We return to back to our monthly May 2024 theme of royal tours! Royal tours are some of the biggest media events of the year for royals everywhere- they receive far more coverage and press during royals tours than they do for standard engagements, not to mention all of the people that they meet face to face on tours. However, despite playing a major role in the royal job description, there is relatively little written on the subject. Today I’ve gathered my favourite books on royal tours; there is a focus on Canada (my area of study) but it is not exclusively Canadian! Let’s look at the best books on royal tours.
The Best Books on Royal Tours
Royal Tours 1786-2010: Home to Canada, Arthur Bousfield, Garry Toffoli
Royal Tours 1786-2010 is a penetrating look at the tours of 11 royals who were or would be monarchs, viceroys, and commanders-in-chief of Canada. Leaving California in 1983 to tour British Columbia, Queen Elizabeth II said she was “going home to Canada.” Since its pioneer days, the Royal Family has made the country home through tours of public service, naval and military duty, and residence. Beautifully illustrated, featuring photos from the June/July 2010 tour of the queen, Royal Tours 1786-2010 is a captivating look at how these tours shaped Canada and the royals themselves, with an eye for the significant, interesting, and humorous. Included are the young naval captain who became King William IV, the long Canadian residences of Queen Victoria’s father and daughter, those who would be kings and governors general, the triumph of the first reigning monarch’s tour, and the current queen’s six decades of regular presence.
Why You Should Read This…
Royal Tours is an excellent starting place for royal tours. Bousfield and Toffoli focus solely on Canada; they have a set of five books on the royals and Canada, and this is one of the books. They are short and incredibly readable, and give short snapshots of many tours to Canada. I will say, they are fervent monarchists and that really comes across in the book. However, the overview of nearly 250 years of royal tours to Canada is useful- you can see overall trends and changes. (It also is fairly affordable to purchase as an ebook if you are interested,)
Royals on tour: Politics, Pageantry and Colonialism, ed. Robert Aldrich & Cindy McCreery
Royals On Tour explores visits by European monarchs and princes to colonies, and by indigenous royals to Europe in the 1800s and early 1900s with case studies of travel by royals from Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, the Dutch East Indies and French Indochina. Such tours projected imperial dominion and asserted the status of non-European dynasties. The celebrity of royals, the increased facility of travel, and the interest of public and press made tours key encounters between Europeans and non-Europeans. The reception visitors received illustrate the dynamics of empire and international relations. Ceremonies, speeches and meetings formed part of the popular culture of empire and monarchy. Mixed in with pageantry and protocol were profound questions about the role of monarchs, imperial governance, relationships between metropolitan and overseas elites, and evolving expressions of nationalism.
Why You Should Read This….
Robert Aldrich and Cindy McCreery are experts on the topic of royal tours. They both study different areas of monarchy, and it brings new perspectives to the topic of royal tours. Royals On Tour covers a huge range of locations, including French Indochina, the Dutch East Indies, and more. It also not only looks at the tours themselves but the larger political and social implications that tours have. I really appreciate the wide variety of topics covered in this book, as it gives a really good idea where current studies on royal tours are going.
This is an academic book, so it will be rather expensive if you are looking to buy it. If you have access to a university library (from being a student or an alum, or potentially as a community member), it is a great way to access it! (Or ask your community library to bring it in!)
Daylight Upon Magic: The Royal Tour of Canada, 1939, Tom MacDonnell
There is not a blurb for this book- it is a book that covers the entire 1939 royal tour of Canada and includes pieces of different interviews, newspaper/media coverage, and personal anecdotes.
Why You Should Read This…
Although this book is specific to one tour, I wanted to include it for a few reasons. Firstly, it is written for the general public and is very easy to read. You don’t need to know anything about the tour to enjoy it, it lays it out. I also think that the personal anecdotes highlight that the monarchy is not simply high level ceremonies but rather does have personal connections. Secondly, it comprehensively covers one tour in all facets- it includes planning, politics, parties, the whole tour, and that shows just how complex tours can be (and still are, quite frankly).
Royal Studies Journal: Volume 5: Issue 1 (special issue on royal tours)
This special issue features ten articles on a theme of royal tours, guest edited by Professor Robert Aldrich and Dr Cindy McCreery, both of the University of Sydney (Australia).
Why You Should Read This…
This is an academic journal issue BUT it is free and available to everyone, and is written to be accessible to everyone! This issue covers royal tours across the world in different periods (all modern) and features some fantastic articles. You can download all of the articles as PDFs and enjoy!
Want More on Royal Tours?
I hope you’ve found new reading materials on royal tours!
Cheers,
The Historian
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