queen elizabeth ii last visit to canada

'Home away from home': A look back through Queen Elizabeth II's official visits to Canada

Of all the countries in the Commonwealth, Canada was the late Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite destination, judging by how many times she graced our shores.

Over the course of her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II officially visited Canada more than 20 times, ranging from sweeping royal tours to visits for anniversaries and special events.

Canada’s relationship with the monarch has always been significant. The Queen was head of state for 16 countries in the Commonwealth, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Jamaica, among others, but of these 16 countries, the Queen has visited Canada the most.

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“My mother once said that this country felt like a home away from home for the Queen of Canada,” the Queen said during her last visit to Canada, in 2010.

“I’m delighted to report that it still does, and I’m delighted to be back amongst you all.”

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, she is the “most travelled monarch in history.”

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The first time that the Queen set foot on Canadian soil was when she was only 25 years old and still a princess — in 1951, she took her ailing father’s place to visit Canada with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Prince Philip, who died on April 9, 2021, was particularly fond of Canada, and travelled to the country 46 times in total, including his many visits by the Queen’s side.

Two years after her first visit, in 1953, she was crowned Queen. She made a brief appearance in Gander, N.L. that year during a stopover on the way to tour other parts of the Commonwealth, but wouldn’t return for an official visit of Canada until 1957.

John Diefenbaker, the prime minister at the time, was eager to strengthen ties to Britain and cement the Queen’s role in Canada, and even had the Queen preside over a cabinet meeting during her brief visit.

During that trip, the Queen also opened Canada’s new Parliament, an event that she was proud to mention in her Christmas speech later that year, the very first televised Christmas speech from a British royal ever.

“Last October, I opened the new Canadian Parliament,” she said in the speech. “This was the first time that any sovereign had done so in Ottawa. Once again, I was overwhelmed by the loyalty and enthusiasm of my Canadian people.”

But her longest trip to Canada — and arguably the most important — occurred in 1959, when she toured all of the provinces, as well as both current territories, with Prince Philip for 45 days. This is still the longest tour any reigning monarch has made of Canada, and although the Queen visited Canada many times after, she never did so on this scale again.

Buckingham Palace instructed the visit to be referred to as a “royal tour” to emphasize the importance, and to position the Queen as comfortable in her role as Queen of Canada.

Although the Queen was greeted with crowds wherever she went, travelled more than 24,000 kilometres on this trip, shook nearly 5,000 hands and attended sixty-one formal functions, according to the book “Canada and the End of Empire,” the tour was not without controversy. Indigenous people were present at many events on her tour, often meeting with the Queen to perform dances or demonstrate cultural knowledge — but any issues such as treaties or land rights were not permitted to be brought up.

In the years to come, the Queen would make around 20 more official visits to Canada. Including brief stopovers, the Queen has been in Canada more than 30 times.

Most trips have involved ceremonial duties, tours of the country or charity work, but she has also come to Canada to act in an official capacity, such as when she opened Parliament in 1957, and when she delivered a Speech from the Throne again in 1977.

The speech to outline the federal government’s plans for the coming session of Parliament is usually read by the Governor General as the Queen’s representative. The Queen’s second time reading the speech herself in 1977 was part of her Silver Jubilee tour, the 25th anniversary of her ascending to the throne of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

Another notable visit was when the Queen came to Canada in 1982 to sign the landmark Proclamation of the Constitution Act, the passing of which gave Canada full independence.

During her visits, the Queen often honoured Canada through her wardrobe. In 1957, on her first trip to Canada post-coronation, she wore a striking cream gown covered in sparkling green maple leaves to the state banquet at Rideau Hall, dubbed the “Maple Leaf of Canada Dress.”

During her tour of Canada in 1959, she wore a blue and pink evening gown designed by Sir Hardy Amies to a dinner at the Government House in Nova Scotia, which was embroidered with blooms representing mayflowers, the provincial flower of Nova Scotia.

In her later years, she was frequently seen wearing an iconic diamond brooch in the shape of a maple leaf, called the “Canadian Maple Leaf Royal Brooch.” It had been a favourite of her mother, and after it was passed down to the Queen, she wore it to Canada numerous times, as well as loaning it to family members such as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, when they visited Canada.

Over the years, the Queen developed strong relationships with Canada’s prime ministers, having met with many of them in person.

The Queen appointed Jean Chretien, Canada’s 20th Prime Minister to the Order of Merit in 2009, a distinction that is restricted to only 24 living people within the Commonwealth. It is given to “persons who have rendered exceptionally meritorious service to the Crown, in armed services or towards the advancement of arts, literature and science.”

Two other Canadian Prime Ministers had received the award before: William Lyon Mackenzie King in 1947, before the Queen took the throne, and Lester B. Pearson in 1971.

The very last time the Queen visited Canada was in 2010, for a nine day visit through five different cities, a trip that saw her celebrating Canada Day in Ottawa on Parliament Hill. Continuing her tradition of honouring Canada through her garments, she even had a favourite dress adjusted to add Canadian maple leaves in Swarovski crystals down the right shoulder and sleeve to wear to a state dinner at the Royal York Hotel.

“My pride in this country remains undimmed.” the Queen said the first day of the trip, speaking to a crowd in Halifax.

The Queen never publicly declared which city or region of Canada was her favourite to visit, but outside of her numerous trips to Ottawa, she visited Victoria, B.C., five times, and visited Winnipeg, Vancouver, Regina and Toronto four times as well, not counting her 1959 tour of the entire country or brief stopovers.

Despite a lack of consensus in Canada over whether we should maintain our ties to the monarchy, a debate that has simmered for decades, the Queen’s visits always brought out numerous Canadians eager to catch a glimpse of the monarch.

And her regard for Canada was evident across her reign, from start to end.

“Throughout the years, particularly since your Centennial year, I have watched Canada develop into a remarkable nation,” the Queen said in 2017, on the 150th anniversary of Confederation. “You have earned a reputation as a welcoming, respectful and compassionate country.

"On this eve of national celebrations, my family and I are with you in spirit.”

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Here are the all the times Queen Elizabeth II has visited Ottawa

Queen Elizabeth II has visited Canada 22 times in the 70 years she has been on the throne, usually accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Twelve of those visits included a stop in Ottawa.

Her last visit to Ottawa was for Canada Day in 2010 with The Duke of Edinburgh, when they attended the Canada Day noon show on Parliament Hill.

Here are all the times the Queen has made an official visit to Ottawa (she also made stopovers to refuel in 1970 and 1974—these do not count as official visits). She also visited in 1951, when she was still Princess Elizabeth.

October 1957

Queen Elizabeth’s first visit to Canada as monarch is to Ottawa and Hull in October 1957. She opens the first session of Canada’s 23 rd Parliament, and she and Prince Philip are welcomed by 15,000 schoolchildren at Lansdowne Park.

Summer 1959

The Queen and Prince Philip conduct a 45-day tour of Canada from June 18 to Aug. 1, stopping in all provinces and both territories. They are in Ottawa for Dominion Day and also open the St. Lawrence Seaway during their visit.

October 1964

The Queen and Prince Philip visit Charlottetown, Quebec City and Ottawa for an eight-day tour. Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson invites them to mark the centennial of the 1864 pre-Confederation conferences in Charlottetown in Quebec City, which helped lead to Canada’s founding.

Protesters demonstrating in support of Quebec sovereignty greet them in Quebec City. But things are more low-key in Ottawa, where they spent Thanksgiving.

June-July 1967

The Queen and Prince Philip attend celebrations of Canada’s centennial in Ottawa, then visit Expo ’67 in Montreal.

June-July 1973

The Queen and Prince Philip visit Ottawa for the Commonwealth heads of government meeting. He has a program of his own while she receives heads of government in audience at Rideau Hall.

October 1977

The Queen and Prince Philip visit Ottawa to mark the Silver Jubilee. She opens the third session of Canada’s 30 th Parliament by delivering the Speech from the Throne.

The Queen visits Ottawa for the proclamation of the Canadian Constitution.

September-October 1984

The Queen and Prince Philip visit to mark the bicentennial of New Brunswick and Ontario. The Ontario portion includes stops in Ottawa, Morrisburg, Cornwall, Prescott, Kingston and Amherstview.

June-July 1990

The Queen visits Ottawa alone for Canada Day celebrations, after stops in Calgary and Red Deer, Alta.

June-July 1992

The Queen visits Ottawa alone for the 125 th anniversary of Confederation and the 40 th anniversary of the accession, and also visits Hull for a reception hosted by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

June-July 1997

The Queen’s royal visit marks the 500 th anniversary of John Cabot’s arrival in what is now Canada. It concludes with a stop in Ottawa to celebrate Canada’s 130 th birthday on Canada Day.

June-July 2010

The Queen and Prince Philip visit Ottawa for three days, including Canada Day. It is her seventh time in Canada for the big national celebration. The tour also included visits to Halifax, Winnipeg, Toronto and Waterloo.

During her visit to the capital, she unveils a plaque dedicating the Queen’s Lantern a the Canadian Museum of Nature, and also unveils a life-size statue of jazz great Oscar Peterson outside the National Arts Centre.

And she praised Canada in front of 100,000 people on Parliament Hill during Canada Day festivities.

“This nation has dedicated itself to being a caring home for its own, a sanctuary for others and an example to the world,” she said.

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In visits to Canada, Queen Elizabeth left her mark as British history’s most travelled monarch

Expo 67 and constitutional patriation in 1982 were just some of the highlights of the Queen’s Canadian travels over the decades

This article was published more than 1 year ago. Some information may no longer be current.

The Queen inspects guards at the Parliament Hill on Canada Day, 2010, part of her last visit to Canada. John Stillwell/Getty Images

From coast to coast to coast, the Queen came to know Canada well during her 70 years as the country’s head of state.

The Queen was the most travelled monarch in British history, visiting Canada in her official capacity 22 times between 1957 and her last visit in 2010 (not including nine unofficial refuelling stops). She toured all 10 provinces and three territories, speaking admirably of the country’s diversity, traditions, culture and natural beauty.

Former Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson, who represented the Queen in Ottawa from 2000 to 2005, said the Queen understood that Canada is the “senior dominion” in the British Commonwealth and always respected that. During official tours, political discussions were off limits, so conversations often revolved around lighter topics such as the Queen’s grandchildren, her beloved dogs and her passion for horse racing.

“She never ever mentioned anything politically about Canada, she never asked and she never would because she knows her role,” Ms. Clarkson told The Globe and Mail in November, 2021. “She doesn’t say, ‘And how is your Prime Minister’ or ‘What do you think about your cabinet?’ or anything like that.”

From the launching of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959 to the opening of the 1976 Olympics in Montreal to the proclamation of the Constitution Act in 1982, The Globe took a look at some of the Queen’s most memorable visits to Canada.

Watch some of the highlights from Elizabeth II's Canadian visits, including her last one in 2010 where she said in a speech, 'It is very good to be home.'

The Globe and Mail

The early years

Princess Elizabeth – not yet queen – first visited Canada in 1951 in place of her father, King George VI, who was ill. She was accompanied by her husband, Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. The royal couple travelled by air, train, ship and car from Oct. 8 to Nov. 12, making several stops between St. John’s and Victoria. She visited legislatures, city halls and official residences and made industry stops at paper mills, grain elevators and oil refineries.

The Queen succeeded to the throne on Feb. 6, 1952, at the age of 25, after her father died in his sleep. She was crowned on June 2, 1953. She made her first visit to Canada as head of state in 1957, arriving Oct. 12 and staying in the National Capital Region for a four-day visit. The Globe reported that the Queen and her husband – who had just been made prince earlier that year – walked in the park near Rideau Hall, where they were staying, and picked up a few of the fallen maple leaves to press and take home. She also had $1,000 in $10 bills delivered to her to pay for gifts for Rideau Hall staff.

In a speech broadcast on TV and radio the following day, she emphasized her role as Queen of Canada and spoke highly of Canada’s “character” as a nation. “Race, language, religion, culture and tradition all have some contribution to make, and when I think of the diversity of these factors in Canada today and the achievements that have grown from their union, I feel proud and happy to be Queen of such a nation,” she said.

