History of monarchy in Canada

The history of monarchy in Canada stretches from the pre-colonial times of Canada through to the present day, though Canada's monarchical status is typically seen as beginning in 1534, with the establishment of New France by King Francis I, while Newfoundland was claimed by Queen Elizabeth I in 1583; through both these lineages the present Canadian monarchy can trace its ancestral lineage back to the Anglo-Saxon period, and ultimately back to the kings of the Angles and the early Scottish kings. Kings and queens reigning over Canada have included the monarchs of France (from Francis I in 1534 to Louis XV in 1763), those of the UK (from Anne of Great Britain in 1713 to King George VI in 1952), to Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Canada today. Canadian historian Father Jacques Monet said of Canada's Crown: "[it is] one of an approximate half-dozen that have survived through uninterrupted inhertiance from before the country itself was founded."

Throughout the 18th century, via war and treaties, the Canadian colonies of France were ceded to King George III. The colonies were confederated by Queen Victoria in 1867 to form Canada as a kingdom in its own right, and the country was proclaimed fully independent, via constitutional patriation in 1982, by Queen Elizabeth II, who is the current Canadian monarch.

Painting of the Four Mohawk Kings, done during their visit with Queen Anne in 1710.

Pre-colonial

Monarchy has been a concept in Canada since before the first encounters between French and British colonizers and indigenous North Americans. Prior to European settlement, and while no aboriginal group in pre-colonial Canada had what would be seen today as an official monarchy, some First Nations were governmentally organized in a fashion similar to the occidental concept of monarchies; Europeans often considered vast tracts of land within territories of different aboriginal groups to be kingdoms, and the leaders of these groups were referred to by the Europeans as kings, particularly the hereditary leaders. Many had chieftains, whose powers varied from one nation to the next; in some examples the chief would exercise considerable authority and influence on the decisions of the group, while in others he was more of a symbolic or ceremonial figure. Combined with the point that many First Nations societies were governed by unwritten customs and codes of conduct, wherein the chieftain was bound to follow the advice of a council of elders, some aborigional governments would have closely resembled a modern constitutional monarchy.

Further information: The Canadian Crown and First Nations, Inuit and Métis

Kingdoms and colonies

Louis XV in 1748: The last King of France to rule in what is now Canada.

The first French colonies in North America were established at Acadia (today Nova Scotia) in 1603, in the name of King Henri IV, who named Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts, as his Lieutenant-General for Acadia and New France; the second settlement, moved to in 1604 after the first at Saint Croix Island was deemed inhospitable, was named Port Royal in honour of the King. By 1610 the first British settlements were established on Newfoundland, which had earlier been claimed in 1583 for Queen Elizabeth I. However, it was with letters patent from King Henri IV that Samuel de Champlain founded the first permanent European settlement at Quebec, which he then proposed in 1615, to the royal court in Paris, be the royal capital of a great French empire in North America. This was done, and Champlain became the first of a long line of vice-regal representatives, often called governors, who handled affairs of state in the New World; the first Canadian-born governor was Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, who represented King Louis XV in New France.

Over the ensuing decades the monarchs' North American territories grew in both size and population; to augment that of New France in the late 1660s, which had become grossly imbalanced in terms of gender, King Louis XIV, at the request of Intendant Jean Talon, sent between seven and nine hundred women, known as the filles du roi (Daughters of the King), each with dowry, new clothing, and paid passage, to the province. The areas governed by British monarchs were primarily called colonies, while those territories under French monarchs were referred to by various appelations; at one point, New France was deemed to be a royal province of France itself, and was ruled directly by the King through his Conseil souverain, which consisted of the Governor General, the Intendant, and a bishop of the Catholic Church, all appointed by the King himself. As Europeans moved inland, they encountered the aboriginal peoples; relations with them were originally considered to be between European and North American monarchs; though, that later changed to be one between sovereign and subject, leading to the incorporation of treaties with the Crown into the political culture of Canada. Though the First Nations leaders aided the monarchs with their North American conflicts, affairs in Europe would also affect the affairs of the New World, and eventually almost all of the French possessions in what was known as Canada were transferred from the French Crown to the British Crown, providing Canada with one singular monarchy.

During the period of territorial transfer between the Crowns, the area of Acadia, then populated by descendants of French colonialists, was ceded by France to Britain through the Treaty of Utrecht in 1715. However, during the escalation of hostilities in the lead up to the Seven Years' War, the Acadians were asked by British officials, uneasy about with which side the Acadians' loyalties lay, to reaffirm their allegiance to the British Crown. The Acadians refused, and were subsequently deported from the area, many resettling in Louisiana, New France, other British-American colonies, or France itself. This act became known as the Great Upheaval.

Prince William (later King William IV) arrived in Canada in July of 1776, when he stated of the country, and more specifically, St. John's: "truly deplorable... a most dreadful, inhospitable and barren country." However, he later changed his opinion after meeting the local women, and commented on Canada's "inexhaustible supply of women of the most obliging kind." Fifteen years later, the Prince's brother, Prince Edward (later Edward, Duke of Kent), served in Canada on military duties and as Commander of British North American troops from 1791 until the turn of that century; it is said that during that time he fathered two children in Canada by his Canadian mistress, Julie de St. Laurent. In 1792, when the first elections for the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada took place, a riot, fuelled by ethnic character, broke out at one of the polls. Prince Edward was said to have climbed up to where he could be heard and addressed the crowd, stating: "Part then in peace. I urge you to unanimity and accord. Let me hear no more of the odious distinctions of English and French. You are all His Britannic Majesty's beloved Canadian subjects." It was reportedly the first time the word Canadian, which had previously been reserved only for Francophones, was used in a manner that included all colonialists.

