Comments on: A Good Day in Cape Town

By: LINDY FENEYSEY

LINDY FENEYSEY — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:35:35 +0000

Andrew
I think you’ve made a mistake about the President of the South African senate in 1947 during the Royal visit to South Africa. You say he was Christiaan Andries van Niekerk,while in fact it was Pieter Jurie Wessels – my great-grandfather. I have the photos to prove it. Also see Wikipedia below:
Presidents of the Senate of South Africa (1910-1980) and (1994-1997)

No. Term Name
1 1910–1921 Francis William Reitz
2 1921–1929 H.C. van Heerden
3 1929–1930 R.A. Kerr
4 1930–1940 Christiaan Andries van Niekerk (1st time)
5 1940–1941 François Stephanus Malan
6 1942–1945 Philippus Arnoldus Myburgh
7 1946–1948 P.J. Wessels
8 1948–1961 Christiaan Andries van Niekerk (2nd time)
9 1961–1969 Jozua François Naudé
10 1969–1976 Johannes de Klerk
11 1976–1979 Marais Viljoen
12 1979–1980 Jimmy Kruger
- 1981–1994 office not in existence
13 1994–1997 Kobie Coetsee

By: James

James — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:35:44 +0000

I wonder if the royal visit harmed the chances of the United Party against the republican National Party in the fateful 1948 election.

By: David Allen

David Allen — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:46:17 +0000

Great read and great photos, Andrew. One minor error though. In one of the photographs you state.. “Walking with the Queen is the King’s Equerry, Group Captain Peter Townshend,(Townsend) who later had an infelicitous romance with Princess Margaret.” Whoever that middle-aged Royal Navy admiral is he is clearly not Peter Townsend. Townsend was then a young, handsome Royal Air Force officer, a highly decorated war hero and Battle of Britain ace. The uniform worn by the gentleman in the picture – the summer naval ‘icecream suit’ – and his rank – his admiral’s epaulettes – clearly shows that it ain’t Townsend. The admiral may have been the then current Flag Officer, South Atlantic-South America station based in Simonstown.

By: Liam

Liam — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 08:38:19 +0000

Even in 1947 King George VI looks quite frail.