In case you missed, May 2024 is going to be Royal Tour History month! Each May, I look at a different person or area of history in more depth, and I’ve chosen royal tours for this year. It’s my own area of study and I think it is a fascinating topic that deserves more attention. Today we’re going to start at the beginning- what are royal tours, when did they begin, and when did they become what we know them as now? Let’s jump into the history of royal tours*!
*My own research focuses on royal tours to Canada, though I’m fairly well-versed in other Commonwealth tours.
What Is a Royal Tour?
This is my own working definition- I would define a royal tour as a working member of the royal family visiting a territory or dominion that the monarch does not reside in on behalf of the monarch. Working with the British Royal Family as an example, I would not define The King or any other working members of the family visiting England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland to be a royal tour, as they technically have residences in all four home nations. However, if they visited Canada, New Zealand, Australia, etc, that would be a tour.
Tours are separate from state visit- a state visit is when the head of state of one nation officially visits another nation. King Charles cannot have a state visit to Canada as he is also the Canadian head of state.
The Beginning- Royal Entry
A Royal Entry is when a monarch formally enters a city and is welcomed with different ceremonies and celebrations. The first Royal Entry recorded in England was in 1236 when Queen Eleanor (wife of King Henry III) entered London. While it may seem like this is nothing special to us, one had to pass through city gates in order to enter them. For the monarch, different members of government and quite often guild leaders would welcome them. And this is not limited to England- continental monarchs also carried these out. A Royal Entry was an excellent way for a monarch to display their wealth and power to those in the city, especially when it was their capital. (A lot of the ceremonies included items that were costly to make, like elaborate swords, and luxurious clothing.)
Royal Progresses
Royal progresses go beyond entering the city; monarchs would take their entourages around a county-oftentimes further- and would stay with different nobles throughout their kingdom. The noble in question would host the monarch, including a place for them to stay (worthy of a monarch) and their entourage, tournaments, festivals, banquets, and more. (Yes, this is a great way for the monarch to save money, as someone else is footing the bill for their luxurious lifestyle.)
These royal progresses allowed monarchs to once again demonstrate their authority and power, and to show themselves to those in their kingdom. Without any form of social media and limited transportation, most people would not have a chance to see their monarch outside of these progresses.
Modern Royal Tours
We start seeing what we now consider a royal tour in the later half of the nineteenth century. Advances in transportation meant that it was feasible for members of the Royal Family to travel to North America, to the Pacific, and further. Yes, these were much longer trips than we see now, but it was a much easier option. Queen Victoria was invited to her dominions but declined the offers- she instead sent her children. The Prince of Wales undertook a tour of Canada (with a visit to the United States) in 1860, the first official royal tour of Canada. (Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, was the first royal to visit Australia when he landed in 1867.)
Royal tours in the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century were long undertakings- they were travelling by ocean liner across the Atlantic and by train across Canada. To make the travel time worthwhile, they often visited multiple provinces. However, the trips have become shorter and shorter with the high speed of travel- members of the Royal Family will now sometimes visit Canada for only two to three days.
We still see ceremonies for opening government buildings, hospitals, schools, and more on royal tours. Royals will often meet with children and different community organisations for less formal tour engagements, and oftentimes you will see them taking part in sports or cultural activities. Royal tours are less formal overall now, much like royal engagements in Britain.
One significant change is that royal tours now typically include visits with Indigenous groups, at least here in Canada. Historically, they were rather treated like a zoo- the royals, government officials, and entourage would visit an Indigenous community essentially people watch. However, as Indigenous nations in Canada have direct treaties with the Crown, it is important that they are able to meet with the monarch, and this does appear to be a priority now.
Were you familiar with the history of royal tours?
Cheers,
The Historian
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