The Queen then opened the 23rd Parliament, marking the first time a reigning monarch commenced a parliamentary session in Canada. She wore her white satin coronation gown. She later attended a state dinner alongside more than 100 noteworthy Canadians, including then-Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, nine lieutenant-governors and seven premiers. Quebec duckling and New Brunswick lobster were served. The Queen wore a dress featuring green velvet maple leaves, adorned with crystals and emeralds. Her fashion was closely observed by the press. The Globe described her wardrobe during her public appearances that weekend as “evidently put together to fit the background of Ottawa’s gold and red autumn hues.”

The Queen formally inaugurated work on Ottawa’s “Queensway super-highway,” now known as Highway 417, by setting off a dynamite explosion. To the surprise of many, she barely flinched when triggering the explosion.

The Queen and Prince Philip visit Stephenville, N.L., in 1959.

A group of Brownies jumping in the air to keep warm during a royal visit to Stephenville, N.L., in 1959. Erik Christensen/The Globe and Mail

The Queen and Philip returned to Canada less than two years later for a 45-day tour of the country – their longest Canadian visit ever. The Queen attended the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway at the U.S.-Canada border on June 26, 1959, where she was joined by Mr. Diefenbaker and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower. After addressing the crowd, the Queen and Mr. Eisenhower boarded the Royal Yacht Britannia and entered the lift locks, officially opening the seaway for business.

The royal couple sailed into the sweltering Toronto Harbour aboard the Britannia. Massive crowds greeted them during their stops across the city, with several people fainting from the heat.

Their first evening in Toronto featured a state dinner, hosted by then lieutenant-governor John Keiller MacKay, at the historic Royal York hotel, which removed its revolving door so the Queen could enter the building in her ball gown. Speaking at the dinner, the Queen noted her warm welcome: “Although we do not live in Canada all the time, my husband and I always feel very much at home in this lovely country. Each time I come here I am fascinated by your way of life, your homes, your work and your games and recreations.”

The couple also attended the 100th running of the Queen’s Plate, the country’s oldest thoroughbred horse race, in Toronto. The Queen presented her traditional 50 guineas in the winner’s circle, talking with the jockeys and patting the horses.

During a visit to the Calgary Stampede, the royal couple enjoyed an evening of chuckwagon racing. An exhausted-looking Queen needed some social backup from her husband during a tour of the Stampede barbecues, so Philip approached a group of men cooking beans in a massive tureen. The beans had been marinating for months, turning into what Globe columnist Scott Young described as “a state as unbeanlike as possible” and letting off a scent that even caused the mosquitoes to turn tail.

Philip peered into the tureen and, through the rising steam, said “straight from the tin, eh?” The Queen, a few metres away, smiled at the laughter that ensued from Philip’s remark. It’s unclear if he ate any of the beans.

“The moment was made. One of those little things which never will make the joke books, but which men remember,” Mr. Young wrote. The page next to his column featured an advertisement for Libby’s deep-browned beans, which read, “Don’t they look good!”

Thirty-eight First Nations welcomed the royal couple in Nanaimo, B.C., and declared the Queen a princess of the Salish Nation. She was offered a serving of Indigenous ice cream from a yellow pail but politely declined.

“Fingers had dipped into the pail earlier for appreciative licks. The Queen beamed back … but did not dip,” read a Globe report from July 17, 1959.

A few days later in the Yukon, the Queen missed a planned visit to Dawson City and Mayo because she was feeling unwell. Philip went in her place. Headlines around the world highlighted how exhausted the Queen looked. Rumours swirled about her condition, with some saying the pace of the tour was too gruelling and others suggesting she ate something that made her ill.

It was later revealed to be morning sickness from her pregnancy with Prince Andrew. The Globe reported that the Queen had quietly told Mr. Diefenbaker she was expecting and he offered to adjust her tour if needed, but she insisted on completing it.

The marathon royal tour covered more than 24,000 kilometres, capturing the attention of Canadians from all walks of life: Newfoundland fisherman, Quebec miners, Prairie farmers and lumbermen of the West.

The Queen addresses Quebec's legislature on Oct. 10, 1964, one of her most infamous Canadian visits due to the hostile reaction by many Quebecers. Booing drowned out applause after her speech, which was delivered in French and English. John McNeill/The Globe and Mail

Outside Quebec City's Citadel, separatists raised V-signs and waved Quebec flags as she inspected a regimental honour guard. Boris Spremo/The Globe and Mail

Separatism greets the Queen in Quebec

The Queen conducted several shorter visits to Canada in the 1960s and 70s. Her 1964 visit was particularly challenging, as the mood in Quebec had changed with the rise of separatism.

The tour featured stops in Charlottetown and Quebec City for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the meetings of the Fathers of Confederation. The Quebec visit was clouded by threats from separatist demonstrations and concerns about a potential assassination attempt against the Queen. Some British churches held special prayers for her safety before the royal couple headed to Canada. Leading British newspapers sent their correspondents to cover the turmoil in Quebec.

Bernard Cloutier, a Paris-based promoter of the Quebec independence movement, accused the federal government of inviting the Queen to Canada as a political ploy.

“Out of the reports, some alarmist, some highly responsible, emerges a consensus: Though separatism is still a minority movement, it must be taken seriously,” The Globe reported.

Anti-monarchy protesters took to the streets as the royal couple dined at Quebec City’s Château Frontenac for an official dinner with then-premier Jean Lesage and Prime Minister Lester Pearson. The crowds chanted “Elizabeth stay home,” prompting Quebec City’s riot squad to club protesters. The royal couple was not harmed. Globe columnist Bruce West called the protests “an insult to Canada.”

The couple’s last stop in Ottawa was rather uneventful compared with their time in Quebec. They laid a wreath at the National War Memorial and attended a state dinner hosted by Mr. Pearson.

The separatist protests and security concerns left a dark mark on the 1964 visit, reflected in a Globe report from the Queen’s departure: “When the jet was airborne into the overcast, the shoulders of the RCMP officers relaxed just a little – they had been tense for nine days – and a reporter remarked: ‘The sound you hear is a national sigh of relief.’”

Canada's centennial year, 1967, gave the Queen a busy schedule: hundreds of balloons are released at Parliament Hill after she cut a 30-foot-high birthday cake on Canada Day.

The Queen and her entourage visit Expo 67 in Montreal. John McNeill/The Globe and Mail

Expo 67, the Centennial and the Olympics

The royal couple returned to Canada in 1967 to mark Canada’s Centennial in Ottawa and at Expo 67 in Montreal. Speaking to a crowd of 25,000 people on Parliament Hill, the Queen acknowledged French-Canadians’ contribution to the nation and predicted they would have a growing role in Canadian society. She encouraged Canadians to settle their differences through “tolerance, goodwill and understanding,” as the Fathers of Confederation had done 100 years prior.

However, the security concerns that surrounded the 1964 Quebec visit lingered as the Queen made her way up the St. Lawrence River for Expo 67. A Quebec separatist group warned that “French-Canadian patriots” would intercept the Britannia’s route to Montreal. The yacht trip went smoothly despite the threats.

When the Queen arrived at the Expo, she thrilled crowds as she took an impromptu monorail ride, breaking from the intense security that surrounded her. “The Queen salvaged Quebec’s honour. … A Queen in a minirail is not seen every day. A Queen who escapes from the straitjacket of the RCMP is not to be seen so often either,” read Montréal-Matin, a Conservative-leaning French-language tabloid.

The Queen’s visit to the Expo pavilions was watched closely. Reporters noted how she spent 30 minutes at the Ontario pavilion – longer than at any other province’s spot – and only made one stop at the pavilion dedicated to Indigenous peoples.

Andrew Delisle, chief of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, showed the Queen around this pavilion and did not shy away from describing the harsh truths about the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada. The Queen fell silent listening to Mr. Delisle. She did not acknowledge signs with slogans reading “The white men fought each other for our lands, and we were embroiled in the white man’s wars” and “Give us the right to manage our own affairs.” Mr. Delisle said he expected a bit more of a reaction from the Queen during the 13-minute tour.

The Queen attends a dinner with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in Montreal in 1976. Erik Christensen/The Globe and Mail

The Queen returned to Montreal in July, 1976, to formally open the Olympics. The Games were a family event, with the Queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, competing as a member of the British equestrian team. The Queen was accompanied by Philip and their sons, Charles, Andrew and Edward, as well as Anne’s husband, Mark Phillips.

Anne had a rough go at the Games. Her horse, Goodwill, fell on one of the jumps, taking Anne down with it. The Princess suffered some bruising and a minor concussion. A reporter standing near the Queen said she showed no emotion, simply nodding, when her daughter fell. The British team eventually pulled out of the competition after two of their horses were injured.

The Queen’s time in Montreal went much more smoothly on the security front compared with previous visits. The royal couple even drove through downtown streets in an open car.

The tour included a stop in Nova Scotia, where the royal couple visited a shipyard. They also went to Fredericton, where the Queen warned that bilingualism is “not an easy thing” to preserve. She said the province, which was 40-per-cent French-speaking at the time, served as an example of how people from different cultural backgrounds can co-exist.

The Queen returned to Ottawa in October, 1977, marking her Silver Jubilee. Then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who had introduced an official policy of multiculturalism and a bilingual framework in 1971, hosted a state dinner at Rideau Hall for the Queen, where he announced that the government had set aside $300,000 to help more young Canadians become bilingual.

The Queen delivered the Throne Speech on Oct. 18, highlighting national unity concerns, particularly among Quebeckers, the Atlantic Provinces and the West.

“Given the new economic realities to which Canada must adjust, and the urgency of promoting linguistic and cultural harmony, it is readily apparent that Canada is now entering a new era,” she said. “It can be an era of increasing confrontation, tension and division or an era of enhanced freedom, co-operation and unity of purpose. Fundamentally, the choice must be made by every citizen every day.”

The Queen, watched by Pierre Trudeau and assorted politicians, signs the Constitution Act into law, making Canada's founding document a purely Canadian rather than British law for the first time. Ron Poling/The Canadian Press

Below the Queen's signature is that of Jean Chrétien, then the attorney-general and later the prime minister. Andy Clark / UPC

Royal proclamation of the Constitution Act

One of the Queen’s most notable visits to Canada took place from April 15 to April 19, 1982, to mark the proclamation of the Constitution Act. Pierre Trudeau hosted a luncheon at his official residence, attended by 11 cabinet ministers and premiers William Davis and Richard Hatfield – the only two provincial leaders who supported the prime minister’s constitutional position. Mr. Trudeau’s sons, Justin, Sacha and Michel, greeted the Queen in the hallway before the luncheon.

On April 17, the Queen made her way to Parliament Hill, where some 32,000 people gathered in the rain to watch her and the prime minister sign the proclamation of the Constitution Act, officially severing Canada’s final colonial tie to Britain. Security for the outdoor ceremony carried a price tag of about $250,000 – a quarter of the $1-million budget for the event. Guests were soaked in a downpour and couldn’t hear any of the speeches in the wind, as the words echoed off the Parliament buildings. Some people covered their heads with chairs left empty by guests who chose to leave. The wind nearly blew the Queen’s speech out of her hands at one point.

“Visibly unsettled, she deliberately turned the page and looked toward Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau with a gesture that seemed close to helpless despair. He had settled the Constitution, but he let everyone down on the weather,” read a Globe report.

With a few signatures, Canada achieved full independence and enshrined the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in its Constitution. However, The Globe’s Ottawa bureau reported that the Privy Council Office nearly forgot an important detail for the historic moment: an appropriate pen to sign the constitutional document. The day before, a staffer was sent to Birks, the high-end jewellery and silverware store, to buy a $75 gold pen for the occasion.

Pierre Trudeau raised eyebrows as the Queen departed Ottawa. He performed a pirouette on the tarmac of the Ottawa airport – a gesture he made famous in 1977 when he executed the ballet spin behind the Queen’s back at Buckingham Palace.

The Queen and Prime Minister Stephen Harper wait for 2010's Canada Day festivities to begin in Ottawa. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Spectators wait for the Queen outside the Cathedral Church of St. James in Toronto. Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press

The final visit

The 84-year-old Queen made her 22nd official and final visit to Canada in 2010, deemed “the year Canada grew up” by The Globe and Mail. Vancouver had hosted the Winter Olympics in February, Canada hosted the G8 and G20 summits, and the Queen joined Canadians to celebrate the country’s 143rd birthday on Parliament Hill.

Accompanied by Philip, the nine-day tour started in Halifax to mark the navy’s 100th anniversary, where then-Prime minister Stephen Harper greeted the Queen before they ventured to Ottawa for Canada Day celebrations.

