Banquets Cancelled: All Hotel Gaiety Stops
From The Caterer and Hotel Keeper, 9 February, 1952:
The death of His Majesty King George VI is nowhere mourned more profoundly than in the British hotel and catering industry. The King's transcendent sense of duty and concern for all his people were matched by his personal recognition of the special place of hotels in our national life.
As long ago as 1926, when Duke of York, he spoke at a banquet given to 300 international hoteliers at the Hotel Victoria, London, and, with prophetic vision, said: "In these days of international unrest, hotels have a very big part to play. Most of the problems that face the world today have arisen because the nations fail to know and understand each other.
"Surely the best way of removing this lack of confidence between individuals is for men and women to travel and thus to see and learn for themselves something of their neighbours' lives and their outlook on the great question of the day. That is the way you (hotelmen) can help. You can do much to stimulate the spirit of travel."
Wednesday morning's announcement that the King had died in his sleep came as a thunderbolt to the nation. Hotels and restaurants, however, quickly made arrangements to cancel all music, dancing and cabaret. Typical of many were the Savoy, Claridge's and Berkeley, whose directors immediately announced that they had cancelled all arrangements for music, dancing and entertainment in their establishments on Wednesday night.
