princess elizabeth visit to toronto 1951

Princess Elizabeth's 1951 royal visit to Canada

As the queen celebrates her diamond jubilee, another historic event is remembered.

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When Queen Elizabeth made her first live television address from Ottawa in 1957, she spoke about her first visit to Canada six years earlier.

"I have vivid memories of my journey across the country in 1951," she said of the trip that came only a few months before she ascended the throne.

Canada had thoroughly prepared to host the month-long journey of Eliabeth and her husband, Philip.

Three months ahead of the royal couple's 1951 arrival, government officials were already advising Canadians about proper greetings and correct attire. "It's bad taste to gush," warned one official. "A messed-up curtsy or bow is a horrible thing to behold," observed another, before explaining in detail how it's properly performed.

Preparations were going smoothly until early September 1951, when there was "a first-class row" between the CBC and BBC. The Toronto Telegram reported that CBC was "in a high dudgeon" that the BBC was reneging on arrangements for CBC to provide the commentary for British radio listeners.

Toronto newspapers reported that a BBC spokesman had said their listeners "will expect a British commentator to tell them the story in a British voice."

CBC Radio planned "actuality broadcasts" from 23 cities and a daily royal tour diary.

Both the Telegram and the Toronto Star noted that Stewart McPherson, then the BBC's highest-paid news commentator, was from Winnipeg.

Tragedy at Balmoral Castle

About that time, tragedy struck at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. King George VI's health took a visible turn for the worse.

As he returned to London to see lung specialists, one newspaper was asking in a front-page headline, "What is wrong with the King?"

Plans for his daughter's royal visit to Canada were put on hold. The visit was soon reconfirmed, but instead of arriving by ship, the royal couple would arrive by plane, the first for a royal visit.

Later that month, the King had to have lung surgery. Elizabeth delayed her visit by one week, with all of the planned events on their 33-day trip across Canada also put back a week.

Organizers redoubled their preparations. Toronto was reported to be preparing for the "worst traffic tangle in history" when the princess arrived, according to a headline in the Star.

Two days before Elizabeth's arrival, the Financial Post wrote that the visit would be "the most-covered news event in Canadian history." Echoing that prediction, the Telegram reported that "4,500 personnel have been accredited to cover the activities."

'Crackpots, Communists' a security concern

Security was a big issue, as it always is for royal visits. A story from the Toronto Telegram detailed some of the security arrangements for their visit to Quebec City, their first stop after landing at the airport in Montreal.

Headlined, "Watch Reds, Crackpots: 'Will take care of them' during tour," the story explains that 2,500 uniformed personnel would keep the Quebec City crowds at least 30 feet from the royal couple.

It also mentions a "fat yellow booklet" issued to police forces across Canada that contained the names of "crackpots, Communists and agitators." "At least two Quebecois" listed in the booklet were of particular concern in Quebec City, according to the Telegram.

Finally, the moment arrived. "There was that touch of fairytale atmosphere about her arrival," reported the Globe and Mail.

A nervous 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth stepped out onto the airplane gangway in Montreal on Oct. 8, 1951, a crowd of 15,000 before her on the tarmac. She was about to begin her first major royal visit, during which she would be the centre of attention.

And of course she would be worried about her father's health.

Her two-year-old son Charles and one-year-old daughter Anne stayed home.

A black handbag on her left arm trembled. "Only an iron self-control hid her overwhelming nervousness," wrote the legendary Pierre Berton.

33 days criss-crossing Canada

Over the next 33 days, the princess and prince would travel back and forth across Canada, under intense scrutiny.

In his 1953 book, God Save the Queen , Allan Michie of Life Magazine observed that Elizabeth "was not prepared for either the size or the warmth or the vociferousness of her welcome, or for a newly experienced familiarity in the approach to royalty."

Visit by the numbers

During her 33 days in Canada Princess Elizabeth:

• Shook hands at the rate of 30,00 times per week.
• Heard the national anthem played 150 times.
• Met 53 mayors.
• Inspected 24 guards of honour.
• Accepted official bouquets from 23 little girls.
• Signed 21 golden books.
• And survived it all.

(Source: Pierre Berton, The Royal Family , 1954)

There were no security crises in Quebec City or elsewhere, not counting an incident at a university football game in Vancouver.

Prince Philip was asked to autograph a football, but before he could, security officers seized the ball. Only after rushing off with the ball, deflating, carefully inspecting and then re-inflating it, did they allow the autographing ceremony to go ahead.