Prince Edward (later Edward VII) at the house of Sir John Rose on Sherbourne St. in Toronto, 1860.

Prince Arthur tobogganing in Ottawa, 1870.

The British Royal Family in 1880.

Almost twenty years later, Prince Edward's only daughter, Victoria, was born on May 24, 1819, at Kensington Palace. However, Edward died shortly thereafter, leaving Victoria as heir to the throne. Upon the death of King William IV, Victoria ascended as queen at the age of 18. Though she would never visit Canada, thanks to the spread of newspapers and the invention of photography her image was reproduced sufficiently to maintain popularity and loyalty in her colonies. However, there were still insurrections against the Crown during the early part of her reign, notably the Rebellions of 1837. These rebellions led the British government to grant responsible government to the Canadas, with the support of Victoria herself. (This later became the subject of a CBC Heritage Minute historical vignette.) Still, during her reign some of her children and grandchildren would come to live at Rideau Hall as either the Governor General or viceregal consort.

Confederation and the Dominion

Prior to the confederation of Canada in 1867, a number of issues were of concern during the discussions over the amalgamation of the four Canadian provinces into a country, most notably the threat of invasion by the United States. It was the explicit intention of the Fathers of Confederation to unite the disparate entities into a single monarchical state; at the time, William Lewis Morton argued that the structuring of the Canadian Dominion as a kingdom was not as some "bait for dim-witted Tory voters," but instead as a way to balance between the Russian Empire and the popular sovereignty of the United States, the former seen as despotic and the latter having just led to the American Civil War. As Morton put it, "there is no pressure for uniformity... Monarchy made it possible to achieve all these things, whereas republican democracy would, it seemed, have ensured the victory of local interests and race antagonisms in British America, a victory ending in absorption to the United States."

Though there was a strong force behind the creation of the new country, by the mid 1860s the name of the hypothetical union remained unresolved, and there was still debate over where the capital was to be. On the former issue, John A. Macdonald and then Governor General Viscount Monk supported the name Kingdom of Canada; however, their proposal caused worries that such a designation would provoke the republican United States to the south. As a compromise, and supposedly in tribute to monarchical principles, the term Dominion was adopted instead, and Dominion of Canada would be sanctioned as an official political title for the country. Many names other than Canada had also been proposed, one of which was Victorialand in honour of the then Queen.

Further information: Canada's name

The British North America Act (BNA) was given Royal Assent by Queen Victoria on July 1, 1867, establishing D'Arcy McGee's desired vesting of "Peace, order and good government" in the sovereign. This legislation left the decision of whether or not Canada's capital should be in York (now Toronto), Montreal, Quebec City, or even Kingston, to the Queen. She chose Bytowne (Ottawa, as it was renamed). Many myths surrounding the decision would develop over time, but ultimately the Queen's reasoning was that Bytowne was defensible, located on the Ottawa River (a major waterway), and sat on the border of Upper (English) and Lower (French) Canada. The Queen making unilateral decisions such as this, however, was to become a rare occasion. After the Second Reform Act of 1867, and the growth of the two-party (Liberal and Conservative) system, the Queen's room for manoeuvre decreased; her freedom to choose which individual should occupy the Premiership was increasingly restricted. Still, the ceremonial role for the Crown increased with the first visit of a member of the Royal Family to the new country of Canada in 1869; Queen Victoria's second son, Prince Arthur arrived in 1869 for a year's training with the Rifle Brigade based at Montreal. While in Canada, the Prince, amongst other activities, attended an investiture ceremony in Montreal, met with Canadians at balls and gardern parties, and toured towns in Ontario and Quebec; the trip was documented in photographs that were sent back for the Queen to view. Of the Prince, Lady Lisgar, wife of then Governor General Lord Lisgar, noted in a letter to Victoria that Canadians seemed hopeful Prince Arthur would one day return as Governor General.

Princess Louise in Canada.

Princess Louise c. 1875.

Though Prince Arthur would be appointed as the Canadian viceroy, it would not be done until 1911. Before that, though, Lord Lorne was installed as Governor General in 1878, meaning that, for the first time, Rideau Hall would have a royal resident: Lorne's wife, and Queen Victoria's fourth daughter, Princess Louise. Initially, the royal couple were not received well by the Canadian press, which complained about the imposition of royalty on the country's hitherto un-regal society. Relations with the press further deteriorated when Lorne's private secretary, Francis de Winton, threw four journalists off the royal train. Although the Lornes had no knowledge of de Winton's action, it was assumed by the press that they did, and they earned an early reputation for haughtiness. Louise was horrified by the negative press, and when she heard about reports of "a nation of flunkies" at the viceregal court, taking lessons in the "the backward walk," Louise declared that she "wouldn't care if they came in blanket coats!" Eventually the worries of a rigid court at Rideau Hall and the "feeble undercurrent of criticism" turned out to be unfounded as the royal couple proved to be more relaxed than their predecessors, at the many skating and tobogganing parties, as well as balls, dinners, and other state occasions, Lorne and Louise hosted at Rideau Hall.

The royal couple made many lasting contributions to Canadian society, especially in the realm of arts and sciences, including the establishment of the Royal Society of Canada, the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and the National Gallery of Canada. Louise hung many of her own watercolours and oil paintings around Rideau Hall, and painted sprigs of apple blossoms on doors in the Monck Wing corridor of the palace; one remains there to this day. The Princess left artistic works beyond the royal residence as well, such as the statue of Queen Victoria that stands on the campus of McGill University in Montreal. Louise also gave the name Regina (Latin for queen) to the capital of Saskatchewan, Lake Louise was named after her, and the province in which the lake is situated – Alberta – was named by her as well; although the name Louise was originally planned, the Princess wished to honour her dead father, so her last name was chosen instead. The Princess made such an impression on Canadian society that at her funeral on December 12, 1939, her coffin was borne by her own Canadian regiment, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada.