“We could imagine no better gift on our national birthday than to share it with our Queen,” Mr. Harper said.

The Queen wore a Maple Leaf pin and a white hat with a large red flower as she celebrated Canada Day alongside 100,000 people on Parliament Hill. While in Ottawa, she also met with then-Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, who said she has a “magnificent sense of humour and sense of the absurd.”

The Queen departed for Winnipeg, where she dedicated a cornerstone for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The cubic foot of granite came from the Runnymede meadows on the upper reaches of England’s Thames River, where the Queen’s ancestor, King John, signed the Magna Carta on June 15, 1215. The stone would eventually be set in interior masonry beside the museum entrance doors used by students.

The Queen then made her way to Toronto to attend the 151st running of the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine Racetrack, marking her fourth attendance at the event.

A trip to nearby Waterloo, Ont., featured a stop at the Research in Motion facility. The Queen was presented with a white BlackBerry Bold 9700 – all the rage at the time – but an RIM executive assured reporters she was already an avid user of the device.

Back in Toronto on the evening of July 5, the Queen attended a dinner at the Royal York – the same hotel she graced during her 1959 tour of Canada. However, the event got off to a rough start when a power outage left parts of the city in the dark during a blistering heat wave. After a few minutes of darkness, the hotel’s backup generator lit up some chandeliers and the 380-person dinner went ahead. A Royal York spokesperson said the Queen was comfortable, and other guests reported that the air conditioning was still working.

Mr. Harper addressed the Queen and invited her to unveil a new Hockey Hall of Fame exhibit commemorating Canada’s gold-medal victories in hockey at the Vancouver Olympics earlier that year.

“As Queen of Canada, you share in the recent triumph of our Canadian Olympic hockey champions,” Mr. Harper said. “And so we say that you are not only victorious, happy and glorious, you are also Canada’s most valuable player.”

With reports from Rick Cash and Janice Dickson

The Decibel

Vicky Mochama, a Globe contributor who writes about the Royal Family, looks back at the Queen’s achievements and what the monarchy’s future might be without her. Subscribe for more episodes.

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Queen Elizabeth's Royal Visits to Canada

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Queen Elizabeth, Canada's head of state , always draws crowds when she visits Canada. Since her accession to the Throne in 1952, Queen Elizabeth has made 22 official Royal visits to Canada, usually accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh , and sometimes by her children Prince Charles , Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. Queen Elizabeth has visited every province and territory in Canada.

2010 Royal Visit

Date: June 28 to July 6, 2010 Accompanied by Prince Philip The 2010 Royal Visit included celebrations in Halifax, Nova Scotia to mark the centennial of the founding of the Royal Canadian Navy, Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and a dedication of the cornerstone for the Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

2005 Royal Visit

Date: May 17 to 25, 2005 Accompanied by Prince Philip Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip attended events in Saskatchewan and Alberta to celebrate the centennial of the entry of Saskatchewan and Alberta into Confederation.

2002 Royal Visit

Date: October 4 to 15, 2002 Accompanied by Prince Philip The 2002 Royal Visit to Canada was in celebration of the Queen's Golden Jubilee. The Royal couple visited Iqaluit, Nunavut; Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Toronto, Oakville, Hamilton and Ottawa, Ontario; Fredericton, Sussex, and Moncton, New Brunswick.

1997 Royal Visit

Date: June 23 to July 2, 1997 Accompanied by Prince Philip The 1997 Royal Visit marked the 500th anniversary of John Cabot's arrival in what is now Canada. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited St. John's and Bonavista, Newfoundland; NorthWest River, Shetshatshiu, Happy Valley and Goose Bay, Labrador, They also visited London, Ontario and viewed the floods in Manitoba.

1994 Royal Visit

Date: August 13 to 22, 1994 Accompanied by Prince Philip Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip toured Halifax, Sydney, the Fortress of Louisbourg, and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; attended the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia; and visited Yellowknife , Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit (then part of the Northwest Territories).

1992 Royal Visit

Date: June 30 to July 2, 1992 Queen Elizabeth visited Ottawa, Canada's capital, marking the 125th anniversary of Canadian Confederation and the 40th anniversary of her accession to the Throne.

1990 Royal Visit

Date: June 27 to July 1, 1990 Queen Elizabeth visited Calgary and Red Deer, Alberta, and then joined the celebrations for Canada Day in Ottawa, Canada's capital.

1987 Royal Visit

Date: October 9 to 24, 1987 Accompanied by Prince Philip On the 1987 Royal Visit, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip toured Vancouver, Victoria and Esquimalt, British Columbia; Regina, Saskatoon, Yorkton, Canora, Veregin, Kamsack and Kindersley, Saskatchewan; and Sillery, Cap Tourmente, Rivière-du-Loup and La Pocatière, Quebec.

1984 Royal Visit

Date: September 24 to October 7, 1984 Accompanied by Prince Philip for all parts of the visit except Manitoba Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip toured New Brunswick and Ontario to participate in events marking the bicentennials of those two provinces. Queen Elizabeth also visited Manitoba.

1983 Royal Visit

Date: March 8 to 11, 1983 Accompanied by Prince Philip At the end of a tour of the U.S. West Coast, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited Victoria, Vancouver, Nanaimo, Vernon, Kamloops and New Westminster, British Columbia.

1982 Royal Visit

Date: April 15 to 19, 1982 Accompanied by Prince Philip This Royal Visit was to Ottawa, Canada's capital, for the Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1982.

1978 Royal Visit

Date: July 26 to August 6, 1978 Accompanied by Prince Philip, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward Toured Newfoundland, Saskatchewan and Alberta, attending the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta.

1977 Royal Visit

Date: October 14 to 19, 1977 Accompanied by Prince Philip This Royal Visit was to Ottawa, Canada's capital, in celebration of the Queen's Silver Jubilee Year.

1976 Royal Visit

Date: June 28 to July 6, 1976 Accompanied by Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward The Royal family visited Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and then Montreal, Quebec for the 1976 Olympics. Princess Anne was a member of the British equestrian team competing in the Olympics in Montreal.

1973 Royal Visit (2)

Date: July 31 to August 4, 1973 Accompanied by Prince Philip Queen Elizabeth was in Ottawa, Canada's capital, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Prince Philip had his own program of events.

1973 Royal Visit (1)

Date: June 25 to July 5, 1973 Accompanied by Prince Philip Queen Elizabeth's first visit to Canada in 1973 included an extended tour of Ontario, including events to mark the 300th anniversary of Kingston. The Royal couple spent time in Prince Edward Island marking the centennial of PEI's entry into Canadian Confederation, and they went on to Regina, Saskatchewan, and Calgary, Alberta to participate in events marking the RCMP centennial.

1971 Royal Visit

Date: May 3 to May 12, 1971 Accompanied by Princess Anne Queen Elizabeth and Princess Anne marked the centennial of British Columbia's entry into Canadian Confederation by visiting Victoria, Vancouver, Tofino, Kelowna, Vernon, Penticton, William Lake and Comox, B.C.

1970 Royal Visit

Date: July 5 to 15, 1970 Accompanied by Prince Charles and Princess Anne The 1970 Royal Visit to Canada included a tour of Manitoba to celebrate the centennial of Manitoba's entry into Canadian Confederation. The Royal Family also visited the Northwest Territories to mark its centennial.

1967 Royal Visit

Date: June 29 to July 5, 1967 Accompanied by Prince Philip Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were in Ottawa, Canada's capital, to celebrate Canada's centennial. They also went to Montreal, Quebec to attend Expo '67.

1964 Royal Visit

Date: October 5 to 13, 1964 Accompanied by Prince Philip Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip Visited Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Quebec City, Quebec and Ottawa, Ontario to attend the commemoration of the three major conferences that led up to Canadian Confederation in 1867.

1959 Royal Visit

Date: June 18 to August 1, 1959 Accompanied by Prince Philip This was Queen Elizabeth's first major tour of Canada. She officially opened the St. Lawrence Seaway and visited all Canadian provinces and territories over the span of six weeks.

1957 Royal Visit

Date: October 12 to 16, 1957 Accompanied by Prince Philip On her first official visit to Canada as Queen, Queen Elizabeth spent four days in Ottawa, Canada's capital, and officially opened the first session of the 23rd Parliament of Canada.

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What Canada meant to the Queen

Monarch made 22 official visits to the country, spoke of it as ‘home’.

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When Queen Elizabeth began her last visit to Canada, she talked of coming "home."

"Canadians have, by their own endeavours, built a country and society which is widely admired across the world. I am fortunate to have been a witness to many of the developments and accomplishments of modern Canada," she said after she arrived in Halifax in 2010.

"As Queen of Canada for nearly six decades, my pride in this country remains undimmed. Thank you again for your welcome. It is very good to be home."

That remark 12 years ago was hardly the only time Elizabeth offered such a view of Canada.

• Are you planning on watching Queen Elizabeth's funeral on Sept. 19? Tell us where you'll be watching from and how in an email to  [email protected] .

And it echoed frequently after her death on Thursday, when former Canadian prime ministers and the current Governor General offered their thoughts and condolences.

"Her Majesty cared about people, about our well-being. This was clear every time we spoke. She cared about Canada, and all the unique stories that make up our beautiful country," Gov. Gen. Mary Simon said. "She learned our stories as she visited every corner of Canada during her many royal tours. She called Canada her 'second home.'"

WATCH | Gov. Gen. Mary Simon reflects on the Queen:

Queen taught us 'to lead with understanding and respect': Governor General

Several hallmarks of Elizabeth's 70-year reign — her devotion to duty and her role — are well-known, but what she really thought when it came to matters of state and politics was not.

Yet from her earliest visit to Canada — in 1951, as Princess Elizabeth, before she became Queen — she offered comments on the impressions she had of the country.

• The Queen in Canada: 22 visits during her reign
• From the Queen's death to her funeral, here's the sequence of royal events to watch

"I am sure that nowhere under the sun could one find a land more full of hope, of happiness and of fine, loyal, generous-hearted people," she said after returning to the United Kingdom, following the trip she had made on behalf of her ailing father, King George VI.

She also engaged in some prognostication.

"They have placed in our hearts a love for their country and its people which will never grow cold and which will always draw us to their shores."

Turns out she was drawn to Canadian shores for 22 official visits, making it the country she visited most in the Commonwealth. 

'Canada was the country she visited the most'

Canada was the "senior dominion," said John Fraser, author of The Secret of the Crown: Canada's Affair with Royalty , something he thinks "actually resonated with her."

"We were the lynchpin, one of the key flying buttresses of her Commonwealth mystique," he added.

"Canada was the country she visited the most and clearly because it's the one she could resonate most clearly her commitment to the Commonwealth."

WATCH | Former prime minister Brian Mulroney remembers the Queen:

Brian Mulroney on his relationship with Queen Elizabeth

Thinking about all this prompted Fraser, founding president and a fellow of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada, to recall a moment when a reference to the Queen popped up in a conversation he had with Mark Carney, just before the former head of the Bank of Canada took up his post as head of the Bank of England in 2013. 

"He said, 'You'll be amused to know that when the Queen was informed that a Canadian was going to be the new head of the Bank of England,' she said, 'Good, Canadians are sensible.'"

Beyond her appreciation for Canada "for its own sake" and as the "senior of the realms," Fraser said, Elizabeth found listening to a Canadian prime minister could be useful in her dealings with a British prime minister.

In the summer of 1973, Ottawa was hosting the second Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. But the British prime minister of the day, Edward Heath, wasn't so keen on those meetings.  

"Heath advised [the Queen] not to come to Canada because [Ugandan President] Idi Amin was coming, and Heath of course hated the Commonwealth and was pushing to get England into the European Community," said Fraser.

In the end, according to author Philip Murphy in his book, Monarchy and the End of Empire, the palace accepted an invitation from the Canadian prime minister of the day — Pierre Trudeau — for the Queen to attend, with her accepting as the Queen of Canada.

"The Queen was able to parlay the advice from her Canadian prime minister, who happened to be the host, to counter the advice she got from her British prime minister," Fraser said Thursday.

"There were practical things that her being head of state of Canada allowed her to do to control her other prime ministers."

WATCH | Former prime minister Jean Chrétien recalls Queen Elizabeth:

'She was a fantastic person': Jean Chrétien on Queen Elizabeth

'not just a fair-weather friend'.

As much as the Queen frequently said Canada was "home," there could have been some politics at work in that, too.

