Evening star., 1953-06-01
Gay London Lets
Down Air Awaiting
Rites Tomorrow
Continued From First Page.)

and Manchester, from smaller
cities and rural districts, the
people-plain, ordinary, worka-
day English people-have come
to this throbbing heart Of Lon
don to see.
There is more tha1s ordinary
meaning to the word "See" be-
cause, for the moment, every
thing is visual. It is seeing that
they want, to feast their eyes, to
I'LL their eyes, to excite and then
to rest their eyes upon all that
spells enchantment and magic to
them-from the Queen smiling
in her limousine en- route to re-
hearSal at the Abbey or a glimpse
of her mother and sister to the
last bit Of red, white and blue
bunting or a heraldic banner
strung from a building.
There is so much in this last
minute pre-coronation London
to enchant the eye and excite the
senses! A somewhat unrelated
mass of color and decorations
that express individuality and
enthusiasm rather than cohe-
sion becomes q veritable fairy
land at night when darkness
gentleS some Of the gariShnesS
and the hoodlightS are turned
on. Some of these bits are ex-
quisite.
Avenue Of Crowns.
In the Mall, that broad avenue
stretching from Buckingham
Palace to Trafalgar Square, the
street has been rooted with a
series of golden crowns. feminine
In their delicate shape and light
ness. Floodlit at night, they
achieve a touching grace and air.
ineSS. The theme of Whitehall
decorations is silvery helmets
crossed with the white belts of
the famous Horse Guards. Re-
gent street which, with its motif
Of giant pink roses is not too
happy by day. becomes a magic
garden at night.
The Thames is q jeweled band
Of colored lights and every ship
that plies her waters is a lady
dressed to kill. Lights concealed
in the trees along the embank-
ment cause their deep greens to
leap out of the black velvet Of
night.
Everywhere the Union Jack is
spotlighted it floats proud and
disembodied over the dark build
ings. There are window displays
to be seen. hundreds Of thousands
Of photographs of the Queen.
soldiers and sailors of the Com
monwealth, Africans, Indians,
Pakistanis wandering the streets
to see for themselves this wonder
city as well as be seen.
Traffic Flow ChOked.
The traffic jams are of them
selves a fantastic sight, of course.
To complicate an already packed
city center hampered by bottle
necks created by traffic gates and
barriers set up to seal of the
coronation route. hundreds upon
hundreds of sightseeing buses
have booked trips to and tours
through the coronation area.
These huge monsters, along with
the big red British double-decker
transportation buses which run
from four to five house behind
schedule, fussy little cabs and
thousands Of private cars as
well have all but choked the flow
Of traffic through London's heart.
Last night when I went out
to wander on the embankment,
along Parliament Square. in
the vicinity of the Abbey, White
hall. the Mall and Trafalgar
Square, there must have been
literally miles of motionlesS
buses. From many of them came
the sound of singing. No horns
weret hooted. Nobody became
impatient. The police did their
best. Thousands who were walk
ing the streets gaped happily at
thousands who rode and who
gaped right back at the walkers.
Another Viewpoint.
I must contrast what I have
seen here in the streets and
felt from the hearts of the
people with the statement made
at a Lowestoft Socialist Party
meeting by Mrs. Barbara Castle
Socialist member of Parliament
for Blackburn East:
II hope it is the last corona
ton Of this kind this country.
will ever see, utterly unrepre-
sentative as it is of Britain and
the Commonwealth of ordinary
people"
1t is from this killjoy spirit
that the ordinary people Of
Britain have at last seemed to
escape. You have only to look
into bus to see families there
mother. father. granny and
the children; very plain and
ordinary people - to note the
excitement and pleasure reflect
ed on their faces.
Many buses are filled with
children. their eyes larger than
the glowing street lamps and
shining more brightly than the
foodlightS. Above their heads
there are lacy golden crowns.
lions. unicorns, grifflns, dragons
and other heraldic beasts to feast
their eyes on and feed their
lamentations. All about them is
fairyland and they themselves
are participants in this great
goth century fairy tale.
Tuesday will belong to the
Queen and her court, the peers