Cities strove to be most enthusiastic

In terms of fervour, Each major city would surpass the ones previously visited — or at least claim to have done so. "Enthusiasm of Toronto's outdoes Quebec, and Ottawa combined" headlined The Toronto Telegram, proclaiming the largest crowd in the city's history had assembled in City Hall Square on Oct. 11.

How many were there? "Nobody knows," the Globe and Mail reported the next day.

The day that story ran, the royal couple did a 48-kilometre driving tour through the Queen City, as Toronto was known in those days. "There looked to have been more than 1,000,000 and there may have been twice that many," George Bain reported in the Globe.

Three weeks later in Montreal, another drive, but this time the route was 120 kilometres and lasted seven hours. An estimated two million people lined the route, according to Trevor Hall in his book Royal Canada .

Next stop was a short visit to the U.S. and a meeting with President Harry Truman at the White House. Canadians were aghast at the way the American media pack went about their work.

In his 1953 book The Royal Family , Berton tells a story about how, once back in Canada, Elizabeth mocked the U.S. photographers while she did some filming of her own. While pointing the camera at her husband, she cried out in a nasally American voice, "Hey! You there! Hey, Dook! Look this way a sec! Dat's it! Thanks a lot!"

After almost five weeks of touring, the nervous princess who had flown into Canada left by ship from Portugal Cove, N.L., "a laughing, relaxed figure," according to Berton.

Three months later, she would begin her reign as Elizabeth II.

Princess Elizabeth had this to say about Canada, once she was back in the U.K.:

"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."

And she 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."

Related Stories

• SPECIAL REPORT: The Royal Visit
• Queen Elizabeth's visits to Canada
• Profile Queen Elizabeth II
• VIDEO: Royal Wedding documentaries
• AUDIO: The Royal Family are given gifts in Calgary, Oct. 18, 1951
• AUDIO: Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip at a mini-Stampede in Calgary, Oct. 18, 1951
• AUDIO: Princess Elizabeth visits Nanaimo (Oct. 26, 1951)
• AUDIO: Caribou slippers for Prince Charles (Oct. 26, 1951)

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In October 1951, Princess Elizabeth – just months away from becoming Queen – visited Ontario’s Legislature for the first time with her husband Prince Philip. As Queen, she has paid 3 official visits to Queen’s Park - in 1973, 1984 & 2010. 

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The 1951 Royal Visit

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As we are in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Year, many Canadians have looked back at the visits Queen Elizabeth II has made to Canada during her reign. In all, she has made 22 official visits as Queen. Today, I thought it would be interesting to look at the first visit, when she wasn’t even Queen yet.

It was back in 1951, from October to November, that Princess Elizabeth, The Duchess of Edinburgh, arrived in Canada with her husband Duke of Edinburgh, on a tour she was taking on behalf of her father.

Just over a decade earlier, in 1939, her father and mother had come to Canada on the first-ever Royal Tour of Canada. I covered that in a previous episode and it was one of the biggest events in Canadian history to that point.

While the visit of Princess Elizabeth would not be the on the same level as that visit, it would become an important moment in Canadian history. When her parents arrived, Canada was leaving The Great Depression and about to enter the Second World War.

This time, Canada was six years out from the Second World War and was entering a time of prosperity, when Canada started to become the country we know today.

In early July 1951, it was announced in a statement that the Princess and Prince Philip would be coming to Canada for a tour of the country. In Canada, this announcement was completely unexpected. The Ottawa Citizen stated on July 5, 1951 quote:

“Yesterday’s announcement by Prime Minister St. Laurent that a royal tour was planned for October came as a distinct surprise. There had been no previous intimation that such a visit would be made this year. It is taken for granted that in addition to coming to Ottawa, they will visit such major centers as Montreal, Toronto, some of the western Cities and Vancouver.”

St. Laurent would state quote:

“Their Royal Highnesses have expressed the hope that their first visit to Canada, to which they are looking forward with keen anticipation, will be kept as simple as possible, having regard to the circumstances of their times and I know that their wishes will be respected.”

Unlike Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, St. Laurent would not spend the entire tour with the Royal Couple, instead focusing more on the early days in Quebec and Ottawa.

For Princess Elizabeth, there had been a long wish to come to Canada. She and her sister Princess Margaret were apparently quite disappointed when they were left behind in England while their parents toured Canada in 1939. Upon the return home of the King and Queen, Princess Elizabeth, then 13, would pour over the scrapbooks and photographs of the trip.

