Destination Unknown

The blue-hulled Britannia knifed through the choppy swells of the English Channel. As it passed the last of the shore stations, there was a radio exchange of traditional signals. "Whither bound?'' asked the shore transmitter. The yacht replied: "Destination unknown--high seas." Later that morning, under a brilliant sun, Princess Margaret, in a red sweater and skirt, and Tony Armstrong-Jones, in blue blazer and white slacks, lay back in deck chairs on a secluded sundeck. From the topmost point of the mainmast fluttered Meg's personal standard.

Despite misgivings and grumblings, the royal wedding had gone off brilliantly, watched by 2,000 spectators in Westminster Abbey, and by an estimated 300 million throughout the world on live and taped TV (see SHOW BUSINESS). Outside the Abbey, a quarter-million loyal Britons lined the processional route, greeting every glimpse of the royal couple with cheers, hurrahs and choruses of For He's a Jolly Good Fellow. When Meg and Tony emerged from Buckingham Palace after the wedding breakfast, the whole royal family pelted them with confetti and rose petals. In the lead was Queen Elizabeth, who had sat glum and stony-faced through the Abbey ceremony but now flung roses as riotously as any.

As the royal yacht headed toward the Caribbean at 20 knots. Britain returned to the workaday world. No one quite knows where the couple will fit in when they return. Tony is still untitled and likely to remain so. and it is doubtful that his informal tastes are suited to the horsy, dog-loving ceremonial round of royal family life. Nor does it seem any more possible for Princess Margaret to be transformed into a citizen of Tony's former bohemian world. Meg has only half a dozen formal dates to fill on her calendar, and it is expected that her pretty cousin, Princess Alexandra, will take on more and more of the royal duties that Margaret used to perform.

Meg's taxable income has been raised from $16,800 to $42,000 a year. When she returns, she will move into a modest Georgian house known as a "Grace and Favor'' residence at Kensington Palace. Here, in the first home of her own she has ever known. Margaret will have to get used to such wifely chores as housekeeping and decorating. Tony is to have a darkroom and a do-it-yourself workshop in the basement, and both are expected to live quietly for a time, as befits newlyweds. Thus last week, the fairy tale ended as a fairy tale should, with the hope of all Britain that the princess and her consort will live happily ever after.

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