For our Royal Tour History Month, we are digging in a little deeper today! There have been royal tours to Canada for over 150 years, and as you might imagine, they have evolved over that time. There are a lot of factors that play into what a royal tour looks like. Politics (both domestic and international), technology, and society all have played a significant role, and still do. Today we’re looking at four significant tours to Canada and what exactly makes them significant in royal tour history. Let’s get into the history of royal tours to Canada!
Royals Living in Canada
It has to be said, living in a country as a royal is different from visiting for a tour, but they seemed to all get lumped in together. (Think of living… where you live vs going on a business trip to a different city- you are going to act differently.) It can still be argued that these royals helped to build links between Great Britain and Canada, but it is a different process. Some examples of royals who lived in Canada: Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathern (Queen Victoria’s father), Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyle (Queen Victoria’s daughter), and Princess Patricia of Connaught (yes, the one that Princess Patricia’s Light Canadian Infantry are named for).
The History of Royal Tours to Canada
There have obviously been many, many more tours to Canada by different members of the Royal Family than are listed below, and they all played their own role. I’ve chosen these tours specifically as they highlight different changes to tours.
The Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII)- 1860
The Prince of Wales, aka the future King Edward VII, aka Bertie, made what is considered the first royal tour to Canada in 1860. The Canadian government had asked Queen Victoria to visit Canada to celebrate the opening of the Victoria Bridge in Montreal, but she declined the invitation and sent her son instead. And given how well received the tour was, it was an excellent choice.
The nineteen year old heir to the throne was immensely popular everywhere he went on the tour. He attended the ceremony for the Victoria Bridge, but that was not all. He spent two months travelling from the east coast of Canada to what is now Ontario (the eastern half of Canada) where he attended parties and dinners, opened buildings, and even took in sporting events like the St. John’s Regatta.
Why Is This Tour Important? This tour is the first royal tour of Canada, and it served as a blueprint for Canadian royal tours for nearly a century.
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth- 1939
In May 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth landed in Canada for a landmark tour. Given that the state of international politics was in turmoil, the tour was especially important politically. The 1931 Statute of Westminster created separate thrones for the dominion, meaning that the King of Canada was visiting Canada (rather than the King of Great Britain), and one of the King’s main objectives was to highlight the connections between Canada and Great Britain ahead of war (should they need support).
The tour was a month- George and Elizabeth were in Canada from 17 May to 15 June and travelled coast to coast, visiting every province (including the then-Dominion of Newfoundland). The King made a notable speech from Government House in Winnipeg on Empire Day, his longest-ever broadcast to the Empire. It was an incredibly busy tour, with the couple doing joint and separate engagements to meet with as many Canadians as possible.
Why Is This Tour Important? This is the first tour to Canada by its reigning monarch.
Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh- 1959
The Queen had visited Canada multiple times prior to this tour- Elizabeth and Philip visited in 1951 on behalf of her father, and again in 1957. However, I think that the 1959 tour is especially notable because they visited every province and territory over 45 days. We start to see travel change drastically over the next decades- flying is much more common by this point and allows for shorter trips. (If you are not spending several days sailing across the ocean to simply arrive, you do not need to stay longer to “make the most of their time”.)
This tour was meant to specifically emphasise the Queen as the Canadian Queen, and we see her acting as such. She represented Canada at the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in Ontario, and spent time in the US on behalf of Canada. Her speeches and briefings were actually written by her Canadian ministers rather than her British ministers, a rarity.
Why Is This Tour Important? This is the last major tour of Canada; after this, tours are shorter. It is also one of a handful of international appearances where Queen Elizabeth was acting as Sovereign of Canada, rather than the Sovereign of Great Britain.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge-2011
We jump forward over half a century to another landmark tour- The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s tour to Canada in 2011 was a major event for the monarchy. The couple had only married two months prior and were quick to begin their official life. They began their tour on 30 June and finished up on 8 July. They began in Ontario and spent Canada Day (1 July) in Ottawa, and also visited Quebec, Prince Edward Island (fitting as Catherine is an Anne of Green Gables fan), and the Northwest Territories.
This was considered a longer tour for the last few decades; in the twenty-first century, we now frequently see royals visit a province or two for three to four days at a time. Their visit to Slave Lake in Alberta was important, as much of the town had been destroyed by wildfires in May of 2011. (Visiting communities after natural disasters is often a part of royal tours- Prince Philip visited my province of Manitoba in 1997 after major floods destroyed entire communities.)
Why Is This Tour Important? William and Catherine were the first royals to attend a Canadian citizenship ceremony- you would think that this would have happened earlier but they were the first.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the history of royal tours to Canada and that you’ve learned a new fact or two!
Cheers,
The Historian
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