The invitation had actually come about because the Secretary of State for External Affairs, Lester B. Pearson, had invited the couple to come to Canada. Governor General Harold Alexander, who was also in London at the time, also aided in extending the invitation to the Royal Couple to come to Canada.

Pearson would become a travel agent of sorts to the planning of the Royal Tour. He would show them a large map of Canada and marked tentative routes in red, blue and black lines for plane, train and ship journeys. Walter Johnson, the Canadian National Railway publicity chief, who had worked out press arrangements for every royal visit to Canada since 1924 also came out of retirement to help plan this new tour. The Royal Couple, for their part, wanted a simple trip. No cornerstones, no university degrees, no long discourses of their own as possible. The motto of keep it simple was often spoken. The couple wouldn’t get all their requests but the trip was toned down to accommodate what they were hoping to do. One request Princess Elizabeth had was that school children be given the opportunity to participate in any public gathering arranged for the Royal Couple.

In the 1939 Royal Tour, one car was used to transport the Royal Couple through various cities. For this Royal Tour, 60 cars were being used, with Ford, Chrysler and General Motors each providing 20 cars each. Six cars were assigned to each of Canada’s ten provinces, and half would be open topped, while half would not.

At the last moment, the tour was almost cancelled as her father King George fell ill and many wondered if he was going to survive. In mid-September 1951, he would have a lung removed in an operation, and Princess Elizabeth stated she wanted to stay by his side. As he improved, the tour was once again back on, just one week later than originally planned.

On Oct. 8, 11:40 a.m., the couple arrived in their plane at the Montreal Airport, where they were greeted by Governor General Harold Alexander, Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent and several cabinet ministers. Around the airport, 25,000 people were waiting to see a glimpse of the couple.

At a state dinner the next evening, Quebec Premier Duplessis would state quote:

“The majority of the people of the province of Quebec are Canadians of French origin. They have for centuries been faithful to the Crown recognizing it as a symbol of authority and freedom.”

Princess Elizabeth would state in reply quote:

“When I first set foot on Canadian soil, I knew myself to be not only amongst friends but amongst fellow countrymen.”

At Quebec City, the Royal Couple were greeted by thousands of people as a royal salute of 21 guns boomed out as Princess Elizabeth walked the red carpet from the train to the dock. She would say in a speech quote:

“I felt, as I think must always be the case for one who comes for the first time across the Atlantic to the new world, not only wonder and excitement but also a feeling of strangeness, the strangeness of the unknown.”

On Oct. 10, Princess Elizabeth arrived at Ottawa on a CNR train where the 30 th Field Battery gave her a 21-gun salute.

The Ottawa Evening Citizen wrote quote:

“It was love at first sight. A radian and beautiful woman, she was the storybook princess come to life. As for the prince, tall, blond, handsome, he was a man’s man.”

Like in Montreal, 25,000 people were on hand to welcome them to the city. Across the city, the Union Jack was on display, except at the Soviet Embassy. At the Holden Manufacturing Company, the largest Union Jack in the world, five stories in length, was displayed.

At Lansdowne Park, 14,000 children had assembled to greet the couple, along with Mayor Charlotte Whitton and city councilors. At Confederation Square, another 50,000 people were on hand, some who had been there since the previous morning to get the best place to stand.

With some time to spare, Prince Philip would visit the National Research Council to speak with the scientists there. He would say quote:

“From the national and provincial research councils through the associated committees, a simple and effective pattern exists for getting problems to the right research worker and the right answer back to the people who need it.”

The couple would then have lunch at 24 Sussex with Prime Minister Laurent, and were then given a tour of the House of Commons. Princess Elizabeth would then ascend to the top of the Peace Tower, which she said gave her a better view than the one from the Eiffel Tower. They would also enjoy a lunch with Mayor Charlotte Whitton. The menu was specifically made to have something from every province in Canada. There was cream of peas from Quebec, salmon from Newfoundland, elk from Alberta, grouse from Saskatchewan, wild rice from Manitoba, cheese from Ontario, oysters from Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, maple Chantilly from New Brunswick and candied fruits from British Columbia.

During the visit to Parliament Hill, Prince Philip saw Filip Konowal, who had been hired as a janitor there by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. The prince had seen the Victoria Cross ribbon on Konowal’s coat for his actions at the Battle of Hill 70 in the First World War. The prince took time to speak with him about his experience.