She was also "home in Australia, also home in New Zealand," Fraser said. 

Speeches by royal visitors like the Queen and her successor — now King Charles, who visited Canada in May — are written and/or cleared by the Canadian government. One notable speech came at a time when Canada was mired in constitutional problems after the collapse of the Meech Lake Accord.

While visiting Ottawa on Canada Day in 1990, she reminded Canadians that she is "not just a fair-weather friend."

"She said she was glad to be there during a difficult time, that was why she said that she wasn't just there for the happy times — that goes with the business, and I think it was sincere," said Fraser.

Another difficult moment in Quebec in 1964 could also have left its mark on the Queen, when anti-royal and separatist demonstrators chanted "Elizabeth stay at home." 

"I'm sure the famous trip to Quebec [in 1964], when the backs were turned on her … that clearly must have factored in her thinking and part of her evolution of her understanding of her role, that these volatile things can happen even in secure dominions," said Fraser. 

"I'm sure that had some effect on her."

• Queen Elizabeth, Canada's head of state, dead at 96
• Analysis What Queen Elizabeth's lifetime of duty should mean to us now

Last public statement was to Canada

Canada was also on the Queen's mind in her final days.

"I would like to extend my condolences to those who have lost loved ones in the attacks that occurred this past weekend in Saskatchewan," she said in her last public statement , which was issued on Wednesday, the day before her death.

"My thoughts and prayers are with those recovering from injuries, and grieving such horrific losses. I mourn with all Canadians at this tragic time."

The Queen's representative in Saskatchewan, Lt.-Gov. Russ Mistry, said that with her death, "the world has lost a remarkable individual," one who exemplified integrity, humility, inner strength and outward grace.

"As Queen of Canada, she remarked often on the service of our citizens, our commitment to multiculturalism and our potential to influence the world," Mistry said in a statement .

• 'I will miss her so': Trudeau mourns the death of Canada's Queen

"Her Majesty was very fond of Canada and Canadians and thought of our country as her home away from home. She was committed to reconciliation and acknowledged the painful history that Indigenous peoples endured in residential schools in Canada, as well as the work that remains to heal and to continue to build an inclusive society," he said.

"While we mourn her loss, we can also give thanks for her extraordinary contributions to Canada and the world." 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Janet Davison is a CBC senior writer and editor based in Toronto.

With files from CBC News

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A list of the Queen’s visits to Canada over the years

By The Canadian Press

Posted September 8, 2022 1:48 pm.

Last Updated September 8, 2022 2:03 pm.

The Queen has lavished much attention on Canada over the years. Here’s a look at her official visits to Canada: 

1951: Her inaugural visit to Canada was made while she was still Princess Elizabeth. She and new husband Prince Philip made a coast-to-coast tour of the country.

1957: In her first visit as Queen, she and the Duke of Edinburgh made a four-day visit to Hull and Ottawa, where they officially opened that fall’s session of parliament.

1959: The Queen, with Prince Philip, made a six-week tour of all provinces and territories. Highlights included being on hand for the opening of the St. Lawrence seaway.

1964: The royal couple visited Charlottetown, Quebec City and Ottawa to attend commemoration of confederation meetings that took place a century earlier.

1967: The Queen and Prince Philip spent six days in Ottawa and Montreal attending celebrations for Canada’s centennial and Expo67.

1970: The Queen, Prince Philip, Princess Anne and Prince Charles visited Manitoba to mark the 100th anniversary of the province’s entry into Confederation. They also toured the Northwest Territories to participate in its centennial.

1971: The Queen, Prince Philip and Princess Anne visited British Columbia to mark its centenary anniversary of joining Confederation.

1973: The Queen and Prince Philip visited Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and Alberta. They marked the RCMP centennial, the centennial of P.E.I. joining Confederation and the tercentennial of Kingston, Ont.

1973: Less than a month later, the Queen and Prince Philip returned to Canada to greet heads of government at Commonwealth meetings in Ottawa.

1976: The Queen and princes Philip, Charles, Andrew and Edward toured Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. They also took in the opening ceremonies for the Montreal Olympics and stayed to watch Princess Anne compete in equestrian events.

1977: The Queen and Prince Philip made a five-day visit to Ottawa to mark her Silver Jubilee.

1978: The Queen and princes Philip, Edward and Andrew visited Newfoundland, Saskatchewan and Alberta, where they attended the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton.

1982: The Queen, accompanied by Prince Philip, visited Ottawa for four days in order to sign the proclamation of the Constitution Act.

1983: The Queen and Prince Philip toured various cities in British Columbia over a three-day visit.

1984: The Queen and Prince Philip visited New Brunswick and Ontario for both provinces’ bicentennials. The Queen then carried on alone to tour Manitoba.

1987: The Queen and Prince Philip visited British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Quebec over a 16-day tour.

1990: The Queen travelled alone to Red Deer, Alta., and Calgary before stopping in Ottawa for Canada Day festivities.

1992: The Queen visited Ottawa and Hull to mark the 125th anniversary of Confederation and the 40th anniversary of her accession.

1994: The Queen and Prince Philip toured Nova Scotia and British Columbia, where they attended the Commonwealth Games in Victoria. The Duke of Edinburgh also made stops in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

1997: The Queen and Prince Philip travelled to Newfoundland in order to celebrate the 500th anniversary of John Cabot’s arrival. The Queen also visited several cities in Ontario, while Prince Philip surveyed flood damage in Manitoba.

2002: The Queen and Prince Philip made an 11-day visit to Canada on the last leg of their Commonwealth Golden Jubilee tour. Among other events, she dropped a ceremonial puck at a Vancouver Canucks game, visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa, attended a lunch at Rideau Hall with 51 distinguished Canadians and presented the RCMP musical ride with an Irish mare.

2005: The Queen and Prince Philip made a nine-day tour of Saskatchewan and Alberta to celebrate both provinces’ centennials. The trip was characterized by torrents of rain at nearly every stop.

2010: The Queen, accompanied by Prince Philip, made a nine-day trip to Canada, starting with a stop in Halifax where she reviewed a flotilla for international warships. She also visited Ottawa, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Waterloo, Ont.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2022. 

The Canadian Press

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Here are all of the times Queen Elizabeth II visited Toronto

Hannah Alberga , CTVNewsToronto.ca Journalist

@HannahAlberga

Queen Elizabeth II died at 96 years old on Thursday after reigning the monarch for the longest spanning period in Britain’s history.

At just 25 years old, she stepped into her royal role following the death of her father King George VI on Feb. 6, 1952.

Here is a timeline of the Queen’s seven visits to Toronto over the course of her lifetime, according to footage from the CTV News Toronto and City of Toronto archives.

The Queen’s first visit to Toronto took place in 1951. At the time, she was a princess standing in place for her father who was ill. A royal motorcade took the princess down Queen Street West to Old City Hall.

Photos capture Elizabeth at other notable city sites, including the Royal York Hotel, where she would later return on future visits. She also made an appearance at Sunnybrook Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children.

Her first visit to the city in official capacity as The Queen took place nearly a decade later as part of a 1959 tour of Canada. During the 45-day tour, which encompassed 10 provinces and two territories, she waved from a car cascading down Bay Street.

Alongside Prince Philip, Elizabeth sailed into the Toronto Harbour aboard the Britannia. There, she was welcomed in Etobicoke at the 100th Queen’s Plate at the Woodbine racetrack.

The Queen’s following visit to Toronto took place just a few years later in June 1973. As part of an extensive tour of the province, she opened Scarborough’s new Civic Centre, and visited Queen’s Park and Ontario Place. At High Park, she attended a Black Creek Pioneer Village exhibit and was gifted a hand-made corn broom.

A year later, the Queen returned to Toronto to celebrate the city’s 150th anniversary. At the festivities she made appearances at Toronto’s festival of international culture and formally dedicated the Peace Garden on Nathan Phillips Square.

A crowd applauded her arrival at a gala dinner with Ontario Premier William Davis where a tiara crowned her head.

She also visited the Royal Ontario Museum and was greeted by thousands of members of the Italian community on St. Clair Avenue West.

On June 29, 1997, the Queen visited the Royal York Hotel where she joined Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien along with 900 others at a state dinner.

On Oct. 9, 2002, the Queen arrived in Toronto with Prince Philip to celebrate her Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years since she ascended the throne. Her visit to the city was part of a 12 day journey across the country to celebrate the occasion.

From June 29 to July 6, 2010, the Queen visited Halifax, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Waterloo and Toronto. This marked her twenty-second tour of the country.

Again, she made an appearance at Woodbine Racetrack for the Queen’s Plate, a race meeting she first attended in 1959.

This was the Queen’s last visit to Toronto. 

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A smiling Queen Elizabeth II waves to a happy crowd of on-lookers at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds in Toronto, Ont., June 26, 1973. While at the C.N.E. The Queen and Prince Philip were entertained by various dance troupes and choirs. (CP PHOTO)

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Queen Elizabeth II

Her Majesty The Queen marks the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017 by wearing the Maple Leaf Brooch: Photo credit and copyright: © 2017 Ian Leslie Macdonald

Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21, 1926. She was the first child of King George VI (The Duke of York) and Queen Elizabeth.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was the first of Canada's sovereigns to be proclaimed separately as "Queen of Canada." It reaffirmed the Monarch's role as independent of that as Monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. She dedicated her life to public service and served Canada and Canadians throughout her reign. On her 21st birthday (April 21, 1947), she addressed the Commonwealth and dedicated her life "whether it be long or short" to the service of others. In her 7 decades as Monarch, she was steadfast in keeping her promise, a promise valued by Canada and the Commonwealth.

On this page

Early life and education, marriage and family, elizabeth becomes queen, charitable work and military appointments, tours of canada.

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Princess Elizabeth was educated at home with her younger sister, the late Princess Margaret. During that time, the future queen learned French, which she spoke fluently.

Princess Elizabeth gave her first radio address at age 14 as bombs dropped on London during the Second World War, in which she served.

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh depart the HMCS St. John's after the completion of the International Fleet Review in Halifax on June 29, 2010.

On November 20, 1947, Princess Elizabeth married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, His Royal Highness Prince Philip . They had 4 children:

• Prince Charles, Heir to the Throne, now His Majesty King Charles III
• Princess Anne, The Princess Royal
• Prince Andrew, The Duke of York
• Prince Edward, The Duke of Edinburgh

After her father's death, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953. Canadian guests at the coronation included the Prime Minister, Louis St. Laurent, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Louis Breithaupt and his premier, Leslie Frost, as well as Premier of Saskatchewan Tommy Douglas, Quebec Cabinet ministers Onésime Gagnon and John Samuel Bourque, Mayor of Toronto Allan A. Lamport, and Chief of the Squamish Nation Joe Mathias.

In 1953, a Canadian law, the Royal Style and Titles Act formally conferred upon Elizabeth II the title of Queen of Canada.

The Queen greets veterans from the Second World War at plaque unveiling at HMCS Sackville in Halifax on June 29, 2010.

Queen Elizabeth II championed public and voluntary service around the world. She was patron of more than 600 charities and organizations, of which 36 are in Canada. These included the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Nurses Association. This sense of service has been transmitted to all members of the Royal Family.

The Queen highlighted the critical role of the Canadian Forces by serving as Colonel-in-Chief, Captain General and Air Commodore-in-Chief of the following units across Canada:

• Royal Canadian Air Force
• Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada
• The Calgary Highlanders
• Canadian Military Engineers
• The Canadian Grenadier Guards
• Governor General's Foot Guards
• Governor General's Horse Guards
• The King's Own Calgary Regiment
• Le Régiment de la Chaudière
• The Royal New Brunswick Regiment
• The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery
• Royal 22e Régiment
• 48th Highlanders of Canada
• The Canadian Armed Forces Legal Branch
• The Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders
• The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment
• The Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering

In 2012, the Queen became Commissioner-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). She held the title of Honorary Commissioner as of 1953.

Royal Patronage – Canadian organizations

The Queen inspects the Guard of Honour mounted by the Ceremonial Guard on Parliament Hill, July 1, 2010.

The Queen (then Princess Elizabeth) and The Duke of Edinburgh first toured Canada in the fall of 1951. Throughout her reign, Queen Elizabeth II completed more Royal Tours in Canada than to any other Commonwealth country.

The Queen's 2010 tour marked her 22nd official tour of Canada as our Queen. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh participated in many public events, including the Canada Day Noon Show on Parliament Hill on July 1 and the celebrations of the centennial of the Royal Canadian Navy.