Statue of Queen Victoria at night in Victoria Square, Montreal.

In Queen Victoria's latter years, both the Golden (1887) and Diamond (1897) Jubilees, held to celebrate the 50th and 60th anniversaries of the queen's accession, were marked with great displays and public ceremonies in Canada. On both occasions, Colonial Conferences attended by the Prime Ministers of the Dominions, including Canada's, were held in the United Kingdom, and for the latter event, Canadian troops partook in the Queen's procession on the day of celebration. In Canada, streets were decorated and the Prime Minister, then Wilfrid Laurier, toured parts of the country to take part in the fêtes. Canada issued a Diamond Jubilee series of stamps on June 19, 1897, with two depictions of Victoria on them, along with commemorative envelopes with Victoria's portrait and a poem on the front:

Queen, that from Spring to Autumn of thy reign

Hast taught thy people how 'tis queenlier far
Than any golden pomp of peace or war

Simply to be a woman without stain.

In December, 1894, John Thompson, who was then Prime Minister traveled to Windsor Castle to be admitted into the Imperial Privy Council by Queen Victoria. While there, however, he died of a heart attack just after the swearing-in. The Queen, who was by then aged and confined to a wheelchair, was wheeled in to place a wreath on Thompson's coffin where it lay in state in St. George's Chapel. This moment was captured in a painting by Frederic Bell-Smith, but the canvas was destroyed in the burning of the Ottawa parliament buildings in 1916.

Victoria herself died at Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight, on January 22, 1901, after a reign lasting almost 64 years, the longest in British and Canadian history, and was succeeded by her eldest son as King Edward VII. At the time, Lord Minto, then Governor General, and his Prime Minister, Wilfrid Laurier, were at odds concerning in which church in Ottawa to hold the official memorial service for the late queen. Minto favoured the Church of England Cathedral, respecting the church to which the Queen had belonged, while Sir Wilfrid and other ministers attended services of their own communion. Still, this minor dispute did not affect the mark left on Canada by Victoria's long and popular reign, which resulted in many cities being named in her honour, such as Victoria, British Columbia, and monuments to her, such as statues placed on Parliament Hill and throughout the provinces. The Queen's reign was permanently memorialised in Canada after her death when, in the spring of 1901, it was debated in the House of Commons that May 24 continue as a holiday marking the late Queen's birthday; the result was affirmative, and the holiday was permanently named as Victoria Day, to distinguish it from the King's birthday celebration to be held in November.

A new century and the Great War

An official ceremony at Toronto's Massey Hall marking the passing of King Edward VII, 1910.

Princess Patricia on Rideau Hall's ice rink with Major Worthington, 1914.

The end of Victoria's reign marked the beginning of a new century, and one which would see Canada's rapid growth as a nation. As modern modes of transportations allowed for easier travel across the oceans, more of the Royal Family came to tour the King's northern Dominion. The first since Queen Victoria's death was the son of the reigning king, Prince George (later George V), and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall and York, who arrived in Canada in 1901. Events during the royal tour, which took in the country between Montreal and Victoria, had a more casual atmosphere than their equivalents in the United Kingdom; it was reported that at one state dinner the couple "shook hands with between two and three thousand guests, never appearing tired, but always manifesting signs of interest, bowing and smiling to all presented to them." The Prince returned only once more before he became king, when he visited in 1908, now as Prince of Wales, to celebrate the tercentenary of Quebec City's founding.

Edward VII died in 1910, which led to a period of official mourning with numerous memorials held across the country. He was succeeded by his son George, and a year following the new king appointed his uncle, Prince Arthur, as Governor General of Canada, thereby fulfilling the desire of Canadians earlier expressed by Lady Lisgar, and bringing Arthur back to Canada for a fourth time as the first natural member of the Royal Family to serve as the Canadian federal viceroy. King George V was reported to have had much to do with the appointment.

The Badge of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry designed by Princess Patricia herself.

Arthur brought with him to Canada his wife, the Duchess of Connaught, and his youngest daughter, Princess Patricia. The family travelled extensively across Canada, performing ceremonial tasks – such as laying the cornerstone of the reconstructed federal parliament building in 1917 (which had first been set by Prince Albert Edward in 1860) – and made a concerted effort to contribute to the social life of the capital, making Rideau Hall a major site for events for Canadians from across the country; a practice that continues today. The Prince did this all while serving as the liason between the British and Canadian governments during the First World War, going daily to his office in the East Block of Parliament Hill when he was in Ottawa. Though well intended, upon the outbreak of the war Arthur immediately donned his Field Marshal's uniform and went, without advice or guidance from his ministers, to training grounds and barracks to address the troops, and to see them off before their voyage to Europe, much to the chagrin of then Prime Minister Robert Borden, who saw the Prince as overstepping constitutional conventions. Though the Prime Minister placed blame on the military secretary, Edward Stanton, he also opined that the Prince "laboured under the handicap of his position as a member of the Royal Family and never realized his limitations as Governor General." Still, Prince Arthur stressed the importance of Canadian military contributions, promoting military training and readiness for Canadian troops, but also sought to enhance charity at home. To put this preaching into practice, the Duchess of Connaught, in addition to working for the Red Cross and other organisations, for Christmas in 1915 sent a card and a box of maple sugar to every Canadian serving overseas. She also had a knitting machine at Rideau Hall, on which she made thousands of pairs of socks for soldiers. Prince Arthur was active in auxiliary war services and charities, conducted a number hospital visits, and following the war, commissioned a stained glass window, located in St. Bartholomew's Church, next to Rideau Hall, in memory of the Government House staff who lost their lives during the war. In the United Kingdom, the King and Queen visited with Canadian troops stationed there, as well as with the nurses of Canada's Red Cross Hospital.

