Since 1786, members of the Canadian royal family have visited Canada, either as an official tour, a working tour, a vacation, or a period of military service. The first member to visit was the future king William IV in 1786. In 1939, King George VI became the first reigning monarch to tour the country.
Purpose and organization Originally, official tours were events predominantly for Canadians to see and possibly meet members of their royal family, with the associated patriotic pomp and spectacle. However, nearing the end of the 20th century, such occasions took on the added dimension of a theme; for instance, the 2005 tour of Saskatchewan and Alberta by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was deemed to be a vehicle for the Queen and Canadians to honour "the spirit of nation builders" and the couple's tour in 2010 was themed "honouring the Canadian record of service—past, present, and future."
Between 1951 and 2018, 24 members of the royal family toured the country; at least one per year from 1957 to 2018. Queen Elizabeth II undertook the most tours of any member of the royal family: 22 between 1951 and 2010, followed by her son, Charles, who conducted his first in 1970.
Official royal tours have always been vested with civic importance, providing a regionalised country with a common thread of loyalty. The Saskatchewan Office of Visual Identity and Protocol states that, "royal visits lend the prestige of the royal family to worthy causes such as health care, education, the arts, the disabled, multicultural groups, and the volunteer sector. And they attract national and international attention to Saskatchewan's resources, industry, culture, and tourism."
Royal tours can take more than a year to organize. The planning is coordinated by the Canadian secretary to the King. The regions to be visited are decided by a rotational formula. Themes are decided upon by the King's secretary together with the minister of Canadian heritage and the Office of the Prime Minister. Traditionally, the coincidence of a royal tour and a federal election is avoided, so no incumbent politician can attempt to use the relevant member or members of the royal family to shore up support for him or herself.
Badges Beginning with the royal tour undertaken by Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh (later Queen Elizabeth II) in 1951, unique badges were created for Elizabeth's official tours of Canada. Though none were produced between 1951 and 1970, one was devised for each of the queen's tours thereafter, until her last in 2010. The same was done for tours carried out by Elizabeth's consort, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, beginning in 1985, and by their children; the first for Prince Charles was designed in 1975, the first for Princess Anne in 1979, the first for Prince Andrew in 1985, and the first for Prince Edward in 1987. The initial badge for tours by the Queen Mother was produced in 1979, and those for Princess Margaret and Princess Alexandra both came in 1980; the first for Prince William was devised for his royal tour in 2011.
The badge for Princess Elizabeth consists of a gold maple leaf surrounded by a gold circle bearing the words (the official motto of Canada), along with "Canada" and the year, 1951. Since the 1970s, the designs commonly employ the royal person's royal cypher (typically the initial of their Christian name surmounted by the appropriate heraldic crown or coronet) along with a maple leaf, rendered in various styles, on a particular background shape and combination of colours. Only Charles's badges differed by using the Prince of Wales's feathers in place of a cypher and a maple leaf as its own element; the sole exception is the badge for his tour to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in 2022, which was shaped to match the Canadian jubilee emblem. For the two royal tours conducted by Prince Andrew and his wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, in 1987 and 1989, the cypher used was their initials intertwined. For the 1976 tour of Canada by Queen Elizabeth II, during which she opened the Summer Olympics in Montreal, the badge design included the Olympic Rings.
The badges were initially conceived by Bruce Beatty for the Department of the secretary of state of Canada. Beginning in 2012, the concept was attributed to Cathy Bursey-Sabourin, Fraser Herald. They are worn as a pins by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police security detail and logistics personnel during official Canadian royal tours (as opposed to working, private, or provincial tours).
Walkabouts During the royal tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939, the Queen initiated the tradition of the "royal walkabout", though her brother-in-law, the former king Edward VIII, had often met ordinary Canadian people in 1919, when Prince of Wales; as he said, "getting off the train to stretch my legs, I would start up conversations with farmers, section hands, miners, small town editors, or newly arrived immigrants from Europe."
18th century
As an officer in the Royal Navy, Prince William Henry (later King William IV) was the first member of the royal family to visit the Newfoundland Colony, the colony of Nova Scotia, and the Province of Quebec (later Lower and Upper Canada), arriving halfway through 1786 and remaining until 1788, with a posting to the Caribbean and a return to the United Kingdom in between.
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn became the second member of the royal family to tour the Canadian colonies and the first to live there for an extended period of time. He arrived in Quebec City in 1791 and resided there, also visiting Upper Canada in 1792, until departing for the Martinique in 1794. He then lived in Halifax until 1800, with a brief return to the United Kingdom in 1799.
19th century The 19th century saw the beginning of modern royal tours in the country, with travel becoming easier and faster due to technological innovations such as the steamship, and rail transports. The mid-18th century marked the final time a member of the royal family made a transatlantic crossing by sailing ship; as royal family members began to travel by steamship in the late-19th century. While travelling through Canada, multiple modes of transportation were used when touring within Canada, including rail, on foot, and various-sized water vessels.
