When Princess Elizabeth discovered Paris in 1948
Jun 7, 2014 18:05:52 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2014 18:05:52 GMT
I thought this was a lovely article in Le Figaro today giving an account of the first visit ever made abroad by Elizabeth II. I ran it through Google Translate and corrected the results.
The Queen of England has never forgotten her first trip to Paris in May 1948. Several times since Thursday, during her fifth and final state visit, she mentioned this trip.
When François Hollande gave Queen Elizabeth II a series of pictures showing her meeting with the Presidents of the French Republic who received her during her many official visits to France, Her Majesty asked why the picture in which she appears alongside Vincent Auriol was missing. The Elysée had not chosen this shot, taken during the first visit of Elizabeth to Paris in 1948, because she was then just a princess. Throughout her state visit to France, which was completed late Saturday morning, Elizabeth II spoke of her first stay in Paris, which deeply and durably marked her. It was a journey of four days, from May 14 to 17, 1948, just three years after the end of the war. She was twenty two and pregnant with the future Prince Charles. It was the first time in her life that she had ever left British soil.
Thursday, May 14, 1948. Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh leave England on a ferry boat to Dunkirk. The Duke of Edinburgh wore the uniform of a naval officer, was in official control of the ship leaving the port of Dover. The "little princess," as the press had dubbed her, stayed in her cabin cabin for the duration of the voyage, to the chagrin of other passengers. The princely suite was complosed of only four people: a companion, a maid, a private secretary and a lieutenant.
Despite a thick fog, the ferry arrived half an hour earlier than the schedule and arrived in the port of Dunkirk at 3:30 am. After a wait, the royal couple took the train at 5:07 to reach Paris, where they were expected at 9:25. The locomotive was polished and refurbished for two days. The wagon in which they travelled was filled with flowers, offered by the SNCF. The princess wore a pearl gray suit and a hat in the same tone, decorated with four roses covered with pink tulle. The press hailed the "charming ease" of the princess. The couple were welcomed with jubilation and fervor. Walking through the streets of Paris, Elizabeth was surprised by this "loving" and "enthusiastic" reception. She wondered "but how could the French have guillotined a king?"
Staying in the Galliera Palace, the princess repeats that this visit to France is her first to "in a foreign country" and also says during an official speech that "all men, whether they be English or any other nationality, have a lot to learn from the French." The trip schedule is extremely busy: Sunday at Longchamp, dinner for 56 at the Elysée Palace, an evening at the opera, a lunch at Barbizon, another at the Trianon, a boat ride on the Seine ... At Versailles, the princess visits the seventeenth century apartments, the halls of the Entente Cordiale. "I am happy to finally see these places that I dreamed of in my childhood," she says to the curator of the château.
On Monday evening, the royal couple is scheduled to dine at the Paris restaurant La Tour d'Argent. The British princess of England can choose anything on the menu without constraint and has consommé madrilène, fillets of grilled sole, pressed duck and Walters soufflé. She tastes an 1848 Port wine called "Port back from India", whose story has it that it travelled around the world five times in the hold of a ship. The evening is finished at the Carrère night club. The princess is wearing a midnight blue satin dress, matching clips with diamonds, and a white fox cape. The Duke has a ruby coloured carnation in his buttonhole. Elizabeth dances a few slow songs with her husband, then with Lord Duncannon. Then she watches a performance by to the "visionary Henri Salvador" (in the words of the press of the time) and Edith Piaf. The latter is presented to the princess, who invites her to her table.
Although Elizabeth enjoyed this dazzling evening, she keeps one regret. Before leaving London, she had expressed her wish to attend a performance of “Dirty Hands” by Jean-Paul Sartre, much to the chagrin of the British Embassy in Paris, which tried to dissuade her. According to the journalist of Le Figaro, Maurice Repin, published in the edition of May 18, 1948: "It took on the appearance of a competition between the princess and the embassy. The latter thought it was not appropriate or desirable for the future Queen of England to attend a play where politics is stigmatized as a monstrous evil. It would not be appropriate for her to hear some particularly brutal and cruel lines. Without doubt it was tricky but she absolutely wanted to go. At the insistence of the princess, the embassy was forced to book a four person box overlooking the stage and twenty-four orchestra seats. However, it was hoped that she would eventually bow to the raison d’état.”
The Théâtre Antoine Lucien Brulé was ready to receive the Princess and the Duke of Edinburgh. Two days before the performance, the embassy called and requested it to "hold the seats." But on the eve of the show, the theater was finally advised that the seats were to be released. The journalist concludes: "Officials services had strongarmed Elizabeth and the flowers that were to decorate her box adorned the theatre manager’s office instead.”
Sixty-six years ago was also Pentecost weekend, and Elizabeth strolled through the flower market along the Seine. This is what she chose to do on this Saturday morning, just before flying back to London. The streets were full of Parisians waving French and British flags, shouting "Long live the queen!" On a giant screen installed on the site, there were scrolling images in black and white of her first visit in 1948. The Queen knows that she will never return. The cycle is complete.