King George V and Queen Mary visit the Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital at the height of World War I, 1917.

At the end of 1916, Prince Arthur publicly expressed his regret at having to leave Canada, as he and his family had grown very comfortable there. The royal family left a legacy behind them: Port Arthur, now part of Thunder Bay, Ontario, was named in honour of the Prince, who also gave his name to Connaught Cup for pistol marksmanship of recruits in the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. In addition, improvements had been made to Rideau Hall during his term serving as the King's viceroy; the present facade (which includes a stone carving of the Royal Coat of Arms in the pediment) was added to the front of the building, as well as other renovations and the planting of hundreds of deciduous trees on the grounds.

Through meeting Canadians, Princess Patricia also became a popular figure in Canada. Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was created in 1914, for which the Princess personally designed the badge and colours for the regiment to take overseas to France, and she was eventually appointed by the King as Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment on February 22, 1918; an appointment she held until her death. It was during her time in Rideau Hall that she met her future husband, Alexander Robert Maule Ramsay, who was then acting as aide-de-camp to her father.

After the end of the war, Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) toured Canada in 1919, when, in Toronto, he was greeted with enthusiasm by a crowd of soldiers just returned from Europe after the end of the War. They lifted the Prince off his horse, and "passed him, like a football, over their heads." During that same visit a veteran approached the Prince and said "put it there, Ed." From that point on Edward shook hands with anyone who approached him, to the point where his right hand "became so black, swollen and painful from the continued enthusiastic handshaking that, in his own words, he 'retired it temporarily from Imperial service, and offered the left instead."

Between the wars

Governor General Lord Byng of Vimy.

King George V is greeted by Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Peter Charles Larkin at the opening of Canada House in 1927; Queen Mary walks to the left.

Canada had proved herself in the battlefields of Europe, and because of such pushed for greater recognition as an independent nation. Some gains were made, but the process was greatly sped up when, in 1926, the advice of a Canadian Prime Minister was publicly rejected by a vice-regal for the first time since Confederation.

Early that year, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King went, amid scandals and fearing a loss of the confidence of the House of Commons, to Governor General Lord Byng requesting a dissolution of parliament and the issue of election writs. At that time, the Governor General was still a representative of the British government in Canada, and not of the sovereign directly, yet Byng, without consulting Westminster, used his constitutional ability to exercise the Royal Prerogative, and refused his prime minister's advice. Without support, this forced King to tender his resignation to Byng, who then invited Arthur Meighen, leader of the Loyal Opposition, to form a government. However, within days Meighen also lost the confidence of the house, by only one vote, and an election was forced anyway, with the results being a return of King's Liberals to a majority, forcing Byng to appoint him as Prime Minister again. It was this incident, and the debates fuelled by it at an Imperial Conference later that same year, that began a chain of events which greatly changed Canada's relationship to the United Kingdom, and the role of the monarchy within the country. Following the close of the conference, the Balfour Declaration was issued, wherein it was declared that the Dominions of the British Crown were to be considered equal to the United Kingdom, a concept introduced by Mackenzie King himself. The result of this was the establishment of the convention that the Governor General would no longer be a diplomatic channel between the Canadian and British governments, but rather a direct representative of the king only.

The first example of these concepts affecting law was seen in the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act of 1927; the same year King George V, along with his consort, Queen Mary, opened Canada House in London. In regards to the Dominions, this UK act altered part of the King's title to reflect his status as king of each realm individually, rather than as King of the United Kingdom throughout each country. By 1931 these concepts of independence and equality were written into the Statute of Westminster, along with a legal end to the ability of the British parliament to legislate for the Dominions. As a result, only his Canadian ministers could now advise the King on Canadian affairs, and, further, laws outlining the line of succession, most notably the Act of Settlement, 1701, were now under the control of the Canadian parliament. However, it was set down in the preamble to the statute that no realm could alter the line of succession without the expressed consent of each of the other realms; a convention that applied to the UK as well.

1931 was also the year for considerations on a new Governor General; following the enactment of the Statute of Westminster, the King could now only be advised by his ministers in Canada on who to elevate to the post. George V proposed that his son, then Prince Albert, Duke of York, become Governor General, but this proposal was ultimately rejected by the Cabinet; instead, Vere Ponsonby, Earl of Bessborough was appointed by the King. As Albert eventually went on to become King George VI, had the idea been accepted, a Canadian Governor General who represented the King would have gone on to become King of Canada himself.

King George addressed Canadians in his first annual Christmas broadcast by the sovereign to the Commonwealth and British Empire empire in 1932, and, three years later, the he celebrated his Silver Jubilee. However, he would die in 1936 and his son succeeded to the throne as Edward VIII. Though he had been popular with Canadians since the end of the first World War, having toured Canada a number of times and met informally with members of the public, Edward's reign would not last the year; by December George VI became King of Canada unexpectedly following the abdication of his brother. Prior to, and after his accession, Edward had been romantically involved with Wallis Simpson, a twice divorced American socialite. Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir conveyed to Buckingham Palace and British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin Canadians' deep affection for the King, but also of the outrage towards Canadian puritanism, both Catholic and Protestant, that would occur if Edward VIII married a divorcée. It was this abdication that first demonstrated that each realm now had control over the line of succession within its jurisdiction; with the Canadain government giving consent for British legislation (His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act, 1936) to apply in Canada, and later passing the Succession to the Throne Act, 1937, to ratify this.

George VI, King of Canada, grants Royal Assent to laws in the Canadian Senate, May 19, 1939. His Royal Consort, Queen Elizabeth, is to the right.