Special anniversaries

The year 2012 marked Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee , her 60th anniversary as Queen of Canada. 

On September 9, 2015, a historical milestone was reached. Queen Elizabeth II became the longest reigning sovereign in Canada’s modern era.

In 2017, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated the 150th anniversary of Confederation as well as her Sapphire Jubilee, her 65th anniversary as Queen of Canada. At an event in Canada House, London, former Governor General David Johnston presented a Sapphire Jubilee Snowflake Brooch to The Queen, a gift of thanks from the people of Canada.

In 2022, The Queen celebrated her Platinum Jubilee , marking her 70th anniversary on the Throne. To mark this historical milestone, a series of initiatives took place throughout Canada to honour The Queen’s service and dedication to this country.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away at the age of 96 on September 8, 2022. Visit her commemorative page to relive key moments of her visits to Canada and find information on the commemorative events our nation held in her honour.

• Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (June 2, 1953)
• The Canadian Encyclopedia: Queen Elizabeth II
• Commemoration for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
• A Crown of Maples (2015)
• The official website of the British Monarchy

Page details

A historical look at Queen Elizabeth's seven trips to Toronto over 71 years

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Before and during her reign as Canada's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II visited Canada 22 times, and Toronto seven times.

Her first visit to Toronto took place in 1951 just months before she was crowned Queen, while she was still known as Princess Elizabeth. 

According to the City of Toronto, Princess Elizabeth visited City Hall and the Royal York Hotel in October of 1951 on a two-day tour.

City of Toronto archival photo of Princess Elizabeth arriving at City Hall.  

It wasn't until February 1952 while on tour in Kenya that Princess Elizabeth was informed her father King George VI had died, making her Queen at just 25 years old.

When Elizabeth returned to Toronto in 1959 she had been Queen for seven years and was on a Royal Tour of the entire country.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on Bay Street in 1959. City of Toronto Archives.

Her third trip occurred over 10 years later in 1973 while she was touring Ontario, reports the city's archives.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visting a Black Creek Pioneer Village display at High Park in 1973. City of Toronto Archives.

CTV News states the Queen also visited the Canadian National Exhibition's ground that year. 

Eleven years later, Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh travelled to Toronto again in 1984.

Queen Elizabeth at Nathan Phillips Square. City of Toronto Archives.  

Archives state she visited the Metro International Caravan, the Royal Ontario Museum and St. Clair Avenue West.

She also dedicated the Peace Garden on Nathan Phillips Square during this trip.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited Toronto again in 1997 and in 2002 for the Golden Jubilee (marking 50 years on the throne) and one final time in 2010.

Queen Elizabeth II and her visits to Toronto ❤️ #Toronto #QueenElizabeth pic.twitter.com/ayqBE1SUAB — blogTO (@blogTO) September 8, 2022

CTV News reports that in 1997 she met with Prime Minister Jean Chretien for a state dinner at the Royal York Hotel.

For her final visit in 2010 Queen Elizabeth attended at morning church service at Cathedral Church of St. James and attended the Queen's Plate at Woodbine again.

I went to Queen’s Park to meet the Queen in Toronto on her last visit to Canada. I took the first three photos. That’s me on the upper far right in the last photo. Hoping for best but I am glad she is comfortable and hope her family finds peace. #QueenElizabeth pic.twitter.com/j5HhAvpLRR — Jeffrey Luscombe (@JeffreyLuscombe) September 8, 2022

On her final day in Toronto, the Queen toured Pinewood Toronto Studios, a film and television complex on Commissioners Street.

City of Toronto Archives

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Looking back at Queen Elizabeth II's visits to Quebec

Joe Lofaro CTVNewsMontreal.ca Digital Reporter

@giuseppelo Contact

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, died Thursday at the age of 96.

Over her 70 years on the throne, she has visited Canada several times on royal tours, including stops in Quebec. The last time she visited la belle province was in 1992.

• READ MORE:  A modern monarch: Queen Elizabeth II dies at 96

Here is a look back at the time she has visited the province during her reign.

October 1951

Before she was crowned at Queen, Princess Elizabeth visited Canada with the Duke of Edinburgh. She visited the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City for a state dinner. 

October 1957

At age 31, the Queen visited Canada for a second time since her coronation. On her first visit as Queen, she made a stop in Hull, Que., just across the Ottawa River. She came to the National Capital Region at the time to open the first session of Canada's 23rd parliament.

June to August 1959

Queen Elizabeth II made an official tour across Canada where she observed the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

During the 45-day tour, she visited all provinces and territories.

October 1964

When she was 38, she visited Quebec City and Charlottetown to attend the commemoration of the meetings at Charlottetown and Quebec in 1864.

Three years later, the Queen came to Montreal to visit Expo '67. She was also in Ottawa for official ceremonies related to Canada's centennial celebration.

During a 13-day tour in Canada, Queen Elizabeth II was accompanied by Prince of Wales, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward for the Summer Olympics in Montreal.

October 1987

In her first visit to Quebec City since 1964, the Queen visited during a 16-day tour in western and central Canada. 

Her Majesty also visited other Quebec cities, including Sillery, Cap Tourmente, Rivière-du-Loup, and La Pocatière.

June to July 1992

The Queen made an official visit to Canada's capital city for the 125th anniversary of Confederation and to mark 40 years of the Accession. During her stay, she was invited to a reception in Hull, Que. hosted by former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

This visit marked the last time Queen Elizabeth II was in Quebec. She went on to visit other Canadian cities on five subsequent tours in Canada, with her last one in 2010.  LISTEN ON CJAD 800 RADIO: HISTORIAN CORYNE HALL REMEMBERS QUEEN ELIZABETH II

Queen Elizabeth II toasts with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in Quebec City on Oct.23, 1987. (CP Photo/ Ron Poling)

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The Queen of travel

Queen Elizabeth II 1926 - 2022

Queen Elizabeth II leaves Fiji during a royal tour in February 1977. Serge Lemoine/Getty Images

The Queen of travel Journeys of a lifetime

By Francesca Street and Mark Oliver, CNN September 13, 2022

S he was traveling the moment she ascended to the throne, and for much of the next seven decades, Queen Elizabeth II criss-crossed the world. Newly married and still just a princess, Britain’s future monarch was in Kenya with husband Prince Philip in February 1952 when she learned of her father’s death and her new regal status.

During her reign she would visit more than 120 countries, witnessing first-hand the revolutions in global travel that shrank the world as her own influence over it diminished.

The Queen lived through the advent of the Jet Age, flew supersonic on the Concorde, saw regimes change, countries form and dissolve, the end of the British Empire and the rise of globalization.

Here are some of the most memorable travel moments from her 70 years as monarch.

November 24-25, 1953

Less than six months after she was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London, Queen Elizabeth set off on her travels again. Her debut official state trip was an epic six-month tour of the Commonwealth -- the alliance of nations which were once British colonies. Traveling by air, sea and land she visited several countries, accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. First stop was the North Atlantic island of Bermuda, a British territory she would visit a further four times during her reign. The trip would go on to include stops in Jamaica, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, Cocos Islands, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Aden (now part of Yemen), Uganda, Malta and Gibraltar.

December 19-20, 1953

At Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in June 1953, Queen Salote Tupou III of the Polynesian kingdom of Tonga won over the British public when she sat, rain-soaked, in her open carriage. They also took an interest when Elizabeth returned the visit later in the year. The two queens enjoyed an open-air feast, watched Tongan dancers and admired a tortoise that legend said was presented by explorer Captain James Cook to the King of Tonga in 1777.

December 23, 1953 – January 30, 1954

New zealand.

The Queen voyaged to New Zealand during the Antipodean summer of 1953-4. Over the course of the trip, it’s estimated that three out of every four New Zealanders got a glimpse of her. In preparation for the Queen’s visit, some New Zealand sheep were dyed in the UK flag colors of red, white and blue. The Queen returned to the country nine times over the years, including in 2002 as she marked half a century on the throne.

April 10-21, 1954

Ceylon (now sri lanka).

A visit to Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, coincided with the Queen’s 28th birthday. She visited the city of Colombo where crowds joined together to sing her “Happy Birthday.” She also visited the central city of Kandy, where she watched a procession featuring a reported 140 elephants and met local chiefs.

April 8-11, 1957

The Queen had visited France as a young princess, but her first state visit as monarch was a glamorous affair. She attended the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris, visited the Palace of Versailles, and dined at the Louvre with then-President Rene Coty. The Queen also laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe and visited the Scottish Church of Paris.

October 17-20, 1957

United states.

Having met President Harry S. Truman in Washington in 1951 during a visit before ascending to the throne, Elizabeth was no stranger to America when she arrived on her first trip as Queen. Her 1957 visit marked the 350th anniversary of the first permanent British settlement on the continent, in Jamestown. The monarch attended a college football game at the former Byrd Stadium in Maryland where she watched the home team lose to North Carolina. She met with President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the White House and later traveled to New York, where she and Prince Philip drove through the streets and admired panoramic views of the city from the Empire State Building.

February 1-16, 1961

The Queen and Prince Philip visited Pakistan in 1961, arriving in the port city of Karachi after completing a visit to India as part of a wider tour of South Asia. She drove through the streets of Karachi in an open-top car, before going on to visit Lahore, where a torchlight military tattoo took place in her honor and Prince Philip played in a game of polo.

February 26 to March 1, 1961

In Nepal, the Queen inspected troops in Kathmandu and met Gurkha ex-servicemen in Pokhara. The monarch rode on an elephant and visited the Hanuman Dhoka Palace complex in Kathmandu. She took part in the rather grim spectacle of a tiger hunt although didn’t shoot any animals herself. She instead recorded the experience on cine camera – a recording device that she often carried with her on her earlier foreign trips.

March 2-6, 1961

The Queen visited pre-revolution Iran at the end of her 1961 South Asian tour. Hosted by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, she toured ancient monuments including the ruins of Persepolis, once a capital of the Achaemenid Empire, later declared a World Heritage Site. She also saw Sheikh Lotfollah mosque in Esfahan and admired collections of the Archaeological Museum of Iran.

May 5, 1961

Vatican city.

In 1961, Elizabeth became the first British monarch to visit the Vatican. Dressed all in black, the Queen had an audience with Pope John XXIII, also attended by Prince Philip. She returned to the Vatican three more times during her reign, meeting Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis.

November 9-20, 1961

Bombing incidents in the capital Accra left officials worried about the safety of the Queen’s visit to Ghana but, after deliberation, UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan confirmed it would go ahead. During the trip, the Queen famously shared a dance with Ghana’s then-president, Kwame Nkrumah. At the height of Cold War uncertainty, this seemingly innocuous moment was seen as significant in ensuring Ghana remained affiliated to Britain and not the USSR.

May 18-28, 1965

West germany (now germany).

The Queen’s visit to West Germany and West Berlin was viewed as a symbolic gesture of goodwill in the post-World War II landscape. It was the first royal trip to German territory for more than 50 years and photographs such as one of the Queen and Prince Philip in a car driving past the Brandenburg Gate had symbolic resonance.

November 5-11, 1968

Queen Elizabeth became the first reigning British monarch to visit South America when she landed in Brazil in late 1968. During the trip, the Queen wore a striking jewelry set made of Brazilian aquamarine, gifted to her in 1953 by the Brazilian president and added to over time. The monarch also attended a football match between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and presented the winner’s trophy to Brazilian footballer Pele.

October 18-25, 1971

On the first of two trips to Turkey -- the second took place in 2008 -- the Queen visited the Gallipoli peninsula to remember the Allied soldiers who died there during World War I. The monarch also explored the ruins of the ancient Greek empire city of Ephesus. A media highlight of the visit came when she was photographed leaping ashore from a barge, after disembarking from her ship, the Royal Yacht Britannia.

February 10-15, 1972

Accompanied by Prince Philip and daughter Princess Anne, the Queen was greeted on arrival in Bangkok by a carpet of flower petals. The monarch was given a golden key to the city of Bangkok, attended a state banquet and visited Bang Pa-In Palace, the Thai royal family’s summer residence, north of the capital.

October 17-21, 1972

The Queen’s visit to Yugoslavia was her first trip to a communist country. The Central European country no longer exists -- the areas that the Queen visited are now part of Croatia. During her trip, she met Yugoslav political leader Josip Broz Tito and traveled on his famous Blue Train.

