PMB residents reflect on queen’s 1947 visit
Residents in Pietermaritzburg and the Midlands have been sharing their memories of
Queen Elizabeth II, who died at Balmoral last Thursday.
For some people living in KwaZulu-Natal, the queen’s death sparked memories of her visit to South Africa in 1947. The then Princess Elizabeth travelled with her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and her sister Princess Margaret, to the province as part of a royal tour to southern Africa.
In his book, The Royal Family in Africa, Dermot Morrah, reveals that during their first stop in Ladysmith, they were met by the Administrator of Natal, D.E. Mitchell, and his wife, before being taken to the Oval where presentations were made and the king, queen and princesses signed a “distinguished visitor’s book”.
Also present was then prime minister Jan Smuts, who pointed out the tactical features of the surrounding hills, where his own forces had once battled during the Siege of Ladysmith in the Anglo-Boer War.
Amberglen resident Fiona Parsons was in Ladysmith at the time and recalls that she got to wave her Union flag and see Princess Elizabeth. “The hour or two of waiting was the best thing ever,” she added.
“We had a day off from school and I got to dress and dance like a Welsh washerwoman. Life was good.”
After their stop in Ladysmith, the royal family travelled to the Natal National Park in the Drakensberg for a long weekend in the Natal Government Hostel in the foothills of Mont Aux Sources and the Sentinel. They spent their time walking, climbing, bathing and fishing.
Pietermaritzburg provided the next big stop on their tour. On March 18, the royals were greeted by a salute of guns as their train drew into the Pietermaritzburg Station. They then went to
the city hall, where they were welcomed by the mayor, Mrs. Russell, before travelling in an open top car through streets lined with cheering crowds.
Historian Brian Spencer wrote of the visit: “Bunting covered the buildings of Pietermaritzburg. There was a triumphal entrance arch in Church Street near the railway station. “School learners had been rigorously rehearsed in the songs they were to sing. New clothes had been bought and flags to wave.
“The 18th of March dawned fair and warm. We assembled in front of the Oval in Alexandra Park. Although it was only a distant view of the royal family that we were able to get, the excitement of the whole experience is still with me.”
Noreen van Niekerk was one of the children who participated in the march at the Alexander
Park Cricket Stadium. “We all had to turn our heads and look at the royal family as we marched by and they waved and smiled at us in return. I was nine at the time but never forgot that moment,” she fondly recalled.
Historian Sylvia Vietzen, who was in Grade 7 at Longmarket Girls’ School when the royal family visited the city, said they had rehearsed the dances they performed for weeks. She added: “Two items sung by the choir were Al die veld is vrolik, and at the end, the Scottish Will ye no come back again.
“I think there was also Land of hope and glory, and of course, God save the King. It was all so very colonial.
“After the event we had a half-holiday and most of us spent it going to various spots in Pietermaritzburg where they would be or where we could catch a glimpse or a wave as they drove past.”
Meanwhile, Michael Norton can boast having been touched by the queen, even though he couldn’t see at the time.
Norton was two years old when the queen visited the Grey’s Hospital children’s ward, where he was recovering from an eye operation.
“My eyes were bandaged, so I could not see, but I have been told that the nurses stood in line holding the babies. The queen walked past and ‘chooked’ me under the chin and said ‘you poor little thing’,” Norton said.
Maritzburg College Old Boy John Deane remembered how crowds of people waved farewell to the royal family as their train left Maritzburg for Durban, where they opened the Gate of Remembrance, which was added to the cenotaph to commemorate young men who died in World War 2, and they also enjoyed a ball held in the city hall.
In his book, Morrah says the two princesses “danced energetically all evening and contrived to look not only radiant but comparatively cool to the end”.
On March 21, 30 000 children gathered at Greyville Racecourse to see the king and queen, who also visited Mitchell Park, Currie’s Fountain and watched a parade by more than 23 000 ex-servicemen from the Moths (Memorable Order of Tin Hats).
Howick resident Denise Jones (82), remembers her mother dressing her up in a white dress with blue and red rosettes and taking her to the Durban railway line where crowds waved as at the royals’ train as it arrived at the station.
“I was seven at the time. We waved the royal family into the station and I saw the royal family in the carriage as it passed.
“There was a lot of excitement. The royal family coming to South Africa, especially then as we were under British rule, was a big thing,” Jones recalled.
The South African tour also marked the 21st birthday of Princess Elizabeth on April 21, 1947. In Cape Town, she made her historic speech of dedication in which she declared: “…my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”
It was a speech that defined Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. In a statement, Patricia Scotland, the secretary-general of the Commonwealth, said the queen had been the epitome of duty, stability, wisdom and grace. She added: “Her Majesty was an extraordinary person, who lived an extraordinary life: a constant presence and example for each of us, guiding and serving us all for as long as any of us can remember.”