The next day, the couple took a cruise along the Ottawa River on a ship dubbed the Royal Barge. Two RCAF boats preceded the barge, while two RCN boats followed it. Another 25 pleasure boats supplied by the Ottawa Power Boat Association accompanied the boat down the river.

The Sault Star would describe the scene of the Royal Couple travelling down the Ottawa River, which was the same river her great-grandfather, the future Edward VII, travelled down in 1860 when he was the Prince of Wales. The Sault Star wrote quote:

“Dozens of smaller boats got into the act unofficially. Thousands of people watched from the shores from bridges and from the cliffs overlooking the broad river. The Royal Couple, both happy to get this outing, went down the river on the Ontario side and back up the Quebec side, their boat the centre of a diamond-shaped formation headed by four crash boats of the navy and air force.”

Upon leaving Ottawa, Princess Elizabeth would say quote:

“My husband and I will never forget the golden beauty of Ottawa as we have seen it today and yesterday. But still more shall we remember the wonderful and inspired welcome given by its citizens.”

For Princess Elizabeth, the tour was the first major tour of her life and there were some accounts that she was feeling overwhelmed by it. The Sault Star wrote quote:

“So Princess Elizabeth acts sometimes as though she were mentally pinching herself to make sure she isn’t dreaming. She forgets to smile. Occasionally she looks hesitant, sometimes even a bit scared, sometimes just shy. She turns to her husband and he grins and she is all right again.”

Through the journey, Captain Stewart Cowan, who had over 5,000 hours as a pilot and was a former pilot for a torpedo bomber, was the man who flew the plane for the princess around the country. The Royal Canadian Air Force would also fly a spare plane in case they needed to use it due to mechanical problems with the first plane.

In Kingston, the couple were treated to a visit at the Royal Military College as 350 officers marched past the couple to welcome to the community. They would review the ranks, while also being greeted by thousands of residents who lined the streets during their trip to the school. At one point, a dog ran through the line with a Union Jack tied to his tail. A woman from New York who was in Kingston reporting would also ask a person from Kingston quote:

“Is this the capital of Ontario?”

She was told quote:

“No, this is the capital of the world.”

At Iroquois, 2,500 people were there to watch the train pass by the station even though Princess Elizabeth did not appear, but Philip did, waving from the window. At Prescott, 4,000 people waited for the Royal Couple to pass by. This time, they were treated to both Elizabeth and Philip, who waved to the crowd as the train slowed to a crawl before moving on to its next destination.

Elizabeth would also visit Belleville, where she met with Indigenous leaders who showed her a plate that had been given to the tribe in 1714 by Queen Anne. The Royal Couple then walked past the crowd of 15,000 people, 6,000 of them children.

On Oct. 12, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip reached Toronto where 300,000 people gave the couple a tremendous welcome as they were driven from the airport to city hall. At city hall, she was greeted by Mayor Hiram McCallum. She would sign a register, pay her respects to Toronto’s war dead and attend a civic reception.

The Sault Star described the immense crowd quote:

“Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, hardly able to believe what they saw, told intimates they were thrilled, that never had they seen what they saw here. It dazed 3,000 police who said they had never anticipated anything like this. It boomed well beyond 1.2 million the number of Canadians who had seen the Royal Couple since their arrival in Montreal Monday. It even made Santa Claus look like a piker. Police said the princess outdrew Toronto’s famed annual Santa Claus parade at least two to one.”

At the Canadian National Exhibition grandstand, 30,000 children were on hand to see the couple.

The couple would spend two days in Toronto, during which they attended a hockey game at Maple Leaf Gardens. This wasn’t quite a normal hockey game. The Leafs were supposed to play the Chicago Black Hawks that night to kick off the 1951-52 season, having won the Stanley Cup the previous season. There wasn’t enough time in the itinerary for the Princess to attend the game in the evening. To accommodate this, a 15-minute exhibition game was played for the benefit of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. The game started at 3 p.m. and ended at 3:15 p.m. Proceeds from the mini-game were then given to the Crippled Children’s Fund, the favourite charity of Conn Smythe. The couple were escorted into the arena by Conn Smythe and Premier Leslie Frost. Leafs Captain Ted Kennedy then skated up to the couple in their Royal box to greet them. He would say quote:

“Don’t speak unless they speak to me. I call them each Your Royal Highness. I don’t bow, just shake hands and bow my head slightly.”