February 15-16, 1974

New hebrides (now vanuatu).

The Queen and Prince Philip visited the Pacific island archipelago of Vanuatu, then known as the New Hebrides, in 1974. It’s said the royal couple’s visit to Vanuatu may have strengthened the belief among some locals on Tanna island that the Duke of Edinburgh was a divine being.

February 24-March 1, 1975

On her first of two visits to Mexico, the Queen toured ancient sites -- including the pyramids of Uxmal, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The monarch also received local crafts, met school children and attended a banquet. While she was driven through Mexico City, the Queen was showered in confetti.

February 17-20, 1979

Saudi arabia.

In 1979, the Queen became the first female head of state to visit Saudi Arabia, on a tour of Gulf States. At Riyadh Airport, she was met by King Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, pictured. The outfits she wore on the trip were carefully designed in accordance with Saudi Arabia’s conservative dress code for women. The Queen arrived on a British Airways supersonic Concorde aircraft and during the visit attended camel races and toured the National Museum.

October 26-27, 1982

The Queen visited Tuvalu, a group of nine islands in the South Pacific, in 1982. Upon arrival, the Queen and Prince Philip were carried in a flower-filled canoe from sea to shore. Thirty years later, in 2012, Prince William visited Tuvalu with his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, who drank a coconut from a tree planted by Queen Elizabeth on this 1982 visit.

February 26 – March 6, 1983

On a star-studded trip to the United States, the Queen toured the 20th Century-Fox studios in Hollywood with then-First Lady Nancy Reagan and met Frank Sinatra, who she’d previously met in the 1950s, at a party given in her honor. The Queen and Prince Philip also visited Yosemite National Park in California, pictured.

November 10-14, 1983

The Queen returned to Kenya in 1983 for a state visit. When she was there 31 years previously, she'd learned that her father had passed away and she had become Britain’s reigning monarch. In 1983, the Queen and Prince Philip revisited the Treetops hotel, pictured, where they were staying at the time she was told the news.

October 12-18, 1986

The Queen’s trip to China was the first -- and, so far, only -- state visit by a British monarch to China. With Prince Philip by her side, the Queen visited the Great Wall of China, pictured, as well as the Forbidden City in Beijing.

October 17-20, 1994

In 1994, in another royal first, the Queen visited Russia. Over the three-day trip, the Queen met Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, pictured here with the monarch outside St Basil’s Cathedral, as well as Russian President Boris Yeltsin. The Queen also attended the Bolshoi Ballet. In her traditional Christmas Day speech broadcast later that year, the Queen reflected on how times had changed, noting she “never thought it would be possible in [her] lifetime” to attend a service in Moscow’s famous cathedral.

March 19-25, 1995

South africa.

In 1994, after apartheid ended, South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth as a republic. The following year, the Queen traveled there, in a visit designed to renew ties between the two countries. The Queen met with President Nelson Mandela, pictured, and presented him with the Order of Merit.

October 12-18, 1997

The Queen visited India for the third time in 1997, her first public engagement since Princess Diana’s funeral just weeks before. The trip marked 50 years since India’s independence from Britain. Most memorably, the monarch visited the site of the Amritsar massacre, also known as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, of April 13, 1919. She also expressed regret at a state banquet in New Delhi for the “distressing” episode in which British soldiers gunned down hundreds of unarmed civilians. The gesture was seen by some as inadequate. “The Queen is doing everything she can to make India like her. But so far it does not seem to be working,” wrote the UK’s Independent newspaper at the time.

October 4-15, 2002

The Queen visited Canada many times. In 2002, her trip to the North American country coincided with her Golden Jubilee festivities, celebrating 50 years of her reign. During the trip, the Queen attended an ice hockey game between the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks, and dropped the ceremonial puck.

March 11-16, 2006

The Queen visited Australia 16 times as Head of State. In 2006, she traveled to Melbourne to open the Commonwealth Games. She was greeted by a welcoming party in Canberra, visited the Sydney Opera House, attended a Commonwealth Day service in St. Andrew’s Cathedral and toured Admiralty House, the Sydney residence of the Governor-General of Australia.

May 17-20, 2011

The Queen’s trip to Dublin was the first time a British monarch had set foot in the Irish Republic since its 1922 independence. At Dublin Castle the Queen delivered a well-received speech on the history of Anglo-Irish relations. In County Tipperary, she also toured the medieval Rock of Cashel, pictured, once a seat of power for Ireland’s ancient kings.

November 26-28, 2015

From 1949 to 1951, before she was Queen, Elizabeth and Prince Philip lived in Malta. In 2015, the monarch paid her last visit to the island, touring the Grand Harbour in a Maltese fishing boat and waving to members of the British Royal Navy.

United Kingdom

In the later years of her reign, the Queen cut back on foreign travel, passing on the mantle to the younger royals. In more recent years, royal tours have also been looked at with more skeptical eyes, as Britain reckons with its colonial past.

While she didn't travel abroad in the later years of her reign, the Queen continued to vacation in the UK. Most notably, the Queen’s ties with Scotland remained strong throughout her reign and her residence there, Balmoral Castle, was a favorite refuge. It was at Balmoral that the Queen died on September 8, 2022.

Visit of Prince Charles and Camilla to Canada Prince Charles and Camilla Visit Canada, Confronting Legacy of the Crown

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Charles acknowledges a grim chapter in Indigenous history after his visit with the Dene people.

YELLOWKNIFE, Northwest Territories — Prince Charles ended his three-day trip to Canada on Thursday by calling on Canadians to listen to the “the truth of the lived experiences” of Indigenous people who were forced to attend residential schools designed to eradicate their cultures and where abuse, suffering and deaths were common.

“It has been deeply moving to have met survivors of residential schools who, with such courage, have shared their experiences,” Charles said in a speech in Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories and a city with a large population of Indigenous people.

“On behalf of my wife and myself, I want to acknowledge their suffering and to say how much our hearts go out to them and their families,” Charles added.

His speech came after he had met privately in nearby Dettah, an Indigenous hamlet, with leaders of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, some of whom attended the now notorious schools.

A year ago, Canadians were shaken when ground-penetrating radar at a property surrounding a former school in British Columbia found evidence that the remains of hundreds of people, mostly children, were buried there. Similar searches at other school sites have since produced similar findings.

Charles urged Canadians to continue to reconcile with Indigenous people, a program that is one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top priorities.

“We all have a responsibility to listen, understand and act in ways that foster relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada,” he told a crowd gathered in a downtown park, before setting off to unveil a plaque marking the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II, his mother, as head of state of not just Britain, but also Canada.

As Charles and Camilla, his wife, flew back to Britain on a Royal Canadian Air Force Airbus, it was too early to tell how his words would reverberate among Canadians. Polls have consistently shown that a majority of Canadians do not favor his succession to the throne. But that will happen automatically without an amendment to Canada’s constitution, a process so difficult that it’s seen as unlikely.

Crowds have been modest to respectable throughout the visit, which also included stops in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Ottawa, the capital. But none of Charles’s stops attracted the numbers of Canadians lured by his sons on their official visits to Canada, nor did they come close to the numbers produced when he toured Canada with his first wife, Diana.

The final day of Charles’s tour of Canada was marked by drumming, dancing and Indigenous games.

Charles was greeted with a solemn traditional fire ceremony beneath an open tepee frame when he arrived at an assembly hall of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.

He entered the hall’s circular community room, where a group of Indigenous men played Dene hand games, in which two teams use ritualistic movements to try to hide a small token from each other while drummers egged on the action.

While at the Dene community, Charles held the private meeting with several Indigenous leaders, which went on for about twice as long as its scheduled 20 minutes. Officials offered no details about the discussion, which occurred as Camilla conducted a private visit to the community’s small elementary school.

After the meeting, Charles joined a large number of residents in a round dance held in a community room, accompanied by eight Indigenous drummers. After one and a half revolutions of the hall, Charles exited, smiling as he waved a small Yellowknives flag he had received from an Indigenous woman.

— Ian Austen

A royal tour confronts Canada’s legacy of discrimination against Indigenous people.

DETTAH, Northwest Territories — Royal visits are usually marked by pomp, carefully scripted ceremonies and lavish evening affairs. And there has certainly been some of that during a three-day visit to Canada by Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, including a glittery reception in Ottawa at the official residence of Queen Elizabeth’s representative in Canada.

But on Thursday, the last day of the royal tour, the tenor was far more subdued tone as Charles and Camilla visited the Northwest Territories.

The couple headed to a far northern Indigenous community, the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, where the history with the British monarchy has been painful.

There’s a century-old treaty that the community says the Crown has infringed upon. And there’s the grim legacy of Canada’s now defunct compulsory residential school system for Indigenous Children, for which the Dene hold the Crown partly responsible.

The royal couple arrived in Yellowknife, the territorial capital, on Thursday at about 3:30 p.m. Eastern, before traveling to the Dene First Nation community. There, they stepped out onto gravel and headed a meeting with Indigenous leaders, where difficult topics were broached.

Charles joined two Indigenous chiefs at a large round table where they exchanged some small talk, including about previous visits by the royal family to the Northwest Territories, before reporters were escorted out of the meeting.

Later, Charles spoke about having been moved as he listened to Indigenous people speak about their experiences in the residential schools and offered his sympathies over what they had endured.

Charles’s itinerary for his Canadian tour, including the visit to Yellowknives, was set by the government in Ottawa, underlining the extent to which the country’s history of discrimination against Indigenous people has become a major political issue.

In April, Pope Francis issued the first ever direct papal apology to Indigenous people for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the residential schools. He plans to visit Canada in July to offer the same apology face-to-face.

On Monday, Charles and Camilla attended a reconciliation event in the Province of Newfoundland, where they met with Mary Simon , the first Indigenous person to serve as governor general of Canada, the queen’s official representative in Canada.

In the historic city of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Charles said, “I know that our visit here this week comes at an important moment, with Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples across Canada committing to reflect honestly and openly on the past and to forge a new relationship for the future.”

Edward Sangris, 68, is one of the Dene chiefs who met Charles and Camilla on Thursday. He was among the thousands of children sent off to the residential schools. His was a Catholic-run institution in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, until his father defied authorities and kept him home.

He declined in an interview to discuss his experiences there, but said that the schools — which have become a national scandal and which a government commission found to be a form of “ cultural genocide ” — would be a topic of conversation.

“This is one way of reconciliation,” Chief Sangris said. “Even though they’re not directly responsible for the harm and the pain that was caused, they’re indirectly responsible for the actions of the Canadian government.”

Given that Charles is not yet king, Chief Sangris said ahead of their meeting that he did not anticipate an apology from Charles on behalf of the royal family.

Charles and Camilla’s visit to Dettah was scheduled to last one hour. The couple’s agenda included for meetings in the territorial capital of Yellowknife with members of a special miliary reserve unit in remote northern communities, and visit the fast melting remains of an ice road for a discussion about climate change.

Chief Sangris said that he recognized the responsibility and role of the government of Canada in Indigenous affairs, but that he believed the monarchy’s symbolic role in making treaties also made it responsible for subsequent violations.

In addition to grievances over Indigenous schools, the Dene believe that the compensation they receive for allowing mining projects on their traditional lands is less than it should be under the treaty with the Crown.

Ahead of the royal meeting, Chief Sangris said it was unlikely to resolve that dispute or to address other critical Dene issues, including a severe housing shortage. Chief Sangris’s father met with Charles in 1970, when Charles and his mother, Queen Elizabeth, visited Yellowknives. Chief Sangris met them then, too, and said that many issues raised at the time remain unresolved.

Of Thursday’s visit, Chief Sangris said, “I don’t know what it’s going to achieve for us.”

Broadly speaking, this is a time of tension over the role of the monarchy in Britain’s former overseas dominions. Separate tours of the Caribbean this year by Prince Edward, Charles’s brother, and Prince William, the future king’s son, were the target of protests against the monarchy and Britain’s brutal historical involvement with slavery.

In Canada, Charles has not faced such vocal public opposition. But polls show that an ever-declining number of Canadians want to swear allegiance to another British monarch, because the institution appears increasingly irrelevant to their lives.

An earlier version of this article misstated Yellowknife’s official government designation. It is a territorial capital, not a provincial capital.

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The royal tour resurfaces debate between Canada’s monarchists and republicans.

The royal visit to Canada comes as the country prepares for Victoria Day on Monday, a holiday commemorating the birth of Queen Victoria, who is often called the Mother of Confederation, the historical process that gave birth to Canada.

