Announcement Expected

Britain's Prime Minister Anthony Eden last week made a flying trip to Balmoral to consult his Queen. At the same time, Group Captain Peter Townsend, R.A.F., announced from his diplomatic post in Brussels that he was planning a return to England on leave sometime after Oct. 9.

Though neither of these incidents was remarkable in itself, taken together they were more than coincidence. Eden was taking along to Balmoral for the Queen's approval a statement carefully prepared by the Lord Chancellor announcing Princess Margaret's engagement to Peter Townsend.

Only a few of the topmost government officials know the precise content of the statement. Even the press last week remained officially unaware of it, for in royal-family matters, the responsible British press acts much like a faithful family retainer--protective, discreet, and only affectionately chiding. But for more than two years, while palace and government have maintained an icy silence, Britain's press has aligned itself solidly in favor of the royal romance. Without affronting palace privacy, it has done its best to keep the public up-to-date on each new development in the case. When Townsend was in England this summer, the papers duly reported his frequent visits to the houses of those close to the royal family, proving he still stood high in the royal favor. Last week the newspapers went so far as to hint that the Queen and her Prime Minister were discussing the problem.

Beyond such hints, however, the discreet press cannot and will not go until given leave by the palace itself, a signal now expected in mid-October, when the royal family returns from Scotland and the announcement comes out of Eden's pocket for the public to read.

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