Canada's Governor General during this period was John Buchan, Baron Tweedsmuir, who fostered Canadian pride during his tenure. However, not all Canadians shared his views; Tweedsmuir raised the ire of imperialists when he said in Montreal in 1937: "a Canadian's first loyalty is not to the British Commonwealth of Nations, but to Canada and Canada's King." The Montreal Gazette dubbed the statement "disloyal." In the same year, Buchan conceived of a royal tour by the Canadian monarchs; an idea that the official royal visit historian, Gustave Lanctot, opined in his official account of the visit, "probably grew out of the knowledge that at his coming Coronation, George VI was to assume the additional title of King of Canada." Tweedsmuir's desire was to demonstrate with living example the fact of Canada's status as an independent kingdom, having Canadians "see their King performing royal functions, supported by his Canadian ministers." Prime Mininster Mackenzie King, while in London for the coronation in May, 1937, formally consulted with the King on the matter. According to biographer J. A. Smith, the task for Tweedsmuir, and the Canadian government, was "how to translate the Statute of Westminster into the actualities of a tour... since this was the first visit of a reigning monarch to a Dominion], and precedents were being made.

George VI and Queen Elizabeth open and tour the Canadian Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

The arrangements were made and on May 17, 1939, King George VI and his royal consort, Queen Elizabeth arrived for their tour of Canada on board the Canadian Pacific liner RMS Empress of Australia; the reception at Quebec City, where they landed, Trois-Rivières and Montreal were positive beyond expectations. Their Majesties took up residence at La Citadelle, where the King performed his first official tasks, amongst which was the acceptance of Daniel Calhoun Roper as the American envoy to Canada. Two days later, the King travelled to Ottawa where he went to parliament and granted Royal Assent to nine bills. Following the ceremony, George stated: "No ceremony could more completely symbolise the free and equal association of the nations of the Commonwealth." From there, the royal couple travelled the country from coast to coast, and the King and Queen made a brief foray into the United States, visiting Washington, New York, and Poughkeepsie; they were accompanied by the Canadian prime minister, still Mackenzie King]], as the sole minister in attendance to the King, rather than by any British minister, by way of reinforcing that George VI's visit to the United States was a visit from Canada. For Mackenzie King, this assertion of Canada's status as a kingdom independent of Britain was a key motive behing the organization of the tour; he wrote in his diary on May 17, 1939: "I ... told [the Queen] that I felt somewhat embarrassed about taking in the entire trip with Their Majesties; that it looked like pushing myself to the fore, yet I felt that unless some evidence of Dominion precedence existed, one of the main purposes of the trip would be gone. The Queen then said: The King and I felt right along that you should come with us." Another factor, however, was public relations; the presence of the King and Queen, in both Canada and the United States, was calculated to shore up sympathy for Britain in anticipation of hostilities with Nazi Germany. Nevertheless, as early as 1939 it was deemed appropriate for the novel doctrine of the discrete crowns of the Commonwealth realms to be ostentatiously asserted.

This visit also 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 of the Colour. This event, and those like it througout their journey across the country, satisfied George VI and his wife. Later, during a 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."

World War II and the resident monarchies

Prime Minister Mackenzie King's request to King George VI for approval that war be declared against Germany in His Majesty's name, September 10, 1939.

Only five months after the departure of George VI and Elizabeth from Canada, Britain declared war on Nazi Germany. The King did this, as King of the United Kingdom, on September 3, 1939; as King of Canada, however, he was not advised to do so by his Canadian ministers until September 10 of the same year. With hostilities raging in Europe, it had originally been planned that the King, Queen, and their two children would reside in Colwood, British Columbia, at Hatley Castle, which the federal government had purchased for use as a royal palace for the Royal Family. However, it was decided that morale in Britain would be diminished if the King was to abandon the Eurpoean front, and so he and his family remained in London and Windsor.

Canada was, however, home to a number of Europe's leaders in exile during the war. Among the royal guests, many of whom resided at Rideau Hall, were: Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Martha of Norway; Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Felix of Luxembourg; King Peter II of Yugoslavia; King George II of Greece; Empress Zita of Austria and her daughters; as well as Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, her daughter Princess Juliana, and granddaughters Princesses Beatrix and Irene. While in Canada, Wilhelmina gave birth to her third daughter, Margriet at the Civic Hospital, where the delivery room was temporarily declared as Dutch soil to ensure that the Princess was born in the Netherlands, though it would later be ruled that she was still a British subject, making her later still, and today, a subject of the Canadian Crown.

Princess Alice in Canadian uniform, 1942.

Governor General Alexander Cambridge, Earl of Athlone, and his wife Princess Alice, in the Centre Block of Parliament Hill for the Speech from the Throne, 1945.

Governor General John Buchan, Baron Tweedsmuir died while still viceroy in February, 1940, and so the uncle of King George VI, Alexander Cambridge, Earl of Athlone was appointed to the post. He, his wife and granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Alice, made the trans-oceanic journey, one complicated by the ongoing Battle of the Atlantic. The Earl also brought with him as his Aide-de-Camp Alastair Windsor, Duke of Connaught, the grandson of previous Governor General, Prince Arthur, and who had previously served in the Canadian military. The same year Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II), though not able to reside in Canada, posed for her first official Canadian portrait, with her parents visited Canadian service personnel stationed in the United Kingdom, and undertook solo duties such as reviewing a parade of Canadian airwomen in 1945. Two years following, the Princess was appointed by her father as Colonel-in-Chief of Le Régiment de la Chaudière and the 48th Highlanders of Canada, her first appointments in the Canadian military.