For most Canadians the federal holiday, punctuated by nighttime fireworks, simply means enjoying an extra day of rest or bracing for congested highways as many race to take advantage of a long weekend.

But for a relatively small though committed group of Canadians trying to burnish the image of the British monarchy, the lack of enthusiasm for the holiday is a sore point.

“This is a great grievance to Canadian royalists, because the government does almost nothing about celebrating the day,” said Arthur Bousfield, the chairman of the Canadian Royal Heritage Trust.

Mr. Bousfield was also disappointed at the lack of ceremony for Prince Charles and Camilla, noting that they are spending just three days in the country, following an equally short visit in 2017. (Other royal visits have been a week or longer.)

“The legitimate criticism that I think one can have of the monarchy in Canada now is that we don’t get our share of it,” he said. “We have now half the population, approximately, of the United Kingdom, so really, we should have half the royal family’s time.”

Still, some of Canada’s monarchists are happy simply to have Charles in their midst, no matter how brief the trip.

For Gail David Stacey, 76, royal watching is a family tradition, passed down from her mother and grandmother.

Outside the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Tuesday, where Charles laid a wreath, Ms. Stacey carried two small Canadian flags as she awaited the royal couple alongside her 17-year-old grandson.

Though she has seen the queen three times, her children aren’t as “intense” in their interest in the royal family, she said.

“But I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” Ms. Stacey added. “Don’t forget, he’s going to be our future king.”

John Fraser, who has written a book about Canada’s relationship to the Crown, said a small minority of Canadians, perhaps less than one-fifth, are “die-hard” fans of the royal family.

He described them as “romantic monarchists who see that the Crown is like a golden thread woven through our history.”

“To me, it’s a beautiful thing,” said Mr. Fraser, the founder and president of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada, an organization that commissions research on the country’s constitutional monarchy. “A mature country takes its history and carries it forward, and can show how the monarchy system evolved.”

Over the years, many Canadians have grown tired of the monarchy and question why such an archaic institution should play a role in a modern and increasingly diverse society.

But Canadian royalists put a different twist on that point of view.

“One of the reasons they’re disappointed in the monarchy is because they want to see more presence and more activity from the monarch,” said Cian Horrobin, a spokesman for the Monarchist League of Canada. “It’s actually this desire to have it more integrated into the life of Canadians that’s leading to a kind of disillusionment.”

Leila El Shennawy contributed reporting from Ottawa.

— Vjosa Isai

Meet Yellowknife, a small territorial capital that lies at the edge of vast wilderness.

YELLOWKNIFE, Northwest Territories — Prince Charles and Camilla, his wife, are ending their three-day tour of Canada on Thursday in a city that looms large in the minds of many Canadians as a gateway to their country’s vast north — a place few of them will ever see.

Before touching down, the royal couple’s aircraft flew over the still largely frozen waters of Great Slave Lake, a vast body of water in a country dotted with large lakes.

The lake’s ice is in seasonal retreat. Ice roads that cross the lake in winter have closed now, and residents of island homes drag canoes to town in case they need them on their journey back.

The current site of Yellowknife is within a large area of the Dene people, who once followed and hunted caribou. Gold mining turned Yellowknife into a boom town during the 1930s, and after World War II, it became the seat of the regional government and the administrative center for the territory.

Yellowknife remains a popular destination for younger Canadians just starting careers or seeking adventure after finishing their studies.

Even on weeknights, many young newcomers pack bars and restaurants like Bullocks Bistro, which features Arctic char and other northern fish.

“Whenever I talk to graduating students, I tell them that they’re going to have great opportunities here,” said Rebecca Atly, the mayor of Yellowknife.

Much of Yellowknife is dominated by the big box stores and suburban housing familiar to North Americans, even if the buildings sometimes have smaller windows to cope with brutal winters. But the city’s Old Town maintains some of the unplanned charm of its early days.

With a population of 20,000, Yellowknife accounts for nearly half of the Northwest Territories’ population. Its status as the seat of government means that the courthouse, at left below, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment, at right below, dominate the downtown. Both institutions have a troubled history with the territory’s Indigenous population.

Charles and Camilla are visiting the Dettah Community of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, which lies about a half an hour’s drive from Yellowknife. On Wednesday, several of its members rehearsed their welcoming ceremony.

The Dene, unlike many Indigenous people in Canada, do not live on reserves and make up a large part of Yellowknife’s population.

The abandoned Giant Mine, which once excavated gold, lies in the distance. In 1992, nine miners died in a deliberately set explosion during a strike. The mine has left a toxic legacy of 237,000 metric tons of arsenic trioxide waste.

In recent decades, diamond mining has come to the territory, with three mines currently operating. Most workers fly in and out from other parts of Canada.

For visitors from around the world, Yellowknife’s big attraction is the spectacular display of the Northern Lights , generally most visible from September to March. For many who live in Yellowknife, Great Slave Lake and access to seemingly infinite wilderness are what keeps them there.

Sometimes, the wild is very immediate. At least five foxes were scampering around Old Town this week, seemingly unbothered by people.

— Ian Austen and Aaron Vincent Elkaim

Rehearsals, wood chopping and road repairs in advance of a royal visit.

DETTAH, Northwest Territories — A month ago, spring thawed an ice road in the Northwest Territories, rendering impassable the shortcut between the territorial capital of Yellowknife and Dettah, an Indigenous hamlet.

Ahead of Thursday’s visit by Prince Charles and Camilla, his wife, workers were busy on Wednesday fishing signs marking the ice road’s seasonal closure out of melted shoreline water and regrading the alternate road that the prince and his entourage will travel between Yellowknife and Dettah.

Dettah, along with the island of N’dilo, make up the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. While both communities have a chief, neither is an Indigenous reserve. The traditionally nomadic Dene, who once followed caribou herds, still travel widely within their vast territory by motorboat, snowmobile and airplane for hunting, fishing and to reach wellness camps, places for spiritual retreat.

Some preparations for the hour long visit by the British aristocrats to the village of about 300 people were underway on Wednesday. Three men were chopping wood for a ceremonial fire to be lit under a tepee frame to greet the visitors. A man in a backhoe was tidying up gravel and debris in front of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation office.

Early in the afternoon, drummers, elders and other community members preparing to greet the couple gathered in the circular meeting hall of the office for the first of two rehearsals. As Canadian government and Royal Household staff members looked on, Jessica Deleary, a coordinator for the visit from the First Nation, repeatedly reminded the crowd that the visit would be timed to the minute.

That, one of the participants jokingly said, meant the group must follow “English time” rather than “Dene time,” adding: “We’ll be on-time with English time.”

A suggested dress code of dark trousers, white shirts and traditional embroidered vests was proposed, with a reminder that the ceremony in the hall would be “broadcast internationally.”

In the back of the room, a remote-controlled television camera brought in for the visit was connected to a bank of servers and other electronic gear, their lights blinking and their fans whirring.

When Ms. Deleary later escorted government officials and royal household representatives through the building, one official reminded her that Charles preferred cool room temperatures. Some discussion led to a decision to switch the building’s furnace off for the night and to bring a fan into the meeting room where Charles would hold some of his meetings.

Outside, the last of the wood for the ceremonial fire was split and ready to burn.

Not so long ago, royal visits brought Canada to a halt.

This week’s visit to Canada by Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, may not be generating a lot of buzz, but that has not always been the case when royal family members have crossed the Atlantic.

In 2011, thousands of people gathered near the National War Memorial in Ottawa, the capital, to catch a glimpse of Prince William, a son of Prince Charles, and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, on their first overseas tour as a married couple. Enthusiastic crowds roared and chanted “Kate” when the couple laid a wreath at the memorial.

“The geography of Canada is unsurpassed and famous for being matched only by the hospitality of its peoples,” William said, helping generate good will for the young couple.

But few visits matched the extraordinary outpouring of adulation for Diana, the Princess of Wales, during her inaugural visit to Canada as Prince Charles’s young bride in 1983.

She spent 18 days in the country, and everywhere the couple went, enormous throngs of well wishers greeted them. The streets of Ottawa were gridlocked by the crowds. The country seemed to go out of its way to make a good impression — officials in St. John’s, Newfoundland, dispatched street cleaners and repaired sidewalks to whip the city into shape.

Their trip was capped with a “Happy Birthday” chorus sung by about 60,000 people who filled a stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, to help celebrate Princess Diana’s 22nd birthday.

“It is the birthday of my dear wife,” Charles said. “Not only that, but she had the good sense and the excellent taste to be born on Canada’s national day.”

Perhaps the only royal visits to draw comparable crowds have been those of Queen Elizabeth, who last came to Canada for the 22nd time as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebration in 2010.

At one stop in Ottawa on Canada Day, she greeted the crowd while seated in a horse-drawn carriage next to her husband, Prince Philip, complete with a procession of Royal Canadian Mounted Police on horseback, a gun salute and band music as she arrived on Parliament Hill.

“I have watched with enormous admiration how Canada has grown and matured while remaining true to its history, its distinctive character and its values,” the queen said during her visit.

Since then, the Crown’s luster has diminished, though the possibility of being close enough to gawk at royal celebrities did stir up some excitement in 2020, when it appeared that Canada would be the next home to Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan. (The couple lived briefly on Vancouver Island before moving to California.)

Prince William and Catherine, along with two of their young children, made their most recent visit to Canada in 2016, spending just over a week in British Columbia and Yukon, where the duchess’s fashion choices became a main topic of conversation.

Though Charles’s visit this week was a low-key affair, he did draw a relatively warm, if somewhat modest, crowd at a ceremony on Tuesday at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.

Josée O’Leary had traveled to Ottawa from Quebec City — for a local tulip festival, not to see Charles. Still, she decided to take a peek at the royal festivities.

“It may be the only time to see Prince Charles and maybe he will be the king very soon,” she said. “I am surprised there aren’t so many people.”

Many Canadians consider the monarchy a relic of the past.

When rumors swirled about two years ago that Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle might move to Canada, there was a giddiness among some Canadians that the young royal couple could inject some glamour into the country.

Tim Hortons, the quintessentially Canadian coffee chain, offered them free coffee for life.

But the initial media frenzy that greeted their move to Canada in 2020 was also accompanied by deep skepticism among many Canadians, especially over the potential security costs for tax payers. In the end, the couple settled for a brief period on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, before decamping to Southern California.

As Prince Harry’s father, Prince Charles, and his wife Camilla visit Canada on a trip imbued with the significance of a king-in-waiting edging ever closer to his destiny, Canadians are experiencing a similar ambivalence about the Crown. Canada is a constitutional monarchy and Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, is the head of state, her image featured on coins and 20-dollar bills.

But, in many ways, the monarchy, an ancient institution predicated on class, blood and succession, is out of step with Canada, a country that prides itself on being a liberal and multicultural meritocracy.

Support for the monarchy was generally lukewarm in a country where many consider constitutional ties to the crown a historical relic, said Philippe Lagassé, an associate professor and an expert on the British monarchy at Carleton University in Ottawa.

“As Canada has become less of a British nation over the past century and a half, the connection to the royal family has become less obvious,” he said. “Many now see the monarchy as a vestige of the past, and something that causes apathy and bewilderment as to what purpose it serves.”

Royal visits are meant to burnish a national connection to the monarchy, but Prince Charles and Camilla, Mr. Lagassé said, septuagenarian aristocrats, “did not generate much excitement.” Sarah Brown, 33, a civil servant who lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the first stop on the royal tour, said the monarchy was “at best irrelevant and at worst, it represents everything that’s wrong with this world.”

“It’s a system built on oppression, colonialism, racism,’’ she added. “We don’t need it. We don’t want it.”

A recent poll by Angus Reid, a leading polling company, showed that about 55 percent of Canadians supported the country remaining a constitutional monarchy under Queen Elizabeth, but that support for the monarchy drops to 34 percent with Charles as king.

Nevertheless, political analysts said a dismantling of the constitutional monarchy in the near future is unlikely given how entrenched it is in the system governing the country. Doing anything about the role of Britain’s queen or king as Canada’s official head of state would involve amending Canada’s Constitution, a process so fraught with disagreement that there is little political appetite to take it on.

The royal visit comes at a delicate moment for the Crown.

The Queen marked 70 years on the throne in February, which was supposed to offer an opportunity to reframe the royal narrative after three years of unrelenting turmoil.

