Royal tours were to play a large part during the early
part of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. The first (and biggest) Royal Tour
of the present reign, in 1953 and 1954, was basically the round-the-globe
Commonwealth journey which Her Majesty as Princess Elizabeth was about
to accomplish when her father died. Now the itinerary was greatly extended
and the programme stuffed with engagements beyond counting. The travellers
were away from the UK for six months and logged 50,000 miles, visiting
Bermuda, Jamaica, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand (for 6 weeks), Australia (for
2 months), Ceylon, Aden, Uganda, Libya, Malta and Gibraltar.
The tour started on November 23, 1953, and the ILN produced its special
‘The Royal Tour’ number on November 28, 1953
(Appendix List No. 154). It shows the Queen
setting off on the B.O.A.C. stratocruiser ‘Canopus’ for the
flight to Bermuda, the first stage of the tour. The other pages have scenes
of places the royal pair would be visiting during the tour.
The cover displays a formal coloured portrait of the Queen in her robes
and the Duke in ceremonial dress. Surrounding the rectangular frame are
the coats of arms of all those countries the royal couple would be visiting.
This is issue number 5980, vol. 223, pages 849-900, measuring 37 x 26
cm and priced at two shillings.