Royal tours of Canada

There has been an extended royal presence in Canada since the end of the 18th century. [http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/special/royalvisit2005/history_e.cfm Department of Canadian Heritage: 2005 Royal Visit: The Royal Presence in Canada - A Historical Overview] ]

Until the end of the 20th century, these were the only forms a royal visit would take, either at the invitation of the federal ministers for an official visit, or for vacation time at the instigation of the Royal Family member. Originally these were simply tours where Canadians could see and possibly meet members of their Royal Family, with the associated pomp and spectacle. However, nearing the 2000s, official royal tours took on the added dimension of a theme; for instance, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh's 2005 tour of Saskatchewan and Alberta was deemed a trip where Her Majesty, and all Canadians, would honour "The Spirit of Nation Builders." [ [http://www.gov.ab.ca/premier/royalvisit/index_the_visit.cfm Royal Visit 2005: Theme] ] Also, in the last several years, junior members of the Royal Family have begun to take part in unofficial, working tours of Canada. In this method, provinces, municipalities and others personally invite members of the Royal Family to attend events which they fund without assistance from the federal government. Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward have all taken several tours under this method.

18th century

20th century

21st century

Transportation

Up until the middle of the 20th century, ships and trains were used for royal and vice-regal tours of Canada, with cars being employed for shorter routes and ceremonial processions.

The Governor General was supplied with a railway car, named "Victoria", for use in traveling around the provinces; until the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), the party would have to travel through the United States to reach the western parts of Canada.Hubbard, R.H.; "Rideau Hall"; McGill-Queen's University Press; Montreal and London; 1977] For the 1901 tour of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, two railway cars were specially built to serve as a moving household. One, named "Cornwall", served as the day car, with a reception room panelled in Circassian walnut with blue and gold Louis XV ornament and fitted with a piano, as well as a dining room painted in a Watteau style. The other car, "York", contained the bedrooms. All together the Royal Train consisted of ten cars. [Hubbard; p. 102] In 1904 a new vice-regal car was constructed, named "Alexandra", which was used as the primary VIP transport by members of the Royal Family, Governors General, and the Prime Minister through to the 1920s. In 1926, the CPR built the "Wentworth", which served as car number 5 of the Royal Train for the 1939 tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon; it served as the accommodation for then Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and is today part of CPR's "Royal Canadian Pacific" train, known as the "Royal Wentworth" since 1999. The same train uses the 1926 built "Mount Stephen", which was used by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, and the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, and Princess Anne, Princess Royal. [ [http://www8.cpr.ca/cms/English/RCP/thetrain/about/default.htm Royal Canadian Pacific: About the train] ] [ [http://www8.cpr.ca/cms/English/RCP/thetrain/guests/default.htm Royal Canadian Pacific: Famous guests] ] During that 1939 tour, George VI, somewhat of a railbuff, rode in the engine cab when possible; after the tour, the King gave his permission to the CPR for the company to use the prefix "royal" before the locomotive class' name of "Hudson", and to display the royal crown on the running boards of these engines.cite web| url=http://www.railways.incanada.net/candate/candate.htm| title=Significant dates in Canadian railway history| work=Colin Churcher's Railway Pages| year=2006-03-17| accessdate=2006-05-17| ] Until 1959, Royal Trains, operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the federally-owned Canadian National Railways, were used to transport Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh across the country.

Members of the Royal Family would voyage from the United Kingdom to the east coast of Canada at Halifax or Saint John, or transit the Saint Lawrence River to Quebec City; from one of these ports they would then embark on a train for overland journey. The ships used were either commercial or military; for their 1939 tour, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth traveled across the Atlantic on the Canadian Pacific ship RMS "Empress of Australia" for the westbound voyage, and on the RMS "Empress of Britain" eastbound. [ [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/king/053201/053201130206_e.html Library and Archives Canada; Behind the Diary: The Royal Tour of 1939] ] [ [http://web.greatships.net:81/empressbritain2.html Great Ships: Empress of Britain (II)] ] After the completion of HMY "Britannia" in 1954, Royal Family members could travel to Canada from whatever part of the globe they were in, and, after the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959, could take the Royal Yacht into the Great Lakes.

The Royal Yacht was decommissioned in 1997 and last sailed in Canadian waters in the summer of 1983, when it carried Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales. The Royal Family has been mostly transported since the 1960s aboard the Canadian Royal Flight, originally using a CC-137 Husky, and currently using a customized CC-150 Polaris flown by crews of 437 Transport Squadron, based at 8 Wing, Trenton, Ontario. 437 Squadron is part of the Air Transport Group, who, along with 412 Squadron in Ottawa, are charged with flying the Royal Family, the Governor General, and other VIPs. Members of the Royal Family will also occasionally use commercial aircraft, such as when Queen Elizabeth II used a British Airways Concorde. Air Command helicopters and other aircraft are used where needed for shorter flights during segments of visits.

ee also

* List of Commonwealth visits made by Queen Elizabeth II
* List of Royal visits to Hamilton, Ontario
* Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II
* Royal visits to Australia
* Monarchy of Canada

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Bousfield, Arthur & Toffoli, Garry; "Royal Spring: The Royal Tour of 1939 and the Queen Mother in Canada"; Hamilton: Dundurn Press, 1996 (ISBN 155002065X)
* Cartwright, Thelma & Clay, John & Hall, Edna; ed.; "The Silver Jubilee: Royal Visit to Canada"; Ottawa: Deneau & Greenburg, 1977 (ISBN 0888790023)
* Fleming, Rae; "The Royal Tour of Canada: The 1939 Visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth"; Lynx Images; 2002 (ISBN 1894073371)
* Lanctot, Gustave; "The Royal Tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Canada and the United States of America 1939"; Toronto: E.P. Taylor Foundation, 1964 (ASIN B0006EB752)
* MacDonnell, Tom; "Daylight Upon Magic: The Royal Tour of Canada, 1939"; Toronto: Macmillan, 1989 (ISBN 0771592299)
* Radforth, Ian; "Royal Spectacle: The 1860 Visit of the Prince of Wales to Canada and the United States"; University of Toronto Press; 2005 (ISBN 0802086993)

External links

* [http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/fr-rf/1786-1951_e.cfm Royal visits from 1786 to 1951]
* [http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/fr-rf/visit_e.cfm Royal visits since 1951]
* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0006992 The Canadian Encyclopedia: Royal Tours]
* [http://www.pch.gc.ca/visiteroyale2005/history_photo_e.cfm Canadian Heritage photo galleries of Queen Elizabeth II's tours of Canada]
* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-69-2367/life_society/royal_tour/ CBC Digital Archives - Their Majesties in Canada: The 1939 Royal Tour]
* [http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/trains/kids/h32-4050-e.html Library and Archives Canada: Royal Trains]