In the arena, more than 14,000 people were at the game. Sportswriter Ed Fitkin would write quote:

“Princess Elizabeth’s eyes sparkled as she intently followed the play. She recoiled slightly at the heavy checks and talked and smiled with Mr. Smythe frequently.”

Danny Lewicki, a player for the Leafs would say quote:

“It was a very exciting day for us. Just to think she would be there.”

The game ended in a scoreless tie, but Kennedy would say it was the most intense 15 minutes of hockey ever played at Maple Leaf Gardens.

The couple would visit Windsor, where there was a massive crowd of 500,000 people who had come to the city to line the 20 kilometre route to see the Royal Couple. Many of the people in Windsor had also come from the United States for the visit.

At Cornwall, Ontario, a crowd of 20,000 cheering citizens broke through the police barriers and began to swarm around Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth. The train was only making a 15 minute stop but there was not serious disorder and after a short wait, the train pulled out.

Reaching Winnipeg, the Royal Couple were greeted by a howling prairie storm but that did not stop thousands of people from once again greeting the couple. While in Winnipeg, the couple would also see a performance of the Winnipeg Ballet Company.

Indian Head, Saskatchewan would get an unexpected visit from the Royal Couple when the Royal Train stopped there for 10 minutes. Most of the crowd was not expecting to see the royal couple, but then the train suddenly stopped and the couple walked out to wave to the crowd and greet the gathered children.

Through the journey, Princess Elizabeth tended to be unconcerned with arrival and departure times to ensure as many people as possible could see the Royal Couple during stops, and for other reasons. The Windsor Star wrote quote:

“Princess Elizabeth seems the only one really unconcerned about arrival and departure times. A Royal staff member described her as very easy to get along with. She never hurries anyone, and she refuses to hurry. At least twice she had delayed the morning departure from the Royal train by unhurried dressing, while Philip idly flipped through a magazine in their paneled sitting room.”

In Regina, Princess Elizabeth would praise the government of Tommy Douglas, which was beginning its steps to universal healthcare. She would say quote:

“As I stand now before the Legislative building I feel deeply impressed and conscious of the truly democratic basis upon which the affairs of this country are carried on.”

In Calgary on Oct. 18, liquor stores were required to close for the two hours previous to the visit by the Royal Couple. This was done to ensure staff members could go and see the royal couple, although it may have also been done to prevent any sort of rowdiness as well. In Calgary, she would see one person in the crowd named S.G. Woodeson. He had spent 20 years as the superintendent in charge of safety at Sandringham House, the Royal Family’s home in Norfolk. The Princess would greet him and say it was nice to see him.

On Oct. 19, in order to ensure that Princess Elizabeth could greet children, the Vancouver decided to forgo presentations to her and instead ensure that children could greet her.

The Vancouver Province wrote quote:

“That Princess Elizabeth has made it emphatically clear that she wants to see as many Canadian children as possible and further, children by the thousand have waited long hours, blue with cold, while officialdom introduced itself indoors. Pat Prowd thinks that if the princess knew how those kids had been kept waiting in the cold, she would have been angry. We think so too. Princess Elizabeth is a mother and a gracious young woman.”

Princess Elizabeth would say of the rain and cold weather quote:

“I thought about how all those school children lining the route, and about how cold they must be. I was cold myself and I was in a car.”

After Vancouver, the couple took a destroyer to Victoria where hundreds of thousands of people on Vancouver Island welcomed them. At this point, the couple took a three day holiday. The Edmonton Journal reported quote:

“The press called off its forces and they spent their holiday amid the mountains, forests and streams of the island, doing only what they wished, free from the wearying official receptions, presentations, and welcomes of the previous two weeks.”

Around this same time, the private secretary to the Princess would state that she was doing well and was as fit as a fiddle. He would add quote:

“There is no question about their tiring and it can be categorically denied that there is any question of curtailing the tour.”

On Oct. 27, the couple left British Columbia and arrived in Edmonton where they were given a huge welcome. Just prior to that, 3,000 people in nearby Edson jammed themselves at the railroad station to see the couple who were stopping for 20 minutes in the community. Elizabeth would tell the crowd in Edmonton quote:

“Yesterday, we left the west coast of Canada and this morning we climbed through the Rockies and the famed Yellowhead Pass, the traditional route of explorers and fur traders on their way to the Pacific. And now, I am very glad to stand in this fine city of Edmonton, the gateway to the north.”

