The Queen Mother (51 page)

Lord Cavan understood that strictures from the King could be very demoralizing for the young, nervous Duke and Duchess, for he wrote to Wigram:

Cavan’s plea evidently paid off – some weeks later. On 21 February, after they had arrived at Auckland, he wrote to Wigram: ‘I cannot thank you enough for His Majesty’s splendidly timed message of encouragement just before arrival at Auckland.’ His letter crossed with one to him from Wigram saying that he hoped Their Majesties’ message to the Duke and Duchess on arrival acted as ‘a good pick-me-up’.
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On 20 January, when the Duke and Duchess landed at Kingston, the streets were lined with cheering people. The next three days provided the Duchess with her first glimpse of what a fully fledged tour could involve. At an evening reception, Lord Cavan told the
Palace, more than a thousand guests ‘of all hues’ passed before Their Royal Highnesses. Although the Governor of Jamaica and Lord Cavan considered that it was unnecessary for them to venture beyond Kingston, the Duke and Duchess decided otherwise. On the second day of their three-day tour they visited the cathedral at Spanish Town and then went to a garden party in the centre of the island. People were delighted; this was the first time, they were told, that any member of the Royal Family had visited the interior. Cavan reported to the King that ‘The Duchess is looking so fresh and well.’
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Back at the King’s House in Kingston the Duke’s enthusiasm for tennis was useful; he played a doubles match in which he partnered a Jamaican ‘of colour’, one of the best players in the island, thus acknowledging equality among sportsmen and giving great satisfaction locally.
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This first short visit confirmed what was in little doubt: that the appeal of the Duchess’s personality worked as well abroad as at home, and that it would contribute greatly to the success of the tour. Lord Cavan sent the King an editorial from the
Daily Gleaner
of Kingston, describing how she ‘smiled her way into the hearts of the people … her kindly glances, the sweetness of her manner, her whole attitude of gracious charm have won for her a love which must last as long as those who have seen her shall live.’
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The power of her smile became a leitmotif of the entire voyage. Praise of this kind was to be lavished on her throughout the many decades to come.

From Jamaica they began to sail into the heat. Cabin temperatures rose to an almost unbearable 86 degrees and they took to sleeping on deck. Their destination was one of the modern wonders of the world, the Panama Canal, carved through the isthmus only just as the First World War began, linking Atlantic and Pacific oceans for the first time. Many of the labourers on the Canal were British subjects from the West Indies who welcomed the couple warmly.
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The Duchess was intrigued by the extraordinary workings of the Canal. She watched as the ships were dragged into the locks by the ‘mules’ – little electric tractors on rails – and then rose or fell as vast amounts of water were pumped in or out of the locks. From Panama she wrote to the Prince of Wales. Her letters to him were affectionate, frank and humorous, not unlike those she wrote to her brothers. She teased him for being a ‘naughty little wicked little Empire builder. You are also an Empire destroyer too, as in my daily radio news I read that
the Prince of Wales helped to finish off the old Empire – promenade & all.’
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She told him of an archly flirtatious encounter with the President of Panama: ‘I have got off with the President here which was rather hot making. We had some interesting conversations with him … The language of the eye I had to fall back on, and gee he fell too.’
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The Duke’s account to his father of the same episode was more restrained: ‘the President of Panama came on board. He was not very exciting & spoke very little English.’
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As they steamed through the Canal the Panamanian press was enchanted by the Duchess. Indeed the King complained again – this time directly to his son – that the newspapers were publishing ‘all sorts of stuff which we thought twaddle … such as what clothes Elizabeth wore’.
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This type of reportage, however, gives a vivid picture of the impression they made. One description stands out: ‘On the upper after deck stood a slight, slender English boy, dressed in the white uniform of a captain of the English Navy … Beside him was a sweet, pretty, charming young woman gowned in a fetching morning gown of pale lavender and carrying a white silk parasol. The man raised his hand to his helmet in a salute, and the little woman waved her handkerchief in goodbye. These two personages were the Duke and Duchess of York.’
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Great crowds waited for them as they went through the locks at Pedro Miguel. The local newspaper reported that ‘a young Britisher, resident on the isthmus, waved his hat and shouted to Her Royal Highness, “How’s the baby?” ’ At which ‘the Duchess leaned over the railing and replied “Baby’s fine.” ’
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In fact she was increasingly miserable about Princess Elizabeth; they both found the terse telegrams from Alah – ‘ALL RIGHT KNIGHT’ – inadequate. Dr Still had dispatched his first report but, of course, it was still afloat on the ocean, with weeks to go before it was delivered.
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From Panama the
Duchess telegraphed home, ‘No message arrived. Please send news at once.’
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As they crossed the Pacific both the Duke and the Duchess seemed to dread the exhaustion that lay ahead. The Duke wrote to his brother complaining about the length and monotony of the voyage, and confessed that he had been feeling very depressed.
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They felt cut off from home; all the news they had was from the regular wireless bulletin ‘which only mentions China and football results’, the Duchess told the Queen in early February. She fretted at the thought that her child might become unwell. ‘I do hope you like having the Baby, and that she continues to be well and happy, and no colds … I miss her quite terribly, and the five weeks we have been away seem like five months.’
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The Queen wrote to tell them that she had heard that Princess Elizabeth had ‘cut her first tooth which is good’, news which could only emphasize all that they were missing. Queen Mary also complained that Dr Still had prevented Princess Elizabeth from visiting them at Sandringham because she had eye trouble and was teething: ‘this was a great disappointment to us but of course we agreed. As a matter of fact the weather here has been & is so much better than anywhere else that I think the fine air wld have done the child good.’
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As soon as the King and Queen returned from Sandringham to London, the little Princess arrived to stay at Buckingham Palace. Queen Mary wrote: ‘she is looking too sweet & seems happy in her new surroundings, she was delighted with the parrot Charlotte this morning at breakfast & watched the bird eating pips with an air of absorption. How nice “Alla” is & baby is turned out too beautifully.’
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The King wrote kindly about the Princess as well, but he was unable to resist making criticisms of his son’s appearance or sense of protocol when he saw fit. He had studied the press photographs of them in Las Palmas and wrote to the Duke, ‘I send you a picture of you inspecting Gd. of Honour (I don’t think much of their dressing) with yr. Equerry walking on yr. right next to the Gd. & you ignoring the Officer entirely. Yr. Equerry should be outside & behind, it certainly doesn’t look well.’ When the Duke eventually received this complaint at the other side of the world, he replied good-naturedly that he had noticed the same thing ‘& I can explain it easily. I had just finished inspecting the guard of honour and was walking back to join
Elizabeth. Buist was taking a message from me. It was an unfortunate moment for the photograph to be taken.’
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They spent a fortnight at sea, steaming south and west and when they reached the equator they both went through the traditional Crossing the Line Ceremony, with all due deference to King Neptune’s domain. The Duchess was presented with the Order of the Golden Mermaid by a member of the ship’s crew dressed as Queen Amphitrite.

