It is clear that Princess Elizabeth and her husband have
achieved no ordinary success in Canada, a fact which augurs well for the similar mission they are shortly to undertake in the King's stead in Australia and New Zealand. That is due in no small measure to the qualities of the royal couple themselves. As the future Queen of Canada the Princess could not but be greeted with enthusiasm by the citizens of so peculiarly loyal a Dominion as Canada. But her personality—youth,warmth,gaiety, combined with an underlying seriousness—was at least as much responsible for her welcome as her descent. And so was the fact that the Princess is a young mother. Canadians care more for the human side of things than for the official, and on the human side the Princess and the Duke appealed to them throughout. The Duke of Edinburgh had a special role to play, and he played it admirably. A man of considerable attainments and an excel- lent speaker, he might well have occupied more of the limelight than he did. Actually he kept just a step behind the Princess, and never two steps—which was just as it should be. The Princess and the Duke have again demonstrated how singularly well they complement each other. The service they have rendered in Canada may be confidently regarded as the prelude to many and greater services to the Commonwealth yet.
Previous page
