You like potato and I like potahto...

You like potato and I like potahto, You like tomato and I like tomahto, Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto! Let's call the whole thing off! - George and Ira Gershwin

On past occasions of State importance, members of the Royal Family have attended formal luncheons and dinners in their honour.  Discussion of dietary requirements, seating arrangement preferences and personal musical tastes of some members of Royalty allows us the privilege of access to the private side to their personalities.

One document from the Commonwealth of Australia’s Royal Visit Office to the Premier’s Office in Western Australia concerns the visit by the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward the Eighth, and provides an intriguing insight into his tastes for modern American culture. 

The evolving Jazz music of the 1920s clearly suited, and was enjoyed by, the gregarious, fun loving personality of the Prince. It was within the playful spirit and enjoyment of parties that The Prince of Wales was to later meet Mrs Wallis Simpson leading to great implications for the future of the British Monarchy. 

I miss the Mississippi Miss that misses me courtesy of the Cylinder Preservation and Digitisation Project, University of California, Santa Barbara Library.

Mississippi Miss was suggested as being a suited to the Prince’s tastes since it was on the ‘brighter side of music’ and one of the ‘latest tunes’ having been released as a cylinder recording by Edison Records 1918. 

In Cairo courtesy of the Cylinder Preservation and Digitisation Project, University of California, Santa Barbara Library.

In contrast to the musical selection suggested for her uncle’s visit in 1920, the music scheduled for the Parliamentary Dinner in honour of Her Majesty The Queen in 1954 reflected a rather more conservative inclination for pieces written by Commonwealth composers and traditional songs from Britain dating back to the seventeenth century.