They were much in demand on that empty ocean – even the French population of Tahiti were hoping that
Renown
would call upon them. Instead they spent two days on the island of Nuka Hiva, in the French Marquises, Gauguin’s earthly paradise. It was a simple place; only about four ships a year called there. They found it a delight to leave the ship to walk, to fish and to bathe. One evening the islanders danced for them. The Duchess’s reaction was perceptive, if romantic; she wrote to Queen Mary that ‘it was really most remarkable, and very interesting. They are brown and the men quite nice-looking, but very diseased and are rapidly dying out. Instead of being strong healthy cannibals with strange religions and no clothes, they are now weakly half hearted Roman Catholics with European clothes. It seems all wrong, but that is what happens.’
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The Duke and Duchess were by now fully able to enjoy the banter of shipboard life; she took pleasure in the dancing on the quarterdeck – finding the midshipmen especially light on their feet. Patrick Hodgson, who had originally had some misgivings about whether the Duchess had understood the importance of the tour, was by now completely won over, writing to Queen Mary, ‘I now feel I was mistaken and that she is alive to all that is involved.’
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Lord Cavan felt the same.
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They came to Fiji, which was then governed through the Dominion of New Zealand, on 17 February. They landed at Suva, where they presented walking sticks to the tribal chiefs, but the traditional dances of welcome could not take place because of an outbreak of measles. The heat was too intense for midday appointments but they made a late-afternoon drive upcountry to Rewa, visited the War Memorial Hospital and made a trip around the harbour in one of
Renown
’s launches.

The civic welcome was followed by a dinner and ball at the Governor’s House. The
Fiji Times
recorded the impression the Duchess made: she looked ‘radiant. She wore a lovely gown of ivory georgette heavily beaded, with a green rose on one side. She had a white tulle
scarf, and carried a beautiful shaded pink feather fan. Her silver shoes had the heels studded with brilliants. She wore a charming diamond tiara and a valuable pearl necklace adorned her neck.’ The report of the ball was enlivened by an episode that conveyed both her sense of fun and her presence of mind, and contributed to a new image of the Royal Family. ‘When all the guests had shaken hands, a lone dog, which had managed to get into the ballroom, quietly trotted up to Her Royal Highness and held up its paw. The Duchess smilingly shook hands and patted doggy on the head. Apparently perfectly satisfied, the dog followed precedent and quietly passed out of the hall.’
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A
S
THEY
HEADED
south from Fiji, the temperatures began to drop to a delightful 78 degrees, which everyone enjoyed. They were able to gather their strength for the most important stages of the tour. Making their landfall in New Zealand had originally upset the Australian government, which had proposed the tour. The problem was that if the tour had begun in Australia instead, then the subsequent trip to New Zealand would have compelled the Duke and Duchess to endure the worst of New Zealand and Pacific winter weather. The Duke had been determined that his wife should not be subjected to any avoidable strain. In trying to persuade his government to accept this, the Australian High Commissioner in London, Richard Casey, went so far as to suggest that the Duchess’s medical advisers were anxious not to do anything which might prevent her from having another child, something ardently desired by the British public.
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In the end, the Australian government had accepted the decision with good grace.

Two days before they arrived in New Zealand, after a voyage lasting almost seven weeks, they received a cable from the King and Queen reminding them of the seriousness of their task: ‘You are about to land in New Zealand and start on the first stage of your mission; and we shall more than ever follow your doings with affectionate interest. There is a strenuous time before you but we know that you both will do everything to secure the success which has already attended your efforts.’
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At dawn on 22 February
Renown
passed through the straits into the bay of Waitemata, the port of Auckland. Later that morning, as rain fell heavily, they stepped ashore to be greeted by the Governor General, Sir Charles Fergusson, and their official visit began.

The Duchess liked New Zealand and its people at once.
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And she made an impact on her hosts which one could call extraordinary – were it not for the fact that it was becoming normal wherever she went. Lord Cavan reported to the King that she looked radiant as they landed and were taken to the packed town hall for the official welcome. There the Duke replied to the address. ‘It was really very well delivered,’ Cavan said, ‘and after the first two or three sentences it was fluently and forcefully spoken.’
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The Duke was also pleased. He told his mother that he had had to make three speeches on the first day they arrived: ‘I had perfect confidence in myself & I did not hesitate at all. Logue’s teaching is still working well, but of course if I get tired, it still worries me.’
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