Beyond the Great Divide

"Smile, Earl!" commanded the photographer in a nasal Brooklyn accent.

Since the Earl of Snowdon used to earn his living on the other end of a camera, he grinned obligingly as he and Princess Margaret deplaned for Customs and milling lensmen and diplomats last week in New York. It was Elizabeth's kid sister's first trip to the U.S., a 20-day tour of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tucson, Washington and New York, and on hand to welcome her, as New York City's deputy official greeter, was a member of one of America's own royal families. "Charlotte Ford, 24, curtsied and gave Meg a bouquet of roses and stephanotis. "Thank you," said Margaret, adding graciously: "And how is your father?"

Everywhere Meg went, in fact, a varied assortment of the nation's own version of noblemen and -women were eager to greet her. In San Francisco, Hello, Dollyl's Carol Channing showed up for an English-Speaking Union luncheon, and Bullfight Expert Barnaby Conrad graced an exclusive dinner given by Socialite Whitney Warren atop Telegraph Hill. Down at the Bistro in Beverly Hills, the banquet list of Hollywood aristocrats included Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye and a couple of Queen Elizabeth's loyal subjects named Burton. Margaret promptly upset her security guards in San Francisco by insisting on an unscheduled ride aboard a cable car up Hyde Street, but not in rush hour.

The English-Speaking Union luncheon was accompanied by a fashion show of English styles on sale at I. Magnin & Co., and indeed, Margaret's whole trip--together with her top-secret wardrobe--is meant, among other things, to boost Britain's $10 million-a-year fashion trade with the U.S. For the luncheon, Margaret wore a silver-and-white brocade dress with matching coat, a mink hat and a spray of diamonds. For U.S. women, who are continually perplexed by British royalty's choice of clothes, the New York Times's Charlotte Curtis elucidated: "It is the kind of thing British royalty often wears, whether snipping a ribbon or watching the horses at Ascot. But in the U.S. such clothes are reserved for afternoon weddings, bar mitzvahs or cocktail parties."

Anxious to see what Margaret would wear for a really formal occasion, Californians were bidding up to $1,000 apiece for $100 tickets to a Los Angeles charity ball she is scheduled to attend this week.

Princess Margaret, however, evaded her admirers for sightseeing jaunts in a red Cadillac convertible and aboard a yacht in San Francisco Bay. Giggled one British official's wife, watching newsmen trying to keep pace: "It's all a bit of a wow, isn't it?"

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