Melbourne - A Word of Explanation:

Thursday, 04 March 1954
Several days after we sailed from Callao, passengers were informed that arrangements had been made to provide them with seats in a Stand so that they might obtain a glimpse of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II upon departure from Government House in the late afternoon, during her strenuous State visit to her peoples in Australia.

The itinerary of the Royal Party then called for a mid-afternoon visit to the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital and a late-afternoon reception at Government House, which they would leave at 6.45pm on their way to Spencer Street Station, whence they would entrain for a trip to certain towns in the State of Victoria. The Royal Route to have been traversed covered many streets and involved considerable mileage.

With the mail at each port between New York and Auckland we kept getting letters from Melbourne telling us more and more details of our special arrangements: our Stand had been built, men had been assigned to take up positions at the entrances to keep out intruders, and, in general, everything was in readiness to have our passengers brought to the Stand about 5.30pm, and, after viewing the departure of the Queen and Her Royal Party from Government House at 6.45pm, returned to the CARONIA by the motor coaches of Excursion S-10.

About a week ago a radiogramme from Melbourne advised that a new schedule for the Royal Party on 04 March, calling for a new and considerably shorter routing of the “Royal Progress”, made our arrangements impossible and necessitated their cancellation. The sudden decision to alter completely the established itinerary came as a bomb-shell, and, understandably, was a very great disappointment to us.

During an interchange of messages between us and the authorities in Melbourne, all alternatives were examined, but when the Royal Tour Director stated quite definitely that “there will be no stands whatsoever along the new route”, that decision ended all possibility of giving assurance to CARONIA passengers that they could comfortably view the Royal Progress.

Suggestions were made that the Royal Party visit the CARONIA in the early morning, but the final cable from Cook's General Manager for Australasia (Mr. F. T. Lockman, Melbourne) read, word for word, as follows:

With the new route considerably shortened, it is expected to be packed with thousands of people so that the possibility of parking motor coaches and automobiles is completely out of the question, and would not be sanctioned by the Royal Tour Manager. The only alternative for CARONIA passengers will be to leave the coaches (of S-10) and automobiles (of 0-35) as close as possible to the outskirts of the city and then walk in. (The whole of the centre of the city will be closed to vehicular traffic.)

We would earnestly dissuade passengers from attempting this, because :

1. They would be milling among thousands of people with a considerably long walk ahead of them, and after the drive-past of the Royal Party,
2. They would be faced with the almost impossible task of securing transport back to the CARONIA,
3. The distance from the new route to the CARONIA will be some 4 miles

The new route from Heidelberg Hospital includes Brunton Avenue, Punt Road, Hoddle Street, Heidelberg Road (from which patients at Fairfield Hospital may see the Royal Progress), St. Elmo Road, and Banksia Street; Waterdale Road, Bell Street, Plenty Road, High Street, Queen's Parade, Smith Street, Victoria Parade, Victoria Street, Latrobe Street, and Spencer Street.

We fully share with all passengers any disappointment caused by these events. We sincerely regret that expectations may have been aroused; expectations and hopes which, it is now so clear, cannot be materialised, but are confident that our colleagues in Melbourne have left unturned no stone on our behalf.

In view of the foregoing, Excursion S-10 and Tour 0-35 will terminate at the landing quay of the CARONIA at Port Melbourne, as originally scheduled.

R.M.S. CARONIA
Cruise Office
Promenade Deck, Aft