Royal Exit

Princess Elizabeth bade farewell to Canada one evening this week before a gold-plated CBC microphone in the ancient (1833) Government House at St. John's, Nfld. Said she: "I am grateful to you for the glimpse ... of the greatness of this nation and the even greater future which is within its grasp . . . You have given me a new strength and inspiration which I know will always help me . . ." Next day with Prince Philip she heard a choir sing Squid Jiggin' Ground at the fishing village of Portugal Cove, boarded the liner Empress of Scotland anchored in the bay, and sailed for home.

During their 34-day visit to Canada and the U.S., Elizabeth and Philip covered some 14,800 miles, and stopped at some 70 communities. About half of Canada's 14 million people caught a glimpse of them. There was no doubt that the tour was a success, but a gush of purple words from newsmen and extravagant platitudes from welcoming dignitaries tended to obscure its real accomplishments.

One of these was certainly its usefulness to Elizabeth's education in public behavior. Her initial appearances were disappointing. Instead of the poised and charming beauty most Canadians had expected, she was nervous and inarticulate. But Elizabeth showed that she could learn quickly. By last week's wind-up stretch through snowclad Quebec into the Maritimes, she was surprisingly relaxed. In high spirits after a dinner at Saint John, N.B., she performed what looked like an impromptu waltz step to the lilt of a band at the station. The ubiquitous cameramen caught her saying thanks and goodbye in Charlottestown, P.E.I, to the porters of her train.

The trip was important politically. For one thing, Elizabeth was the first happy news in years from troubled Britain. Her smart wardrobe was good medicine for prejudice against British taste in North American clothing markets. In the Canadian prairies, she soothed many a farmer's gripe about Britain's reduced food buying. She was convincing proof of what the Times of London called "the benign influence of the British monarchy."

London thought the tour was also a timely antidote in Canada to the economic and cultural pull of the U.S. Said an aging Edmontonian: "Us Canadians have always suffered from an inferiority complex. A royal visit like that one is a pleasant lift for the ego." Said the Princess in her St. John's farewell: "Although I am happy to be returning to my family and my children, I am also leaving a country which has become a second home . . . We have been welcomed with a warmth of heart that has made us feel how truly we belong to Canada."

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