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while a party of journalists and cameramen, who were hoping that this event would be the highlight of the tour, were stranded for five hours and eventually had to wade ashore in darkness. The Prince of Wales apparently enjoyed the whole episode considerably more than Press photographs of him sitting in his punt suggested.
10. On the evening of 12 October the Prime Minister gave an informal buffet dinner at the bure or Fijian type thatched house, which he has had built in his garden for official receptions. On the two following days the Prince of Wales visited the islands of Vanua Levi and Taveuni and the Western Division of Fiji before leaving for a visit to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands on 15 October.
11. A copy of the full programme for the independence celebrations and for the Royal Visit is enclosed.* The United Kingdom delegation to the celebrations was led by the Right Hon. Joseph Godber, M P., Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. A strong New Zealand team was headed by Sir Keith Holyoake, the Prime Minister. Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Guyana and Jamaica were represented at Ministerial level and India by the Speaker of the Lower House. President Nixon was represented by the astronaut, Mr. Michael Collins. Fiji's Pacific neighbours were well represented and the Prime Ministers came from Tonga, Western Samoa and the Cook Islands. Other countries sending official representatives included France, Sweden, Japan, the Philippines and Korea.
12. The celebrations, which were well organised throughout, were entirely successful. The ceremonies in Suva were conducted with great dignity and were watched by large crowds, whose mood of subdued enthusiasm reflected the traditional restraint which Fijians are expected to show in the presence of people of high rank. The entertainments were colourful, vital and varied. The drill and turn-out of the Fijian Military Forces, who parade without hats, in red tunics and serrated Fijian skirts (sulus) were immaculate. Continuing loyalty to the Crown, which is a strong and personally felt emotion among the Fijian Chiefs and their peoples, was one of the main themes of the celebrations. Every schoolchild in Fiji received an independence medal bearing the head of Her Majesty The Queen.
13. The farewell to British rule was for many Fijians a reluctant one. All the statements made by Government leaders expressed gratitude and goodwill to the United Kingdom and no discordant notes came from the Opposition party, whose announcements, addressed to their predominantly Indian following, concentrated on the need for racial harmony in the new nation. These qualities were certainly in evidence among the crowds in the streets on independence night. There were no disturbances, as a few people had feared, and hardly any petty crime.
14. His Royal Highness made an immense personal contribution to the success of the celebrations. His programme, following as it did immediately on his long flight from the United Kingdom, was an exacting one taking him to parts of the islands never before visited by a member of the Royal Family. But he always seemed to have an extra effort in reserve to make an unexpected excursion to greet some character in a crowd who caught his eye or to talk to the succession of personages who were brought forward to meet him in the course of the various entertainments and social functions. His interest in local activities never flagged. He spoke on formal occasions with an authority beyond his years and at informal gatherings with charm, humour and a lightness of touch which delighted his audience. He won universal admiration and affection and the sincerity of his farewell words of thanks and praise for the Fijian peoples was deeply appreciated.
*Not printed.
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