BRITISH WEST INDIES: Princess on Parade

Oh, Princess Margaret, In the atmosphere you can feel it; How everyone here is really glad To welcome Your Highness to Trinidad.

Calypso singers chanted it. and pounded on their drums: little children shrilled it, and waved their tiny Union Jacks. As she began a four-week cruise through the British West Indies last week, 24-year-old Princess Margaret knew, from the cheering crowds that lined the hot, sunny streets in Trinidad, that the welcome came from the heart.

Queen Elizabeth II's younger sister dutifully attended to the routine chores of visiting royalty. But her schedule allowed plenty of time for listening to throbbing calypso rhythms, watching native dancers and admiring the lush tropical countryside. At a formal dinner, Margaret set Trinidad society ladies atwitter with a modishly low-cut white silk gown and a dazzling new upswept coiffure.

The British Colonial Office, eager to unite the West Indies into an economically sound federation, hoped that the Princess' visit would strengthen the West Indian loyalty to the crown. The royal family undoubtedly hoped that the trip might have some of the same effect, so to speak, on Margaret; London society insists that she is still deeply in love with R.A.F. Group Captain Peter Townsend, a war hero but a divorcé (TIME, July 20, 1953). If she decides to marry Townsend (which she will be eligible to do without the sovereign's permission after her 25th birthday in August), Margaret will have to give up her rights of succession and her $17,000 annual stipend.

Last week Margaret captivated Trinidad and was herself captivated by its charms. She even sent a lady-in-waiting to buy a stack of calypso records. In Tobago, boarding the royal yacht Britannia for the cruise to Grenada and British points north, Margaret could scarcely fail to see that the life of a princess can be quite a life indeed—comfortable, consequential, exciting and even fun.