On June 11, 1939, The President and Mrs. Roosevelt returned to their home in Hyde Park with two very the special guests, The King and Queen of Great Britain. It was Eleanor Roosevelt's hope "that the quiet of the country will be welcome after the busy days which Their Majesties have been through." In her syndicated column, My Day, which appeared almost daily in newspapers across the country, Mrs. Roosevelt often presented a journal of her travels, along with the other important events in which she took part. In the column that appeared on June 13, 1939, she described the events that took place when Their Britannic Majesties visited the small town of Hyde Park.

For release Tuesday, June 13, 1939 and thereafter.

My Day
By Eleanor Roosevelt

Hyde Park, NY, Monday - On Sunday we drove to church along a road which was lined with people the greater part of the way. There were masses of people in the village of Hyde Park and outside the Church. Crowds may sometimes become rather tiring, but both the King and Queen said that felt keenly the friendliness of these crowds and were deeply touched by them.

…As soon as we reached home, everyone went to change into picnic clothes, and I dashed away to the top of the hill… I hoped to arrive ahead of my guests, but a considerable number of cars got ahead of me.

On arrival I found that Miss Thompson and Mrs. Helm had everything all arranged, and all our guests filed by the President and their Majesties as soon as they arrived. The Children showed their interest in wide eyes, and one little girl made a deep curtsey very prettily…

Nothing was planned for the afternoon, so we sat under the trees around the swimming pool. The President and the King went in swimming, while the Queen and Lady Nunburnholme, with some other members of the household, sat around under the trees with me and looked on.

I have had some interesting talks with both the King and Queen and I am constantly astonished at their realization of the changed conditions which we are facing all over the world. Of course, in Europe they are even closer to many of the changes than we are over here…

Dinner last night was very pleasant, but as they all had to leave about twenty minutes before eleven for the train, there was that feeling one always gets of watching the clock and not becoming too involved in any conversation after dinner, for fear the hour of departure will arrive…

A procession of cars drove down to the little Hyde Park station to see the royalty off, and a crowd was gathered in the village and at the station, in spite of the fact that during dinner we had a very heavy thunderstorm. The Queen remarked that this completed the cycle of weather they had experienced; having seen ice and snow and rain and great heat, the ended off with lightening, thunder and wind and a downpour of rain.
However, it was all over when we started for the station. There, the King and Queen said good-bye and a word of thanks to everyone…

Once the platform of their car, they turned to stand until the train pulled out.

The crowd suddenly began to sing "Auld Lang Synde" and then the verse of another Scotch song. I saw the newspaper people writing notes hastily, and I an sure they sensed a feeling of regret, that seemed to be in every individual present, at the bidding good-bye to this gracious couple who have endeared themselves to all who have seen them.

We stood and waved, but my mother-in-law reminded us of the old superstition that one must not watch people out of sight, so before they turned the bend, we were back in our cars and on our way home…

E. R.

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