Evening star., 1953-11-23
Elizabeth and Philip
Leave on Six-Month
GIObaI Trip Tonight
BY the Assoeiossd Pres.

LONDON, Nov. %. - Flying
weather fit for queen was fore
cast for the start tonight of the
six-month round world COM
monwealth tour by Elizabeth II
and her husband, the Duke of
Edinburgh.
Security guards at London
airport kept a 24-hour watch
over the built strato-
cruiser Canopus. 1t will take
the royal couple to Bermuda,
travelling by way of Gander.
Newfoundland.
Workmen put finishing touches
on platforms for television
cameras to carry the departure
to an audience estimated by the
British Broadcasting Corp. at
IL million.
The farewell was planned as
full state occasion, with members
of the royal family on hand to
see the Queen and the Duke off
along with Prime Minister
Churchill and the common
wealth high commissioners in
London.
Safeguards for Flight.
Extraordinary precautions
were taken to safeguard the
flight. Eight destroyers of the
British and Canadian navies
were spaced out across the North
Atlantic for a radio watch of the
2,400-mile flight to Gapder.
The Royal Canadian Air Force
bombers will provide a flying es-
cort for the last 900 miles of the
Atlantic hop and will accom-
pany the Canopus for the rest of
the way to Bermuda tomorrow
morning.
The royal couple will be gone
until next May.
During the Queens absence, a |
council of state including Queen |
Mother Elizabeth, Princess Mar
garet, the Duke of Gloucester
and the Princess Royal and her !
son, the Earl of Harewood, will
act for Elizabeth.
From Bermuda, the party flies
on Wednesday to Jamaica. After
two days there, they board the |
liner Gothic for passage through |
the Panama Canal and into the
Pacific to visit Fiji. Tonga. New |
Zealand and Australia. En- route |
from Australia home they will |
stop at Cocos, Ceylon, Alden,
Uganda, Tobruk in Libya, Malta
and Gibraltar.
The party will cover a total of |
about $4,000 miles.
Recordings for Children.
The Queen will make her an
nual Christmas day broadcast
from New Zealand. She and her
husband will keep in touch with |
their children, Prince Charles !
and Princess Anne, by means of !
voice recordings flown to London
every few days.
The royal children also will |
make records which will be flown |
out to their parents.
The pleasure isles of Bermuda, |
Britain's oldest self governing
colony. cracked with excitement |
and preparations for the royal
visit.
The highest hills and buildings
we're topped with models of |
crowns and studded with colored |
electric lights. Flags, bunting
and oral arches were readied to
feStoon the royal route. Matrons
and debutantes practiced their
curtseys and put finishing
touches to their dresses for the
garden party Gov. Sir Alexander
Hood will give tomorrow after
noon. Men on the invitation list
assembled formal morning
clothes and even spatS.
The crowded, carefully re-
hearsed program for the one-day
visit included a tour by convert
ible automobile and horse drawn
landaus. a stop at st. Georges
Town, site of the oldest Anglican
church west of the British Isles;
a joint meeting of the 333-year-
old House of Assembly and Leg
islative Council, the common
wealth's oldest colonial Parlia-
ment; a luncheon cruise from
the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club;
a special sailing race, and a state
dinner after the garden party.