In Canada, the Governor General and Princess Alice became supporters of the Canadian war effort. Alice became Honorary Commandant of a number of women's military services, such as the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service and the Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division, while His Excellency travelled extensively throughout the country in an effor tto spread the message that King George VI was dedicated to fighting totalitarianism. In 1943 and 1944, the royal, and viceregal, couple hosted the Quebec Conferences, wherein American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill decided the strategies of the western allies that would lead to victory over Nazi Germany and Japan in 1945.

Monarchy after the wars

After hostilities ceased, members of the Royal Family resumed more civilian oriented duties. Princess Elizabeth, who married Prince Philip in 1947, came with her husband to Canada in 1951, where, amongst other activities, she attended her first hockey game at Maple Leaf Gardens, and partook in a square dance at Rideau Hall. The King's health was by that time failing, and so his daughter, and then heir to the throne, carried with her to Canada a draft accession ceclaration in case George VI died while she was in his Canadian realm.

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Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh on a sleigh ride on a private estate in Canada, 1951.

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Queen Elizabeth II wearing her coronation gown in the main foyer of Rideau Hall, before delivering the Speech from the Throne, 1957.

The King, suffering from lung cancer, eventually failed to recover fully from a pneumonectomy and died in his sleep on February 6, 1952, at Sandringham House. The King's passing was communicated to then Administrator of the Government, Thibaudeau Rinfret (who was acting as administrator between the departure of the Earl of Tunis and the appointment of Vincent Massey), by cable from the King's Private Secretary; he stated: "Profoundly regret to state that His Majesty King George the Sixth passed away peacefully in his sleep early this morning." Rinfret then issued a proclamation of the King's death and the accession of Elizabeth II as Canada's queen, making Canada the first place this was done; her proclamation of accession for the United Kingdom was not read out until the following day.

Canadians were already familiar with Elizabeth, not only because of her 1951 tour of the country, but due also to her having made a radio broadcast for the first time in October, 1940, when she was fourteen, to send a message during the BBC's children's programme to all the children of the Commonwealth. Also, it was during a 1947 tour of South Africa that she celebrated her twenty-first birthday, and gave a radio address in which she dedicated herself to the service of the Commonwealth; a first for a female heiress, as it was traditional for only the Prince of Wales to make an oath to his future subjects.

The Queen was coronated at Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953, with the prime ministers and leading citizens of Canada present amongst representatives of the other Commonwealth countries, while the ceremony was also broadcast around the world and, at the Queen's request, on television. Guests and viewers heard Elizabeth swear a revised Coronation Oath, wherein she reaffirmed her dedication expressed earlier in South Africa, and swore to "govern the Peoples of... Canada... according to their respective laws and customs." The Queen's coronation gown, commissioned from Norman Hartnell, was embroidered with Canada's maple leaf in green silk and gold bullion thread veined with crystal, along with the floral emblems of the other countries of the Commonwealth.

In the winter of 1953 Her Majesty set out to finish the Commonwealth tour she had begun before the death of her father. However, she was not able to tour Canada again until she came in 1957, when she toured Ottawa and Hull, giving her first ever television address in Canada (followed by various musical performances in her honour, including a live piece by Glenn Gould, the footage of which was lost until the lead up to the Queen's 2002 Golden Jubilee tour of Canada), and opening the fist session of the 23rd parliament on October 14; some 50,000 people descended on Parliament Hill to witness the arrival of the monarch. The Queen wore her coronation gown to the opening, and the next day wore to a state dinner at Rideau Hall the Maple-Leaf-of-Canada dress, intended to represent Elizabeth's status as Queen of Canada; it was a pale green satin gown edged with a garland consisting of deep-green velvet maple leaves appliquéd with crystals and emeralds. Afterwards, the dress was donated to the country and is today held at the Museum of Civilization. Overall, however, the pageantry was muted in comparison to a similar event in the United Kingdom. June Callwood said in her coverage of the tour for Maclean's Magazine: "The Queen's role in Canada, it appeared to some observers, hinged on calculated pageantry, just enough to warm the pride of Canadians who revere tradition and statliness above state but not so much as to antagonize those who consider royalty a blindingly off-colour bauble in an age of lean fear."

From Canada, Elizabeth and her husband travelled on to the United States to attend the 350th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown and meet with President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the White House. The Queen did this as monarch of Canada, as with her father's 1939 US visit, being accompanied by her Canadian prime minister, John Diefenbaker, as Minister in Attendance; the Queen stated in her television broadcast to Canadians: "When I go to the United States I shall be going as the Head of the Canadian nation to pay a State Visit to the Head of our great neighbouring country. I shall be going in other capacities as well but when you hear or read about the events in Washington, and other places, I want you to reflect that it is the Queen of Canada and her husband who are concerned in them."

Two years later, the Queen returned and toured every province and territory of the country. One of the most important events of this trip was the official opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, along with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, where, in Prescott, Ontario she made her first live|live television appearance on Canadian television. During this tour, the Queen again made a visit to the United States as Queen of Canada, stopping in Chicago and Washington with Diefenbaker as her attending minister. The Prime Minister insisted that the Queen be accompanied at all times by a Canadian cabinet minister, being determined to make it clear to Americans that the Queen was visiting the United States as Queen of Canada and that "it is the Canadian embassy and not the British Embassy officials who are in charge" of the Queen's itinerary. The Queen's speeches in Chicago, written by her Canadian ministers, stressed steadily the fact that she had come to call as Queen of Canada. In this vein, the Queen hosted the return dinner for Eisenhower at the Canadian Embassy in Washington.

Further information: Royal visits to Canada

Turbulent decades

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Queen Elizabeth II at Expo 67.

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Princess Margaret arrives at Expo 67 with Governor General Roland Michener.

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The Canadian Royal Family (left to right: the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Anne (now Princess Royal), Mark Phillips, Prince Edward (now Earl of Wessex), the Queen, Prince Andrew (now Duke of York), and the Prince of Wales) gathers in Lac-Brome, Quebec, 1976.

