Berkshire and The War: the "Reading Standard" pictorial record. Volume 4. p 761

THE KING AND QUEEN AT READING.
Visits to War Hospital, Messrs. Sutton & Sons and Messrs. Huntley & Palmers, Ltd.
The K in g and Queen trav elled by special
train on th e G .W . Railway t o Reading on
Tuesday, March 12th, 1918, atten d ed by
the D owager Countess o f Airlie, Major
Reginald Seymou r and th e Earl of Cromer.
Their M a jesties w ere received on arrival by
th e Lord -Lieutenant o f Berkshire (M r. J .
H . Benyon ) and Dam e Edith Benyon, th e
Mayor and M a yoress o f R ea d in g, th e Town
Clerk and M rs. Clutterbuck , Brigadier General E. A . W . S. G rove, Colonel H . F.
Coleridge and Staff.
T he K in g inspected
tho G uard o f H on ou r o f th e Berkshire
Volunteers and th e Reading School Officers
Training Corps, and th e ir M a jesties then
drove by m otor ca r to th e Reading War
Hospita l, bein g received th ere by th e Com­
mandant, Colonel W . J . Maurice, Royal
Army Medical Corps, Miss L . Steen (th e
Matron ), and th e S ta ff o f th e Hospital.
A fte r in sp ectin g th e va riou s w ards the
K in g decora ted certain n on-com m issioned
officers and men and presen ted Military
medals t o th e n ext-of-k in .
P roceed in g to th e Royal Seed Establishment­
of M essrs. Sutton and Sons, th e
K in g and Queen w ere received by M r.
Arthur W . Sutton , M r. Leonard G.
Sutton, and M r. Martin F . H . Sutton, and th e establishm ent staff.
M r. C. K . Butler, D ivision al Food Commissioner
fo r th e S outhern M idlands, and M r. L .
Weaver, D ire cto r of Supplies, Food Production D epa rtm en t, w ere in attendance.
Their M a jesties then drove t o th e Town
Hall, w here a num ber of rep resen ta tive
ladies and gen tlem en, prom in ent war w ork
ers in th e tow n and d is trict o f R ea d in g,
had th e h onou r o f bein g presen ted to the
K in g and Queen by th e M ayor, in cluding
Lieutenant-Colonel Leslie Wilson, M .P .,
M rs. Leslie Wilson, th e V en era ble th e
Archdeacon of Berkshire, th e R e v . F a th er
Kernan (represen tin g th e Roman Catholic
Clergy in R e a d in g ), M r. J . Okey Taylor
(senior magistrate o f th e Borough ), and Sir
Percy Sanderson (Chairman of th e Royal
Berkshire Hospital).
In the a ftern oon th eir M a jesties drove to
Messrs. Huntley and Palmers Biscuit Factory and w ere received by M r. W. Howard
Palmer (Chairman), M r. E . E . Palmer
(D cpu tv-C hairm an), M r. Alfred Palmer,
Sir Ernest Palmer, B t., M r. E . C. N . Palmer and th e staff o f th e Factory .

A t the H o s p ita l th e K in g an d Q u een h a d a
w arm w e lco m e fr o m co n v a le sce n t m en g r o u p e d
on th e la w n and nurses clu ste re d o n b a lcon ies
an d r o o fs . T h r o u g h o u t th e to u r o f th e prem ises
o f M essrs. Sutto n and Sons th e K in g an d Q ueen
sh ow ed sp ecial in te re st in e v e ry th in g w h ich c o n ­
cern ed th e cultivation o f potatoes, an d the
q u es tion in g b e g u n in th e museum b e ca m e closer
w hen th e se e d potato d e p a r tm e n t was rea ch ed .
On a rriv al th e Q u een was p re se n te d w ith a lo v e ­
ly b o u q u e t b y th e little d a u g h te r o f M rs. Martin
H . F . Sutto n . I t con sisted o f p in k and w h ite
cy cla m e n in tersp ersed w ith fe rn , an d was m ad e
u p a t Messrs. Sutton's ow n n u rsery. T h e b o u q u e t
was th e a d m ira tio n o f all.
D u rin g o n e c o n ­
versa tion th e K in g su g g e ste d t h a t m o re potatoes than e v e r w o u ld b e g ro w n this y e a r. W h e n
to ld th a t th e c u ltiv a tio n was e x p e c te d to b e in
creased b y on e -th ird , h e said , " W e ll, i f the
w orst com es t o th e w orst we shall b e a ble to
live on pig and potatoes ." F o r th e ro u n d o f the
room s t h e R o y a l p a rty d iv id e d in to tw o . T h e
K in g fo llo w e d o n e p ro g ra m m e and th e Q ueen
a n o th e r. B o th sh ow ed th e k een est in te re st in
e v e r y th in g th e y saw . A ft e r lu n ch the p eop le
in th e streets h a d a n o th e r ch an ce to ch e e r as
th e K in g an d Q u een m o to r e d t o Messrs. Huntley
and Palmers fa c t o r y . T h e to u r a m on g th e biscuits occu p ie d o v e r an h o u r.
W h e re v e r th e y
w en t th e ir M a je stie s passed th ro u g h lin es, o r
a m o n g gro u p s, o f ch e e rin g w o rk p e o p le .
The
girls, w e a rin g w h ite ov e ra ll a p rons and w h ite
h a n d k e rch ie fs to co v e r th e ir heads, d e lig h te d in
a ssem blin g a lo n g co rrid o rs w h ich co n n e cte d one
d e p a r tm e n t w ith a n oth er, an d th e y san g n o t
o n ly th e N a tio n a l A n th em , b u t R u le, B r ita n ­
n ia and o th e r p a tr io tic songs so co n tin u o u sly
th a t m u sic an d h u rra h s fo llo w e d th e R o y a l
p a rty w ith o u t b re a k in th e ir p rogress.

