STORY TOWN: Hornby

THE QUEEN VISITS HORNBY

Listen as Kevin Whitelaw tells Jesse Mulligan about when he presented the Queen with a bouquet as she passed through Hornby on Friday, January 22, 1954, when he was 7 years old.

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THE PRESS, VOLUME XC, ISSUE 27255, 23 JANUARY 1954, PAGE 8

BOUQUETS FROM CHILDREN

ROADSIDE GIFTS TO QUEEN UNOFFICIAL STOPS ON JOURNEt SOUTH The Royal car made two unofficial stops on the drive from Christchurch to Ashburton yesterday, so that children could present bouquets to the Queen. There was a delightful gesture of farewell as the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh passed through Hornby. The Royal car came slowly to a standstill in the middle of the township, and the Queen accepted a bouquet from a small fair-haired boy, held up by his aunt Then, after only a few seconds* stop; the Royal landaulette resumed its journey. The* originator of the presentation was Mrs E. Kingston, the aunt of seven-year-old Kevin Whitelaw, son of Mr and Mrs C. F. R. Whitelaw, who have a fruit shop in Hornby. She said to Mrs Whitelaw on Thursday evening that “it would be nice to make some farewell gesture to the Queen from Hornby.” > Early this morning, Mrs Whitelaw picked flowers from her own garden for the bouquet. In the bouquet were gladioli, pink, red, and mauve earns, lions—reputed to be the Queen’s favourite flowers—and gypsophila. As the Royal car glided slowly into Hornby between lines of cheering children and adults, Mrs Kingston held up her small nephew, dressed -in a blue shirt and fawn shorts, towards the car. The car stopped, and the Queen herself lowered a window. Kevin said quietly to the Queen, “Excuse me. Your Majesty,” and handed her the flowers. The Queen smilingly accepted the gift, and said. “Thank you, dear.” Then the car moved off again. By this time, hundreds of children and adults had an excellent view of the Queen and the Duke. Balt at Sakai*

The Queen made a gracious gesture to a small girl at Rakaia, where mhre than 2000 persons had lined the Main South road. The Royal car approached the crowd slowly. A flve-year-old girl. Heather Ashford, holding a bouquet, stood on the edge of a grassy slope, in front of a group of school children When the Queen saw the child, she lowered the window of the car -and said: “Oh, look; how lovely.” Her Majesty told her chauffeur to stop, and Mrs Stephen Parr, wife of the vicar of Rakaia, lifted up the child to present the flowers to the Queen from the children of Rakaia. “They are lovely. Thank you so much,” said the Queen, when Heather handed her the bouquet. Rakaia township had been generously decorated to welcome the Queen. The south aproach to the traffic bridge was decorated with sheaves of grain and scarlet flowers, and a sign bearing the words, “Welcome to Mid-Canter-bury.” In the township, a crown topped a wall of flowers, and beside this was the sign, “Rakaia Welcomes its Queen and Royal Duke.” “Children came from districts stretching from the hills to the sea, and It was a wonderful opportunity tor them to see the Queen closely when Heather gave Her Majesty the bouquet,” said Mrs M. E. Mead, a member of the Rakaia Decorations Committee, later yesterday. “When the committee met last evening to decorate the point in the bend of the road, we decided to make some gesture of farewell to the Queen. It was agreed to give Her Majesty the flowers,” said Mrs Mead. Heather Ashford is a daughter of Mr and Mrs W. B. Ashford, of Rakaia. Hie pink and white gladioli in the bouquet were grown in the garden of Mrs I. H. Doak.

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A BIT OF ROYAL GOSSIP: We can’t find proof that those were the Queen’s favourite flowers, but we this article can give you some clues:

REVEALED: The British Royal Family’s Favourite Flowers

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