PRINCESS Margaret and her husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones, came to Glasgow in April 1961 and spent half-an-hour looking at pictures on display at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
They saw examples of the Italian, French and Dutch schools for which Kelvingrove was renowned and also cast their eye over numerous items from the Burrell Collection, whose future location was at that time in doubt.
One painting - the first one they saw, in fact - left them baffled, however. Dali’s Christ of St John of the Cross, for which Glasgow Corporation had paid £8,200 in 1952, was viewed by the party, which also included Lord Provost Jean Roberts (above right).
After a few minutes of scrutiny, the Princess led the party back by 20 feet to look at it from a distance.
Mrs Roberts said later that the Princess and her husband had been “rather puzzled by it.” The Glasgow Herald said the royal couple had left the Dali as puzzled as had thousands of Glasgow citizens and other visitors before them.
The royals had been met at Central Station by the Lord Provost and driven to Cumbernauld through cheering crowds.
There, Margaret met local dignitaries and looked over an 8ft-by-6ft scale model of the new town, which would, the paper reported, eventually house around 70,000 people, mostly under overspill agreements with Glasgow. She also visited three of the families who had already settled in the town.
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