T h e 1st B e r k s Volunteers , wh o f o r m e d a G u a r d of H o n o u r , be ing inspected by th e K i n g .
[P h o t o by " Daily Graphic."

DENSE THRONGS.

F ro m soon, a fte r n in e o ’ clo ck bo 4.30, th e h ou r
o f th e ir M a je stie s ’ d e p a rtu re , th e streets w ore
an a ir o f th e g r e a te s t a n im ation , an d d en se
th ro n g s clu stered ro u n d e a ch sp ot w h ich th e
R o y a l ca r visited .
C row d s b e g a n to lin e the
r o u te fro m th e station to No . 1 War Hospital
w ell b e fo r e te n o ’ clock , a n d sch ool ch ild ren fro m
va riou s p a rts o f t h e to w n lin ed up in h a p p y
sm ilin g b u n ch es a t intervals, all b e a rin g flags
a n d stream ers. F la g s o f all the A llie d nations
p ro u d ly fla u n te d in th e breeze fro m m ost o f the
le a d in g esta b lish m en ts in th e tow n , the municipal b u ild in g s m a k in g a
b ra v e sh ow w ith a num
b e r o f fu ll-siz e d s ta te ly ban n ers.
N o w h e re
w ere th e p e o p le m ore e n th u sia stic th a n in the
M a rk e t P la ce as th e y a w a ite d the a rriv al o f the
R o y a l p a rty fr o m N o . 1 W a r H o s p ita l to M essrs.
Suttton '€™ s prem ises. F ro m e v e ry w in d ow fa cin g
th e m a r k e t squ are e a g e r fa ce s th ru st them selves
e x p e c ta n tly .
T h e g irl p a ck ers in M essrs. Salmon's p rem ises cr o w d e d e ve ry a v a ila b le w in d ow
w h ile s o m e e ve n w e n t t o th e le n g th (o n e should
ra th e r, p erh a p s, say th e h e ig h t) o f ascen d in g
th e r o o f a d jo in in g the Corn Exchange clo ck . A
p a rty o f g a y munitionettes , n e a tly clad cap -a pie in brown , passed th e tim e o f w a itin g w ith
lig h t an d a iry b a d in a g e w ith a s m a rt tro o p o f
Boy Scouts, an d o n the a rriv a l o f the K in g and
Q ueen a m id st lu sty ch e e rin g a n u m b er o f school
ch ild ren , stru ck up th e N a tio n a l A n th em in
h e a rty , fu ll-v o ic e d ton es t o the b a to n o f their
h e a d m istress, Miss Hussey . S om e en terp risin g
s p e c ta to rs , dissatisfied w ith the view to b e o b ­
ta in e d fr o m th e s tr e e t, sw a rm ed up the Market
Square m o n u m e n t, em u la tin g Z a cch e u s o f old ,
w h ile o th e rs p e rch e d th em selves u p on b arrow s
o r a n y o th e r a v a ila b le stru ctu re s w h ich p ro­
vid ed a m o re co m m a n d in g view . In th e m orn in g
th e ju n io r b o y s o f Reading School assem bled
o u tsid e th e s ta tio n , w h ere w ere also d'rawn
up
th e
S ch ool
O .T .C .
and
th e
Volunteers. A n in te re stin g little ep isod e occu rre d as
H is M a je sty ca m e o ff th e tra in . T h e K in g m ade
his w a y stra ig h t to an e ld e rly V o lu n te e r, sh a k ­
in g hands w ith th e p a tr io tic citizen and e x ­
ch a n g in g a fe w w ord s w ith h im .
I t was
an a rd u ou s d a y f o r th police fo r c e w ho, b a ck ed
u p b y th e lo y a l su p p o rt o f th e special constabulary
, ca rrie d o u t th e ir d ifficu lt task o f re g u la t­
in g th e tra ffic and m a in ta in in g an o rd e rly d e ­
m e a n o u r in th e streets w ith , as u sual, th e m a x i­
m um o f efficien cy. N o r h a d th e tramway e m ­
p loyees a lig h t d a y ’s w ork in n a v ig a tin g th eir
veh icles th ro u g h t h e sea o f h u m a n ity which
ro lle d all th e m o rn in g an d a fte r n o o n o v e r the
m ain th o ro u g h fa re s o f th e tow n . I t was a g re a t
d a y f o r R e a d in g , an d no lo y a l citizen w ho had
th e o p p o rtu n ity o f seein g th e ir M a jesties, even