In Saskatoon, a Mrs. L. Halliwell would relate how her father was a sergeant in the police force in Windsor, England and he would often keep the way clear for Queen Victoria. When she was a girl and going to school, she would see the Queen go by. As a young woman, she would enter the service of grandparents of Princess Elizabeth. She would state of now seeing Princess Elizabeth quote:

“Thus you understand how I admire and watch our beloved Princess Elizabeth and although I shall see 84 years pass very soon, I will have the honor with my daughter to be present at the station to welcome Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip.”

From Nov. 7 to 8, the couple visited Halifax where they were treated to heavy rain and high winds. That didn’t stop 50,000 people from coming out to greet them.

The tour would come to an end on Nov. 11, 1951 when the couple reached Newfoundland.

Three months later, on Feb. 6, 1952, King George VI would die and Princess Elizabeth would become Queen Elizabeth II.  

Information from Royal Watcher Blog, Nova Scotia Archives, Toronto.ca, City News, Wikipedia, Toronto Star, Macleans, Ottawa Citizen, Victoria Times Colonist, Calgary Albertan, Windsor Star, Calgary Herald, Montreal Star, Vancouver Sun, Edmonton Journal,

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Category : 1951 royal tour of Canada by Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

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Here are all of the times Queen Elizabeth II visited Toronto

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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1951 Royal Visit of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh

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Duke of Edinburgh, University President Sidney Smith, Princess Elizabeht and Vicent Massey peer over Hart House parapet. Torontonensis 1952, p.28-29.

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The Queen visited Canada more than any other country during her long reign

It wouldn't be a stretch to suggest the Queen held a special place in her heart for Canada.

As an ardent world traveller, she visited this country more than any other during her reign, and she was in the habit of referring to it as home.

If you include overnight visits and aircraft refuelling stops, the Queen visited Canada no less than 31 times since her coronation in June 1952, according to the Canadian Heritage Department.

In second place is Australia with 18 visits, including stopovers, according to the The Royal Family's official website.

"I think she really developed a warm affection for us," says Barry MacKenzie, a spokesman for the Monarchist League of Canada. "She's done a marvellous job of taking advantage of all of those opportunities to meet Canadians and to develop a taste for life here."

Here are some highlighfts from her visits:

1. Fall 1951

Royal watchers say the Queen's close relationship with Canada started even before she acceded to the throne.

On Oct. 8, 1951, Princess Elizabeth arrived at Montréal–Dorval International Airport, where she was met by 15,000 people on the tarmac.

Over the next 33 days, the princess and her husband, Prince Philip, travelled across the country and back again, visiting a total of 60 communities and every province.

She took in hockey games in Montreal and Toronto, made a side trip to Washington, D.C., to visit U.S. President Harry Truman, and square danced at Rideau Hall.

The quiet, 25-year-old princess and the gregarious prince were met by large crowds wherever they went, with some reports suggesting that one million people turned out to see them in Toronto and even more showed up in Montreal.

"It was an incredible feat of stamina," says MacKenzie, a history instructor at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S.

"People recognized that this young woman was next in line .... And she also had the added bonus of having a husband who was a war hero. They were young. They were beautiful."

At the end of the tour, in a farewell radio message broadcast from St. John's, N.L., Princess Elizabeth referred to Canada as her "second home."

"Wherever we have been throughout the 10 provinces ... we have been welcomed with a warmth of heart that has made us feel how truly we belong to Canada."

2. Fall 1957

The Queen's first official visit to Canada was a high-profile, four-day tour that included her first ever televised speech, broadcast live from Rideau Hall on Oct. 13, 1957.

The next day, she officially opened a new session of Parliament by reading the speech from the throne in the Senate chamber, with Prince Philip at her side.

It was the first time a reigning monarch opened the Canadian Parliament. The speech was also carried live on television.

3. Summer 1959

The longest royal tour in Canadian history was a gruelling, 45-day marathon that started on June 18, 1959 in eastern Newfoundland.

The highlight of the visit was the official opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway on June 26, when the Queen was joined by U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia at the lift-lock near St. Lambert, Ont.

Five days later, on Canada Day, the Queen delivered a televised address from a sunny veranda at Rideau Hall.

"If I have helped you feel proud of being Canadian, I shall feel well satisfied, because I believe with all conviction that this country can look to a glorious future," she said.

The Queen and Philip travelled to every province and both territories, logging 24,000 kilometres.

