As the year advanced, defence preparations came more and
more to the fore; but the need to strengthen friendships was not neglected,
so in May and June, the King and Queen responded to long-standing invitations
and for seven weeks carried out a strenuous tour of North America, all
across Canada and then into the United States. The tour was a great success.
In both official and informal meetings the Royal travellers did much to
make Canadian loyalties firmer and rebuild Anglo-American understanding
at a time when there had been an isolationist element in the U.S. trying
to pretend that the evils of Hitler and Mussolini were of no concern to
them.
The diplomatic importance of the visit was recognised when the King and
Queen returned to Britain on June 22nd. On July 1st 1939, the ILN published
a ‘Royal Home-Coming Number'
(Appendix List No. 128). It concentrates
on their arrival at Southampton in the ‘Empress of Britain’
and their return to London and the drive to Buckingham Palace; their welcome
by a crowd of 50,000 people when they appeared on the Palace balcony,
and the royal procession to Guildhall on June 23rd. A double coloured
centre fold shows a painting of Queen Elizabeth.
The cover has a sepia coloured photograph of the King and Queen acknowledging
the cheering London crowds from their open landau. It is framed by a triumphal
arch along the lintel of which are the words ‘A Great Welcome Home
to Their Majesties’. The coats of arms of the Canadian States fill
the bottom frame between the arms of Canada and the U.S.A. The overall
colour is red, white and blue.
This is issue number 5228, vol. 195, pages 1-48, measuring 37 x 126 cm
and priced at one shilling.