Nothing but Cadillacs

Cheryl Smith, 9, was crushed. For weeks she had lived in anticipation of the day when the King and Queen of Greece would visit her father's farm, 40 miles from Chicago, as part of their good-will tour of the U.S. (TIME, Nov. 9). Then last week, pretty Queen Frederika caught a cold and had to skip the trip to the farm. "I told all my friends I was going to see a queen," sobbed Cheryl. "I've never seen a real, live queen!" But King Paul kept his date, and, as his 18-car motorcade stopped in front of the Smiths' frame house, Cheryl began to cheer up. "Cadillacs, Cadillacs," she sighed, as the King climbed out of his Lincoln. "Nothing but Cadillacs."

The King and his aides were hustled into the farmhouse, where they were introduced to Farmer J. George Smith, 36, and his family. Then everybody sat down to a solid country dinner--fried chicken, acorn squash, mashed potatoes, string beans with bacon drippings, cider and green apple pie. King Paul explained that he preferred white meat, but the Queen, he said, liked dark meat, and "between us, we lick the platter clean." Then, to the astonishment of the Smiths, he recited the Jack Sprat nursery rhyme and promptly cleaned his own platter.

Through the dinner the Smith kids were speechless. Nannette, 11, had to stuff a napkin in her mouth to keep from giggling. Young Kent, 5, spilled his cider on the damask tablecloth, and Cheryl had a change of heart. "I wasn't going to eat," she said, "but I got hungry." After dinner King Paul made a quick tour of the farm with Smith. Then, with a home-cured ham tucked under his arm, the King waved goodbye and drove back to Chicago to tell the Queen all about it.

As soon as Queen Frederika heard about Cheryl's disappointment, she invited the Smiths (minus Baby Lois) to breakfast at her Chicago hotel suite. Nannette and Cheryl brought along a batch of fudge they had made, and helped the Queen eat it. After they had finally seen the Queen, the Smith kids were all smiles. Their unanimous verdict: "She's a real nice lady."

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