated society” when all people could come together to participate in some of the events scheduled.
Viney records the triumphs and tribulations of the journey, including the king’s opening of parliament and, “to the astonishment of everyone”, his few lines in Afrikaans; the slight caused by the royal itinerary, which allocated only two days of their time to Johannesburg; the Ngoma Nkosi at Eshowe; the tea the royal family had with Mrs Smuts and other guests who were secretly in attendance; as well as “the climax of the tour”, Princess Elizabeth’s 21st birthday celebrations and her moving speech, which was broadcast worldwide to about 200-million people.
The book is richly illustrated and includes previously unpublished photos. Viney’s meticulous research and fluent prose result in a full-bodied portrait of the royal tour, its charged politics and all the major players involved, each with his or her own agenda. However, his narration is never bogged down by unnecessary details as he sweeps us along on this remarkable trip, when “for one brief shining moment much of SA had put their best foot forward and pulled together”.