Charmer to the King

Captain Lewis Anselm Ritchie, R.N., was really nervous last week. The small (5 ft. 4 in.), one-eyed, tidy 58-year-oldster had caught hell at Narvik, Dunkirk, Crete, had been torpedoed twice. But his new assignment was, in a way, worse. He was to be press secretary to Britain's royal family. And his first job was to humanize Princess Elizabeth in the eyes of the Empire (and incidentally of the U.S.).

King George VI was not pleased with the public's lukewarm, if friendly, reception of Elizabeth at her coming of age (TIME, April 24). The press was not pleased with the stereotyped handouts it got from the King's secretary, courteous Sir Eric Charles Mieville. The copy consisted largely of Gene Stratton Porterish references to the Princess' wholesome character.

Captain Ritchie brought to his task very favorable equipment. He knows the royal family well (he was the royal yacht's paymaster, accompanied the King & Queen on their Canadian-U.S. tour). He is an experienced and popular writer (as "Bartimeus," he is the author of Tall Ship, Action Stations!, other Navy thrillers).

If the wiry Captain can infuse some of his own warm personality into stories about the Princess, his success should be assured. He can literally charm a bird out of a tree. Near his country home sparrows and blue-tits used to fly out to meet him (but not, he swears, in formation). In London, his whistled bird calls are enough to lure a tough, sophisticated, citified St. James's Park bird into his hand.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.