Mindful of the rare opportunity of hosting royalty, the House and the Senate made meticulous preparations for a reception rooted in etiquette and protocol. With only 45 minutes allotted for the ceremony, congressional leaders limited the invitation list to Members of the House and Senate, as well as a handful of journalists. Sol Bloom of New York, the acting chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, took the lead in preparing his colleagues for the historic event. Bloom instructed Representatives how to respond when presented to the King and Queen—“Your Majesty”—and offered advice on more complicated protocol such as the appropriateness of shaking hands with royalty. “It all depends on whether the King offers to,” he directed. “If he extends his hand, then it will be all right.”
On the morning of June 9th, the King and Queen traveled by car from the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., to the Capitol. Despite the oppressive heat and humidity, thousands of people lined the streets of the city hoping to catch a glimpse of the royal couple. House and Senate leaders, including two future Speakers of the House, Sam Rayburn and Joe Martin, escorted George VI and Elizabeth to the reception. Before entering the Capitol, they paused to acknowledge the enormous gathering outside the building (mainly composed of Members’ families and the press), and to pose for pictures. The presence of the Marine band and an honor guard added to the grandeur of the day.
The royal visit to the United States garnered much media attention. The timing of the trip, along with the stop at the Capitol and meetings with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, suggests the British leaders wanted to highlight the strong ties between America and England. A few Members boycotted the reception, labeling the trip as a “propaganda” attempt to lure the U.S. into another war. Regardless of the political motivations behind the visit, the King and Queen made a lasting impression during their high-profile visit. Fifty-two years later, the royal couple’s daughter Elizabeth also made history when she became the first British monarch to address a Joint Meeting of Congress—once again evoking the famous cry: “The British are coming!”
Sources: Baltimore Sun, June 10, 1939; New York Times, June 10, 1939; Los Angeles Times, June 10, 1939; Christian Science Monitor, June 9, 1939; John W. Wheeler-Bennett, King George VI: His Life and Reign (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1958); Mark Logue and Peter Conradi, The King’s Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy (New York: Sterling, 2010).
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