I just hope that QE2 managed at some time in her life to finally see "Dirty Hands."
The Queen of England has never forgotten her first trip to Paris in May 1948. Several times since Thursday, during her fifth and final state visit, she mentioned this trip.
When François Hollande gave Queen Elizabeth II a series of pictures showing her meeting with the Presidents of the French Republic who received her during her many official visits to France, Her Majesty asked why the picture in which she appears alongside Vincent Auriol was missing. The Elysée had not chosen this shot, taken during the first visit of Elizabeth to Paris in 1948, because she was then just a princess. Throughout her state visit to France, which was completed late Saturday morning, Elizabeth II spoke of her first stay in Paris, which deeply and durably marked her. It was a journey of four days, from May 14 to 17, 1948, just three years after the end of the war. She was twenty two and pregnant with the future Prince Charles. It was the first time in her life that she had ever left British soil.
Thursday, May 14, 1948. Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh leave England on a ferry boat to Dunkirk. The Duke of Edinburgh wore the uniform of a naval officer, was in official control of the ship leaving the port of Dover. The "little princess," as the press had dubbed her, stayed in her cabin cabin for the duration of the voyage, to the chagrin of other passengers. The princely suite was complosed of only four people: a companion, a maid, a private secretary and a lieutenant.
Despite a thick fog, the ferry arrived half an hour earlier than the schedule and arrived in the port of Dunkirk at 3:30 am. After a wait, the royal couple took the train at 5:07 to reach Paris, where they were expected at 9:25. The locomotive was polished and refurbished for two days. The wagon in which they travelled was filled with flowers, offered by the SNCF. The princess wore a pearl gray suit and a hat in the same tone, decorated with four roses covered with pink tulle. The press hailed the "charming ease" of the princess. The couple were welcomed with jubilation and fervor. Walking through the streets of Paris, Elizabeth was surprised by this "loving" and "enthusiastic" reception. She wondered "but how could the French have guillotined a king?"
Staying in the Galliera Palace, the princess repeats that this visit to France is her first to "in a foreign country" and also says during an official speech that "all men, whether they be English or any other nationality, have a lot to learn from the French." The trip schedule is extremely busy: Sunday at Longchamp, dinner for 56 at the Elysée Palace, an evening at the opera, a lunch at Barbizon, another at the Trianon, a boat ride on the Seine ... At Versailles, the princess visits the seventeenth century apartments, the halls of the Entente Cordiale. "I am happy to finally see these places that I dreamed of in my childhood," she says to the curator of the château.
On Monday evening, the royal couple is scheduled to dine at the Paris restaurant La Tour d'Argent. The British princess of England can choose anything on the menu without constraint and has consommé madrilène, fillets of grilled sole, pressed duck and Walters soufflé. She tastes an 1848 Port wine called "Port back from India", whose story has it that it travelled around the world five times in the hold of a ship. The evening is finished at the Carrère night club. The princess is wearing a midnight blue satin dress, matching clips with diamonds, and a white fox cape. The Duke has a ruby coloured carnation in his buttonhole. Elizabeth dances a few slow songs with her husband, then with Lord Duncannon. Then she watches a performance by to the "visionary Henri Salvador" (in the words of the press of the time) and Edith Piaf. The latter is presented to the princess, who invites her to her table.
Although Elizabeth enjoyed this dazzling evening, she keeps one regret. Before leaving London, she had expressed her wish to attend a performance of “Dirty Hands” by Jean-Paul Sartre, much to the chagrin of the British Embassy in Paris, which tried to dissuade her. According to the journalist of Le Figaro, Maurice Repin, published in the edition of May 18, 1948: "It took on the appearance of a competition between the princess and the embassy. The latter thought it was not appropriate or desirable for the future Queen of England to attend a play where politics is stigmatized as a monstrous evil. It would not be appropriate for her to hear some particularly brutal and cruel lines. Without doubt it was tricky but she absolutely wanted to go. At the insistence of the princess, the embassy was forced to book a four person box overlooking the stage and twenty-four orchestra seats. However, it was hoped that she would eventually bow to the raison d’état.”
The Théâtre Antoine Lucien Brulé was ready to receive the Princess and the Duke of Edinburgh. Two days before the performance, the embassy called and requested it to "hold the seats." But on the eve of the show, the theater was finally advised that the seats were to be released. The journalist concludes: "Officials services had strongarmed Elizabeth and the flowers that were to decorate her box adorned the theatre manager’s office instead.”
Sixty-six years ago was also Pentecost weekend, and Elizabeth strolled through the flower market along the Seine. This is what she chose to do on this Saturday morning, just before flying back to London. The streets were full of Parisians waving French and British flags, shouting "Long live the queen!" On a giant screen installed on the site, there were scrolling images in black and white of her first visit in 1948. The Queen knows that she will never return. The cycle is complete.
I just hope that QE2 managed at some time in her life to finally see "Dirty Hands."
