ROYAL VISITORS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 February 1939, Page 5

ROYAL VISITORS

DUKE & DUCHESS OF KENT

COMING TO NEW ZEALAND NEXT YEAR.

PRIME MINISTER WELCOMES

ANNOUNCEMENT.

(By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day

New Zealand is to be honoured next year with a visit from the Duke and Duchess of Kent. A cable message received yesterday states that an announcement of the visit was made by the Duke at a dinner given by the New Zealand Society in London. The Prime Minister, Mr Savage, in an 'interview last evening, said the New Zealand Government had been officially advised of the visit, which was to be made at the end of 1940. “We will all be delighted to meet their Royal Highnesses,” said Mr Savage. “They will be assured of a warm welcome from the Government and the people of the Dominion. 1 hope they will take the opportunity of visiting various parts of New Zealand and seeing for themselves something of the great possibilities of this country.” The London cable message states that following the announcement by the Duke that he and the Duchess would visit New Zealand, the chairman, Mr W. J. Jordan, led enthusiastic applause. The Duke of Kent added: “We shall try by our personal efforts more closely to unite the Commonwealth of Nations and shall practise what we are npw preaching. When I visit New Zealand I want to see the country and to see the Maoris if possible. I shall think not only of the beauty of the spene but of all for which it stands in your and in our eyes. New Zealand is a magic word and conjures up fascinating pictures of a country with wonderful scenery apart from its wonderful grazing and dairy resources.” The Dominions Secretary. Sir Thomas Inskip, paid a tribute to New Zealand’s enterprise. Four hundred distinguished guests included Lord Bledisloe. A nine-foot model of a Maori war canoe adorned the central table. The occasion was the ninty-ninth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Duke has accepted membership of the New Zealand Society.

TRAVEL PLANS DEPARTURE FOR AUSTRALIA IN OCTOBER. (Received This Day, 9.25 a.m.) LONDON, February 7. It is officially announced that the Duke and Duchess of Kent will leave for Australia in the second week of October, arriving at Fremantle on November 14. SWEARING-IN. ANNOUNCEMENT OF PROBABLE DATE. (Received This Day, 11.20 a.m.) HOBART, This Day. The Federal Premier (Mr J. A. Lyons), announced that the Duke of Kent would probably be sworn in as Gover-nor-General of Australia in Canberra on November 21 or November 22,