The sense that the royal family was out of touch with contemporary mores was reinforced during an explosive interview last year with Oprah Winfrey in which Meghan, a biracial former actress, raised the issue of racism within the royal family. And a sex abuse scandal involving Prince Andrew has further tarnished the royal family’s image.

Still, the queen herself remains widely admired in Britain and in many Commonwealth countries, including Canada, for her work ethic and long tenure — she has edged out Queen Victoria as the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Charles does not elicit the same level of enthusiasm.

One thing is certain: Prince Charles and Camilla seemed to avoid the lack of diplomacy that marked some previous royal visits.

His father Prince Philip, who died in April 2021, said this about Canada during a trip there in 1976:

“We don’t come here for our health,” he said with characteristic bluntness. “We can think of other ways of enjoying ourselves.”

Vjosa Isai contributed reporting from Toronto.

— Dan Bilefsky

Charles reunites with an Indigenous leader he met during his 1970 tour.

DETTAH, Northwest Territories — In 1970, Edward Sangris joined his father Joseph, who was then the chief of what’s now known as the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, to meet Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles during their visit to the Northwest Territories.

It was part of the royal family’s tour to celebrate the territory’s centennial.

On Thursday, when Charles returned to the region and visited the Indigenous hamlet of Dettah, Edward Sangris greeted him again, this time as the chief, while Charles remained Canada’s king in waiting. After visiting Newfoundland on Tuesday and Ottawa on Wednesday, Charles and his wife Camilla wound up their three-day tour of Canada in the Northwest Territories with a schedule that emphasized Indigenous people and their issues.

The couple’s presence also served to highlight the unique and strained relationship between Indigenous people and the British Crown.

Outside the first nation’s office in Dettah on Wednesday, Chief Sangris carefully removed an oversized silver medallion from a tin box secured with hair bands.

It has been handed down from chief to chief since 1900, when the community joined a treaty with Queen Victoria and Canadian government commissioners covering 840,000 square kilometers of land.

The medallion bears Queen Victoria’s effigy on one side, and on the other a depiction of an Indigenous man in a feather headdress and a military officer shaking hands in front of a sunburst and a tepee.

“As far as the Dene are concerned, Canada is just an arm of the British monarchy,” Chief Sangris said.

Prince William’s Caribbean tour showed a royal family losing its grip on faraway dominions.

In the Bahamas, one group called for slavery reparations.

In Belize, a visit to a cocoa farm was canceled after residents protested.

And during a military parade in Jamaica in March, Prince William, majestic in a white dress uniform, evoked the colonial era when he rode, with his wife, Catherine, in the same open-top Land Rover that carried the queen and Prince Philip in 1962.

Optics are everything when it comes to Royal tours. As Prince Charles and Camilla traveled to Canada on a trip aimed at burnishing the monarchy, they drew some lessons from the recent public relations gaffes of Prince William and his wife, Catherine, on a recent royal tour of the Caribbean.

The trip, during which the Jamaican prime minister declared that his country was “moving on” from the British monarchy while a poker-faced Prince William looked on, underlined just how rapidly Queen Elizabeth II, now 96, is losing a grip on her distant dominions.

Barbados cast off the queen as head of state last November, and Jamaica seems emboldened to follow suit, though it would require a referendum to amend the island’s constitution. William, second in line to the throne, got a taste of how the mood toward the monarchy has changed in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and a renewed call for reparations for Britain’s role in the slave trade.

On many stops of their tour, the couple was greeted warmly, even jubilantly. But even those encounters were marred by off-key images.

In Trench Town, the Kingston neighborhood famous as the home of Bob Marley, the couple tried their hand at reggae and mixed with friendly crowds. But the enduring image of the stop was likely to be them touching the fingers of children stretched through a chain-link fence — the kind of public relations error that afflicts other members of the royal family but has rarely tarnished this couple.

The dissonance is about more than poor stagecraft, according to scholars and royal watchers. Sentiment toward the royal family has shifted perceptibly in the Caribbean since the killings of George Floyd and other Black people by the police in the United States, which inflamed a long-simmering debate in Britain and its former colonies about the legacy of empire. Barbados’s decision to remove the queen was a tipping point.

“Barbados is seen as the conservative of the Caribbean,” said Richard Drayton, a professor of imperial history at King’s College London, who spent his childhood on the island. “So when Barbados takes a step like this, it creates space for other Caribbean countries to move in that direction.”

Elizabeth remains the head of state of 15 countries in the Commonwealth, including Canada. While she is admired in Canada, particularly among the older generation, the younger generation is more skeptical, at a time when their country is grappling with its colonial legacy and its mistreatment of people of color and Indigenous communities.

Philippe Lagassé, an associate professor and an expert on the British monarchy at Carleton University in Ottawa, said that, as in the Caribbean, the prestige and cachet of the monarchy in Canada was waning. But he said that Prince Charles and Camilla would likely have an easier time trying to win over Canadians, since the country did not have a strong and well-organized republican movement, while the system of constitutional monarchy was ingrained.

While the royal couple would have to tread carefully not to expose “fault lines” on sensitive issues such as Quebec nationalism or the colonial legacy of the subjugation of Indigenous peoples, Mr. Lagassé said that he did not foresee widespread anti-royal backlash.

“There isn’t a groundswell of opposition to the monarchy,” he said. “There is also not strong support of an institution that isn’t on top of anyone’s agenda. After all, the royal family is not Canadian.”

— Dan Bilefsky and Mark Landler

Canada’s most British city tries to shrug off its royal past.

VICTORIA, British Columbia — Two of the more high-profile and Instagrammable members of the royal family, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, made global headlines when they decided to withdraw from their royal duties, and made their home in a wealthy, celebrity-filled coastal enclave north of Los Angeles.

But before that, the royal couple spent a brief period in a sleepy municipality near Victoria, British Columbia, on the western edge of Canada.

Victoria, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, has long marketed itself as Canada’s most English city. It is peppered with Tudor Revival architecture, pubs with names like “the Churchill” and specialty shops selling marmalade. Until 1950, its police officers wore bobby-style helmets.

It is also where Ken Lane keeps a wax figure of Harry’s great-great-great-great-grandmother perched at a dining room table over a glass of sherry, her hair lovingly shampooed and fluffed by one of her most devoted subjects.

Mr. Lane had kept the wax effigy of Queen Victoria’s head in a box in the basement along with wax figures of other royal and British notables. But after Harry and Megan moved to the area, he decided to move the figure upstairs. He spent three days getting her ready for display, coifing and styling its hair — real human strands imported from Italy.

Wearing a crown, the fabricated queen presided at his dining room table, as if in mid conversation, along with the figures of Queen Elizabeth II; Diana, Princess of Wales; and Winston Churchill. Union Jack napkins were at the ready, and multicolor Skittles for snacking. (After Prince Harry and Meghan left Canada, Mr. Lane put the other figures back in the basement, but Queen Victoria still holds court at the dining room table, albeit alone.)

Mr. Lane had hoped that Harry and Meghan’s decision to retreat from their royal duties and move to Canada would nourish a renewed fascination with the British royals, and that his collection of 350 wax figures would then find a new home. He is still looking, and said on Wednesday that he was trying to sell the collection.

“Meghan and Harry are popular royals, and I feel sorry for what they’ve been through,” said Mr. Lane, past chairman of the Victoria branch of the Monarchist League of Canada , which works to support Canada’s constitutional monarchy.

Mr. Lane is not alone in clinging proudly to the image of his city as a place still closely tied to Britain. Victoria was established as a British trading post in 1843, before it became the seat of British Columbia’s government and a popular destination for retirees and honeymooners.

But increasingly shaped by a wave of new immigrants, a growing high-tech sector and a mayor who refused to pledge the traditional oath of allegiance to the queen , the picturesque city no longer aspires to be a “little piece of Old England.”

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How the Royal Family Celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s 2nd Birthday Since Her Death

Queen Elizabeth II will always have a special place in the hearts of the royal family , even if they don’t publicly display it.

Sunday, April 21, marked the late queen’s second birthday since her death in September 2022. Most of the royal family didn’t honor Her Majesty outwardly, but according to former staffer Grant Harrold there would’ve been celebrations behind closed doors.

“They won’t publicly do anything. Privately, I have no doubt they’ll raise a toast to her in the evening,” Harrold, who worked for King Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla , from 2004 to 2011, told Slingo via People . “I’m sure the day will very much be spent reflecting on the late queen.”

Related: Queen Elizabeth II's Evolution: Princess to Longtime British Monarch

The former employee, who crossed paths with Elizabeth on occasion, explained that queen’s family would pay homage in subtle ways.

“I can almost guarantee that if you were to go to Windsor Castle that day, it’s very likely there’ll be some flowers on the tomb that have been sent by the family members,” he said. “Sometimes on royal anniversaries, flowers are sent to royal graves. It’s very possible there will be flowers on the tombstone.”

British locals (or visiting tourists) could also pay their respects to the late royal by leaving bouquets at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle where the queen was buried.

While the king, 75, and his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry , didn’t pen a public tribute to Elizabeth, the royals did unveil a statue in Rutland, England to mark her birthday. (The family, however, wasn’t in attendance to see it happen in real time.)

Related: Royal Family Honors Queen Elizabeth II on Anniversary of Her Death

Travelers far and wide descended upon the area on Sunday to see the new bronze monument located outside a library in Oakham. Lord Lieutenant of Rutland, Dr. Sarah Furness , commissioned the sculpture by artist Hywel Pratley .

In addition to standing 7 feet tall, the piece featured many of the queen’s beloved corgis in statue form.

Back in London, the queen’s ex-daughter-in-law Sarah Ferguson honored the monarch on what would’ve been her 98th birthday.

“Today we are remembering Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” Ferguson, who was married to Elizabeth’s son Prince Andrew from 1986 to 1996, wrote via Instagram on Sunday. “Thank you for all that you have taught us, for being a steadfast leader and dear friend. You are sorely missed.”

The understated celebration of the queen’s birthday comes amid recent health scares involving multiple members of the royal family.

Ferguson, 64, confirmed in January that she was diagnosed with skin cancer months after undergoing a mastectomy. She was previously diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer in June 2023.

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Related: Kate Middleton and More Royals Who Were Diagnosed With Cancer

Buckingham Palace announced in February that the king was battling cancer after undergoing a successful prostate surgery. The type and severity of his illness has not been disclosed, but the monarch has returned to work during his treatments.

The following month, Princess Kate Middleton revealed that she was recently diagnosed with cancer after undergoing a stomach surgery earlier in the year.

“The surgery was successful, however, tests after the operation found cancer had been present,” she shared in a March video statement. “My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy, and I’m now in the early stages of that treatment.”

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The Royal Family Celebrates Queen Elizabeth II’s Birthday With a Few Photographs

By Erin Vanderhoof

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Nearly two years after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, her birthday, April 21, is becoming a day when both the royal family—and the rest of the nation—celebrate the legacy of Britain’s longest-serving monarch. This year , King Charles III and Queen Camilla spent the weekend at Balmoral Castle , where the late queen died in September 2022, and on Sunday , which would have been her 98th birthday, the couple were spotted on their way to nearby Crathie Kirk.

According to a former butler for the royals who spoke to Slingo , the family likely continued honoring the queen during the rest of the day. “Privately, I have no doubt they'll raise a toast to her in the evening,” said Grant Harrold, per People . “I'm sure the day will very much be spent reflecting on the late queen.”

On Instagram, Sarah Ferguson remembered her mother-in-law with a photograph taken on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during 2022’s Platinum Jubilee. “Thank you for all that you have taught us, for being a steadfast leader and dear friend,” she wrote . “You are sorely missed.”

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The Royals Collection Trust, which cares for and curates the royal collections, honored the late queen with an image taken during her teenage years. The photograph by Cecil Beaton will be part of a new palace exhibition called Royal Portraits, which will open next month in the King’s Gallery.

According to The Telegraph , a few corgis were on hand during one tribute to the late queen. On Sunday, the first posthumous statue of Queen Elizabeth was unveiled in the town of Oakham, Rutland, in England’s East Midlands, and the bronze sculpture by artist Hywel Pratley features three life-size corgis climbing on the plinth. To celebrate the unveiling, the Welsh Corgi League brought 46 of the queen’s beloved breed to the event, and they could be heard barking during a speech by Sarah Furness, the Lord-Lieutenant of Rutland who commissioned the statue.

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