From the S&S archives: Much ado about Anne

THERE'S MORE to a royal visit than delivering a gilded invitation to Buckingham Palace, as Americans at Lakenheath, England, discovered last month. Since the three-hour visit of Princess Anne to the home of the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing marked the first royal visit to an operational American military installation in Britain, the Americans followed to the letter a thick Royal Air Force manual labeled "confidential" and filled with details for such a visit.

RAF OFFICIALS allow up to six months' preparation for royal visits, but the Americans had to squeeze this one into two.

There were honor guards to shape up, guests to be invited, flowers to be planted and lines to be learned by school children. Timetables, with detailed maps of who stands where and outlining to the minute every move had to be drawn up and approved by palace officials. There were curtsies to be practiced by American wives. "Exaggerated curtsies are no longer good form," explained Mrs. John Bourn, wife of Lakenheath's RAF commander and the expert who briefed the wives for the occasion.

EVEN THE LUNCHEON of shrimp cocktails, filet mignon and vintage wine was given a test run two weeks before the visit to give the staff a chance to practice serving royalty.

There was a dress rehearsal for everyone from the base commander to the driver selected as royal chauffeur. (The princess rode in a rented, black, shiny Rolls-Royce while other members of the motorcade rode in the usual blue 3rd Air Force vehicles.)

Then, almost before it was started, it was over. Looking poised and as one airman put it, "every bit a princess," Anne, 19, reviewed the honor guard, met six F100 pilots and crews, visited the 48th Tactical Hospital, officially opened the $2 million elementary school, and chatted with the cheering school children, ate the rehearsed luncheon in the Officers Club, and then flew back home to London.

The American wives sighed and put away their hats, the honor guard their steel helmets. And while one 6-year-old, still clutching her British flag, wailed "I didn't even get to see the princess," RAF Wing Commander John Wilson, who also helped to guide the Americans through the preparations, complimented, "Good show, I must say. We couldn't have done better ourselves."