MRS ROOSEVELT IN LONDON

Southland Times, Issue 24884, 26 October 1942, Page 5

MRS ROOSEVELT IN LONDON

TOUR WITH KING AND QUEEN

(8.0.W.) RUGBY, October 24. Before lunching with the King and Queen at Buckingham Palace to meet the chiefs of the women’s services Mrs Roosevelt this morning said, when commenting on her visit: “I am interested in every phase of what the women in Britain have accomplished. You have had a good many more years’ experience than we have had. A great many men and some women have thought at home that women would not be needed for various things. They are now finding that women are very much needed for a good many things. I think there is a great deal for me to learn and I am hoping to learn all I can. I think there is a great deal from your experience and your knowledge we shall be able to use.” After luncheon Mrs Roosevelt accompanied the King and Queen on a visit to St. Paul’s and the blitzed areas in the city and East End. They were given a warm welcome by a large crowd outside St. Paul’s. At the city A.R.P. control centre they were welcomed by the Lord Mayor, Sir John Laurie. News of the tour had reached the East End and crowds lined the streets and children waved flags. After the tour of inspection they took tea with the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress at the Mansion House. The warmth of the welcome accorded Mrs Roosevelt by the people is reflected by the Press comment on the visit. The Times, particularly, welcomes the prospect of Mrs Roosevelt continuing in England the kind of public services she is accustomed to pursue in the United States, travelling widely, taking an interest in the people and bringing back to her husband a view of the American scene.

The Daily Mail comments that the visit is like the Royal visit to America. “It has unceremonious aspects of friendship, not only between personalities, but between peoples,” it says.