Through the 1960s and 70s, the rise of Quebec nationalism and changes in Canadian identity created an atmosphere where the purpose and role of the Canadian Monarchy came into question. During a visit to Quebec in 1964, at the height of the Quiet Revolution, the Quebec press published reports of a separatist plot to assassinate the Queen, and the sentiment became pronounced when she was greeted by anti-monarchist demonstrations; the route of her procession was lined with Quebecers showing their backs to the Monarch. On Samedi de la matraque (Truncheon Saturday), police violently dispersed anti-monarchist demonstrators and arrested 36, including some who were there to cheer the Queen. Royal tour organizers were aware of a potential for danger, and the media stirred up a campaign of fear around the risks that could arise from separatist threats. However, according to Robert Speaight in his book Vanier, Soldier, Diplomat and Governor General: A Biography, though there was talk of cancelling the tour, the Queen's Private Secretary stated that the Elizabeth would have been horrified to have been prevented from going because of the activities of extremists. Later, in 1982, a visit by the Queen's sister, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, to Cambridge, Ontario was threatened by Irish nationalist activists; though nothing eventuated, there was a scare when a gun barrel was thought to have been seen in the crowds gathered, and some city councillors boycotted the Princess' events meeting with the Royal Highland Fusiliers as their Colonel-in-Chief.

At the first meeting of the Constitutional Conference, held in Ottawa in February, 1968, delegates from Quebec indicated that a Provincial President might suit the Province better than a Lieutenant Governor. However, there was overall a feeling that the Monarchy "has served us well and that its reform has no great priority in the present round of constitutional changes."

References to the Monarch and the Monarchy were slowly removed from the public eye (e.g., the Queen's portrait from public buildings and schools, and the Royal Mail became a crown corporation, Canada Post). The Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force were merged into the unified Canadian Forces; however, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police remain the national police force. This reached a head in the 1970s with various proposed constitutional changes by the government of Pierre Trudeau, in which the Governor General would be made full Head of State, and renamed "First Canadian," removing any role for the Queen. The premiers of the provinces reacted strongly against these proposals. These moves also led to the creation of the Monarchist League of Canada in defence of Canada's status as a constitutional monarchy.

Trudeau's outward actions led many to believe he harboured republican notions; it was even rumoured by Paul Martin, Sr., that the Queen was worried the Crown "had little meaning for him." This may have had to do with the erasure of royal symbols during his premiership, his documented antics around the Monarch, such as his sliding down Buckingham Palace banisters, and his famous pirouette behind the Queen, captured on film in 1977, the same year that Prince Andrew, the Queen's son, was studying at Lakefield College School in Lakefield, Ontario. Trudeau also glaringly breached protocol in 1978 when he was vacationing in Morocco, instead of in Canada to attend the Queen's arrival and departure. However, he was later accused of instant monarchism, as well as opportunism during a period of personal unpopularity in the 1970s, when he invited Elizabeth II to attend the first Commonwealth Conference held on Canadian soil. The invitation, and acceptance of it, started the tradition of Elizabeth attending Commonwealth conferences, no matter the location. Also, in 1976, after Robert Bourassa, then Premier of Quebec, begged Trudeau to invite the Queen to the Olympics in Montreal, Trudeau, after obliging him, became annoyed when Bourassa later became unsettled about how unpopular the move might be. He commented directly on the Monarchy three years after the Samedi de la matraque, when he, by then a Cabinet minister, stated "I wouldn't lift a finger to get rid of the monarchy... I think the monarchy, by and large, has done more good than harm to Canada." Ultimately, he­ experimented with the Crown more than any previous politician, and then entrenched the role of the Crown in Canada when he orchestrated the patriation of the Canadian Constitution in 1982.

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Queen Elizabeth II speaks with her Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau.

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Queen Elizabeth II signs the proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1982, April 17, 1982. Prince Philip stands at the upper left.

None-the-less, throughout the decades between the 1960s and the turn of the millennium, it became evident that successive governments, predominantly Liberal, were pushing the Queen out of everyday Canadian life. The 1947 Letters Patent, which were understood to allow the Governor General to act as a regent should such a situation become necessary, were used as justification for moves such as Trudeau's attempt to wrest from the Queen her distinctive right as a sovereign to appoint ambassadors from Canada and then even to issue the personal letters of credence (an act which was completed in 2005). Of the changes made, it was said "the Crown was to be rooted in the future, not in the past; for the historic Crown with its anthem, emblems, and symbolism made accessible a past the government of the day rejected," a policy that was never discussed at the various constitutional conferences which began in the 1960s; since the reaction to Trudeau's 1978 constitutional amendments no Canadian government has ever publicly admitted its policy for the Monarchy in Canada.

Paul Martin, Sr. as well as John Roberts and Mark MacGuigan, who were both sent to the UK in 1980 to discuss the patriation project, noted that during this time the Queen had taken a great and deep interest in the constitutional debate, especially following the failure of Bill C-60, which affected her role as Head of State. They found the Queen "better informed on both the substance and politics of Canada's constitutional case than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats." That same year, during the Trooping the Colour in 1981 there was an apparent attempt on the Queen's life: six rounds of blanks were fired at her from close range as she rode down The Mall in London. Her only reaction was to duck slightly and then continue on. The Canadian House of Commons was so impressed by her display of courage that a motion was passed praising her composure.