"This is the first time since she became Queen that everyone in Canada had the opportunity to see her," says MacKenzie. "And it's the last time that we see one of these huge undertakings."

The official itinerary included a trip to the Calgary Stampede, where Philip donned a cowboy hat, and numerous stops along the Great Lakes, including a trip to the World's Fair in Chicago.

On the last leg of their tour, the young couple made an unscheduled stop in eastern New Brunswick to meet the families of fishermen who died on the night of June 20-21 when a hurricane roared over the Northumberland Strait. The brutal storm capsized more than two dozen fishing boats, killing 35 men and boys — most of them from the village of Escuminac.

At Pointe-du-Chêne, N.B., the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh met with 16 grieving widows and their families on July 29.

Among them was a "tiny grey-haired woman in black, surrounded by 12 of her 18 surviving children," The Canadian Press reported at the time.

"(She) sat on a Northumberland Strait wharf .... and blinked back the tears as she received a sympathetic smile and kind word from Queen Elizabeth."

4. Summer 1967

The Queen and Prince Philip spent six days in Ottawa and Montreal to celebrate Canada's centennial.

Under bright sunshine on Parliament Hill, 50,000 people watched as the Queen cut into a gigantic birthday cake decorated with the coat of arms of each province and territory.

And in Montreal, the Queen rode the automated monorail that was part of the Expo 67 international exhibition.

That brief visit was marked by tight security as organizers wanted to avoid what happened in 1964 when the Queen's visit to Quebec City was marred by waves of police using truncheons to round up separatist protesters who were shouting slogans and singing irreverent songs.

5. Spring 1982

A four-day tour of Ottawa culminated in a ceremony on a sleet-soaked Parliament Hill, where the Queen joined Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to sign the proclamation of the Constitution Act

The act gives the Canadian Parliament the right to amend the constitution without the approval of the British Parliament.

The Act's passage, marked by royal assent from the Queen on April 17, 1982, signalled the last stage of Canada's political evolution from colony to fully independent state.

But it did not signal the end of the monarchy in Canada. Far from it. The Queen remained Canada's head of state and she retained her title as Queen of Canada.

"She wasn't signing a document and giving us our freedom," says MacKenzie. "This was the Queen of Canada signing an act that had been passed in her name in the Canadian Parliament .... It was not a declaration of independence."

6. Summer 2010

On the Queen's final visit to Canada, she told a crowd in Halifax exactly how she felt about this vast part of her realm.

"It is very good to be home," she said on June 28 as she started a nine-day tour that would also take her to Ottawa, Winnipeg, Waterloo, Ont., and Toronto.

"My mother once said that this country felt like a home away from home for the Queen of Canada .... I am pleased to report that it still does."

In Ottawa, she celebrated Canada Day with a crowd of 70,000 on Parliament Hill, where she took a more wistful tone in her speech.

"During my lifetime, I have been witness to this country for more than half its history since Confederation," she said. "I have watched with enormous admiration how Canada has grown and matured while remaining true to its history, its distinctive character and its values."

In her book, "A Royal Couple in Canada," author Allison Lawlor says that on each of the Queen's many visits to Canada, she "succeeded in gracefully lifting Canadians out of their everyday lives for a few moments."

"Not only has she witnessed the growth of Canada, but generations of Canadians have watched the progression in her life as she moved from being their beautiful princess on her first visit in 1951, to a young mother raising four children, to a dignified Queen, and ... as an elder, worldly stateswoman."

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

Queen Elizabeth II reads the Throne Speech in the Senate Chambers Oct. 18, 1977, officially opening the session of Parliament. Prime Minister Trudeau sits to the right of the Queen. (CP PHOTO)

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Here are all the times Prince Philip visited Toronto

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The sad news broke Friday morning that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, passed away at the age of 99.

Prince Philip visited Toronto 20 times starting in the 1950s, according to a statement issued by Mayor John Tory.

"Prince Philip's connection to Toronto was a deep and heartfelt one," Tory said.

Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth leave old Toronto City Hall during their first visit in 1951.

The first visit was in 1951 when he accompanied his wife, then Princess Elizabeth, on a tour she made in place of her ailing father, King George.

Prince Philip married Elizabeth on Nov. 20, 1947, and she was crowned Queen on June 2, 1953.

During that 1951 visit, 300,000 spectators gave the Princess and the Duke a warm welcome as they were driven from Malton (now Pearson) Airport to City Hall (now old City Hall), according to the City of Toronto .

