Film: the Queen visits Palmerston North and Stratford, 1954

Film clip: visiting Palmerston North and Stratford

Still shots and description

The royal train arrives in Palmerston North to great cheers. We then see the train passing Mt Taranaki (Egmont). In Stratford, the royal couple walk among the crowd.

Commentary:

‘Out across the Manawatu plain and into the square of Palmerston North. Where do they come from, all these people, with only two million in the whole country? Yet this scene is typical of the Queen’s reception in more than 50 towns. Mount Egmont, rising 8000 feet, but not high enough to overawe the children of Stratford. Ten thousand have gathered in this dairy farming township, and here the Queen finds herself truly among her people, for Stratford is one of the few places on the royal tour where Her Majesty proceeds on foot, and the Duke too!’