1860 royal tour On 14 May 1859, the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada petitioned Queen Victoria, and other members of the royal family to visit Montreal for the opening of Victoria Bridge. Unwilling to leave London in the hands of rivaling politicians, Victoria instead accepted the Canadian invitation on behalf of her son, Albert Edward, the prince of Wales (later Edward VII). The prince of Wales undertook a two-month tour of Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and the Province of Canada in 1860. This first official royal tour of British North America was considered a success and helped lead to the unification of the colonies seven years later by confirming a common bond between their inhabitants. The prince of Wales' royal tour was used as the standard model for future royal tours for the next century.
Newfoundland and the Maritime colonies
The prince of Wales reached St. John's, Newfoundland in 1860, receiving the typical welcome of an official address, a levee, and a formal ball. During his time there, he attended the St. John's Regatta and was gifted a Newfoundland dog on behalf of Newfoundlanders.
Travelling from St. John's he arrived in Halifax on 2 August and then on to Windsor and Hantsport. The royal party boarded HMS Styx to Saint John. On 4 August, the prince travelled the St John River to Fredericton, where he attended a reception and inaugurated a park. He thereafter travelled to Pictou, Nova Scotia, and returned to several communities, including Saint John, and Windsor.
He landed at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, on 10 August. Along with formal ball and levee, the prince toured the countryside around Charlottetown and visited Province House.
Province of Canada
The prince of Wales was formally welcomed into the Province of Canada by a Canadian delegation, who came aboard HMS Hero near Percé Rock. The Canadian welcome delegation consisted of the governor general of the Province of Canada, Edmund Walker Head, and Joint Premiers, George-Étienne Cartier, and John A. Macdonald. Arriving in Quebec City on 17 August, the prince knighted Narcisse Belleau, Speaker of the Legislative Council, and Henry Smith, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. During his time there, he also visited Montmorency Falls, and made an address at the Université Laval.
Following his visit to Quebec City, the prince of Wales proceeded towards Montreal aboard HMS Hero, joined by several members of the Legislative Assembly near Trois-Rivières. Arriving in Montreal, he took a specially-built open railway car to the Victoria Bridge in Pointe-Saint-Charles, and tapped in-place the final-laid stone for the bridge. During his five-day stay in Montreal, he stayed at the viceregal residence Spencerwood, and inaugurated the city's Crystal Palace, recalling the favourable impression made by Canadians at the Great Exhibition in an address to the crowd.
At Ottawa, the prince laid the foundation stone of the parliament buildings, canoed on the Ottawa River, and rode a timber slide on the Chaudière Falls. Travelling towards Toronto aboard the steamer Kingston, visits were planned for Belleville, and Kingston, although anti-Catholic demonstrators from the Orange Order prevented the prince from disembarking. In an attempt to not embroil the prince in a controversy, Henry Pelham-Clinton, the under-secretary of state who joined the prince on his tour, informed mayors that they would not disembark until the demonstrators were dispersed. Sailing further west, the prince visited Cobourg, Rice Lake, and Peterborough, where he received a reception from the Mississaugas. He then proceeded to Port Hope, re-boarding Kingston to sail on to Toronto.
During a levee in Toronto, the prince received a delegation from Belleville and Kingston, tending apologies for the early incident. On 10 September, he took a one-day excursion to Collingwood, before returning to Toronto the following day. On his way back, he visited and received addresses from Aurora, Barrie, Bradford, and Newmarket. In Toronto, the prince attended the Royal Canadian Yacht Club's regatta, agreeing to become its patron; and opened Allan Gardens, and Queen's Park to the public. He departed the city for London, Ontario on 12 September, visiting Guelph and Stratford on the way. From London, he travelled to Sarnia, in order to attend a gathering of 150 First Nations representatives in the Province of Canada. Following this gathering, he briefly returned to London, before travelling by railway to the Niagara Peninsula.
In the peninsula, he visited Brantford, Chippewa, Fort Erie, and Queenston. The Niagara Falls were illuminated for the first time during his tour of the falls. There, he rode on the Maid of the Mist. At Queenston, he met with 160 War of 1812 veterans, dedicated a rebuilt Brock's Monument, and visited Laura Secord. From Queenston, he moved towards Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Catharines, and Hamilton.
Completing his royal tour of the Province of Canada in late-September, the prince of Wales departed for the United States from Windsor, Ontario. Taking a month-long personal tour of the United States, he travelled under the pseudonym "Lord Renfrew," in an attempt to not attract attention to himself. The Canadian co-premieres saw off the prince's during his departure from Canada, and again from the United States, travelling to Portland, Maine, on 20 October 1860 to see the prince off.
1861–1883