1939 royal tour of Canada

rdf:langString 1939 royal tour of Canada

rdf:langString The 1939 royal tour of Canada by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth was undertaken in the build-up to World War II as a way to emphasise the links between Britain and the Dominion of Canada. The royal tour lasted from 17 May to 15 June, covering every Canadian province, the Dominion of Newfoundland, and a few days in the United States. This tour demonstrated and cemented Canada's allegiance to the Crown and its status as the senior dominion of the British Empire. There had been previous royal tours in Canada, but this was unprecedented, both due to the fact that it was the first visit of North America by the reigning monarch as well as in its scope. The tour was an enormous event, attracting huge crowds at each new city. The king and queen arrived by ship in Quebec City and travelled west by rail, accompanied throughout their journey by Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King. The party visited most of the major cities, finally arriving in Vancouver. Then they travelled through the United States. The tour ended with a visit to the Maritimes and Newfoundland, departing from Halifax. It was the first visit by a reigning monarch of Canada and also the first time a Canadian monarch had set foot in the United States. This tour marked the first time that the sovereign's official Canadian birthday was marked with the monarch himself present in the country; the occasion was marked on Parliament Hill with a celebration and a Trooping the Colour. In 1985, during another tour of Canada, Queen Elizabeth, by then the Queen Mother, stated in a speech: "It is now some 46 years since I first came to this country with the King, in those anxious days shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. I shall always look back upon that visit with feelings of affection and happiness. I think I lost my heart to Canada and Canadians, and my feelings have not changed with the passage of time."