The couple was greeted by Mayor Hiram E. McCallum, signed the register, paid respects to Toronto's War Dead and attended a civic reception.

The Queen and Prince Philip are driven down Bay Street in Toronto in 1959.

In 1959, the Queen and Prince Philip visited Toronto as part of a 45-day tour of the country, travelling to all 10 provinces and what were then two territories. The Royal couple sailed into Toronto Harbour aboard the Britannia , were welcomed in Etobicoke and were special guests at the 100th running of the Queen's Plate at the Woodbine racetrack.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in High Park in 1973.

In June 1973, the Royal couple visited Ontario Place and High Park, and as part of Ontario Conservation Week, the Queen released 100 tagged bass into Grenadier Pond (whose descendants you can probably still see, and even catch-and-release if you like).

The Queen and Prince Philip wave at the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway on June 26, 1959.

In 1984, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were again welcomed to Toronto, to help celebrate the city's 150th anniversary.

The Duke has visited Toronto on his own as part of the Commonwealth Study Conference  (1960, 1962 and 1977) and for The Duke of Edinburgh's Award  (1966, 1985, 1989 and 1996).

He also visited for events such as the opening of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (1967, 1968, and 1996) and charitable events for the World Wildlife Fund (1996).

According to the mayor, Prince Philip's patronages in Toronto include the Canadian Club of Toronto, Upper Canada College ( he attended the 150th anniversary in 1979), the Toronto Club, Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Toronto Press Club, Loyal Canadian Prince Club and Massey College in the University of Toronto.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at Nathan Phillips Square on Oct. 2, 1984.

His most recent visit to Toronto was in 2013, when he was 91, for the Presentation of Colours to the Royal Canadian Regiment at Queen's Park and to receive his insignia as Extra Companion of the Order of Canada and Extra Commander of the Order of Military Merit by the Governor General at Royal York.

The official flag poles at Toronto City Hall, Old City Hall, the Civic Centres, Metro Hall and all City of Toronto facilities, parks and vessels will be lowered to mark the passing of His Royal Highness.

via Toronto Archives, The Queen and Prince Philip are driven down Bay Street in Toronto in 1959.

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The Royal Watcher

Princess elizabeth in washington, d.c, 1951.

Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived for a two-day trip to Washington, D.C on this day in 1951, during their extensive Tour of Canada, different phases of which we are individually covering over the next few weeks. Following a busy Summer , with the  Opening of the Festival of Britain , the  Danish State Visit , the  Norwegian State Visit , the Tour of Canada was the first sign of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke, who had  given up his Naval Career ,  becoming full-time working Royals  in the last few months of King George VI’s life, ahead of her Accession to the Throne. 

Princess Elizabeth in Quebec  |  Ottawa  |  Toronto  |  Winnipeg | British Colombia

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Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were welcomed by President Truman and the First Lady at the Airport in Washington, with both the Princess and the President giving speeches:

It is a very great pleasure, Mr. President, for my husband and me to be visiting you here in Washington. During our trip through Canada, I heard much of the warm goodwill felt by the people of the United States towards the people of Canada, and I am glad that before sailing for England we are to have this chance of seeing at least some of the country with which the whole British Commonwealth has so many friendly ties. “I know it is never possible to understand a country as great as this by visiting only its capital, even such a splendid one as Washington. But so much of the history of the United States has been enacted here, so many memorials of your national achievement stand here, that I hope before I leave to see a little deeper into the sources of your great strength. “Free men everywhere look towards the United States with affection and with hope. The message that has gone out from this great capital city has brought hope and courage to a troubled world. “In that other proud capital where I live, and in Canada from where I have just come, we also are determined to work with all our strength for freedom and for peace.”

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In the evening, Princess Elizabeth (wearing the  Girls of Great Britain & Ireland Tiara , her  Bahrain Pearl Earrings , the   Nizam of Hyderabad Necklace , and the  Order of the Garter ) and the Duke of Edinburgh hosted a Gala Dinner for President Truman and the First Lady at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C, since the couple came not as representatives of the United Kingdom but of the Kingdom of Canada.

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Princess Elizabeth and the Duke also visited the Capitol Building, the Library of Congress, seeing the tomb of President George Washington on a visit to Mount Vernon, paying tribute at Arlington national Cemetery, and hosting a Reception at the British Embassy as well as attending a Press Club Reception. The visit ended with a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House, following which, the Princess and Duke returned to Canada to continue their Tour.

American State Visits to Britain 

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