Canada gained full independence as an autonomous constitutional monarchy when the Constitution was patriated under Prime Minister Trudeau, and Proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth II, in 1982, making it Canadian law rather than an act of the British parliament that required amendment in both jurisdictions. The Constitution Act of 1982 also entrenched the monarchy in Canada. Any change to the position of the monarch or the monarch's representatives in Canada now requires the consent of the Senate, the House of Commons, and the legislative assemblies of all the provinces. Following this occasion, Trudeau commented in his memoirs "I always said it was thanks to three women that we were eventually able to reform our Constitution. ­ The Queen, who was favorable, Margaret Thatcher, who undertook to do everything that our Parliament asked of her, and Jean Wadds, who represented the interests of Canada so well in London... The Queen favoured my attempt to reform the Constitution. I was always impressed not only by the grace she displayed in public at all times, but by the wisdom she showed in private conversation."

Further information: Canada Act 1982

However, the terms under which the constitution was patriated were not agreed to by Premiere of Quebec René Lévesque, and the adoption of the changes to the 1867 British North America Act without the consent of the Quebec Legislature was viewed by the sovereigntists as a betrayal, leading to the meeting between the other nine premiers and Prime Minister Trudeau being dubbed as the"Night of the Long Knives." Thus, the Queen, after proclaiming the Constitution Act, and aware that this was the first time in Canadian history that a major constitutional change had been made without the agreement of the Quebec government, tried to demonstrate her position as head of the whole Canadian nation, and her role as conciliator, by privately expressing to journalists her regret that Quebec was not part of the settlement.

The Queen also oversaw the transfer of many of her duties to her representatives in Canada, and by the early 1970s it was common practice for the Governor General to represent the Queen and Canada abroad on State Visits. There were also instances when the Governor General appeared alongside the Queen at events abroad, though the two had been together at ceremonies in Canada previously.

The Queen returned to Canada in 1990 for a royal tour. This was trip had originally been planned purposefully for the Queen to put her signature to a constitutional amendment, following the Meech Lake Accord. The Accord, however, failed, and there was a general fear for the unity of Canada at the time. On Parliament Hill, on Canada Day, Elizabeth addressed the crowds gathered for celebrations, and stated: "It is my fondest wish for this Canada Day that Canadians come together and remain together rather than dwelling on differences which might further divide them. I and members of my family have been with you on many special days in the life of this country. I particularly recall another fist of July in Canada's centennial year here on Parliament Hill. I said then and I repeat it today that Canada is a country that has been blessed beyond most countries in the world. It is a country worth working for."

In 1995, during a separatist referendum campaign, the Queen was tricked into speaking, in both French and English, for fourteen minutes with 29-year-old Pierre Brassard, a DJ for Radio CKOI-FM Montreal, pretending to be then Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. When told that the separatists were showing a lead, the Queen did reveal that she felt the "referendum may go the wrong way," adding, "if I can help in any way, I will be very happy to do so". However, she pointedly refused to accept "Chrétien"s advice that she intervene on the issue without first seeing a draft speech sent by him. (Her tactful handling of the call won plaudits from the DJ who made it.)

The new millennium

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Prince William is expected to succeed his father, Charles, as King of Canada

The Canadian monarchy has evolved over time, adapting to each successive generation. In the new millennium the current Royal Family has maintained the strongest ties to Canada in comparison to previous generations of royals; they have travelled to, and attended more events, than any other non-resident royal in Canada's history.

Like many other public figures, the monarchy's popularity ebbs and flows; its future role in Canada depends as much upon the political elite as it does on public support. Leading up to the end of 1999, it was leaked from Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's office that there had been a plan for "severing the final ties" with the monarchy by the turn of the millennium. However, as soon as this was revealed, many denounced the plan, including Chrétien, who said on CTV News that the topic was not a Liberal priority, nor one for average Canadians, admitting "There's no big debate in Canada." A survey of commentary in various sources by the ten provincial premiers at the time revealed all but one in favour of the monarchy; the Ottawa Citizen's headline read: "Which millennium"?

Stemming from the revelation of this supposed plan, and inspired by the debate on the Australian monarchy that had taken place three years before, in 2002 one group, Citizens for a Canadian Republic, formed to promote the changing of Canada from a kingdom to a republic, though debate on this matter has remained minimal. In October of the same year the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh undertook a twelve day tour across Canada to celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee. It was during this trip that Elizabeth II opened the new Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, dropped a ceremonial puck at the beginning of an NHL game in Vancouver, watched performances at Roy Thomson Hall by Oscar Peterson, Rex Harrington, Cirque du Soleil, The Tragically Hip, and others, and attended a luncheon at Rideau Hall for fifty of Canada's greatest citizens; one from each year of the Queen's reign. Thousands turned out to various events; only approximately 100 Québécois protesters were seen when the Royal motorcade crossed from Ottawa into Gatineau, Quebec, the only Quebec destination on the tour. Just prior to the Queen's arrival in Canada, former Deputy Prime Minister John Manley expressed in an interview his belief that Canada should become a republic upon the Queen's demise. His comments were widely met with disapproval; again, provincial premiers publicly stated their support for the monarchy, save for Quebec Premier Bernard Landry, who stated Quebec would boycott any celebrations of the Queen's Jubilee in protest of her signing of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Three years into the millennium, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson issued a Royal Proclamation indicating the Crown's acknowledgement of the deportation of Acadians in 1754, and establishing the date as a "Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval." While not a formal apology, the gesture quelled demands by Acadians that one be issued from the Queen.

In 2005 the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh traveled to Alberta and Saskatchewan to celebrate their centennials. During this tour the government of Alberta wished to have the Queen sign a provincial bill into law. This was not done – in theory because the constitutionality of the Queen doing so was questioned; however, Rideau Hall also stated it would conflict with the federal government's policy of the "Canadianization" of Canada's institutions.

In 2006, in his first address to Parliament as Prime Minister, Stephen Harper opened by paying tribute to the Queen and her "lifelong dedication to duty and self-sacrifice," referring to her specifically as Canada's Head of State, in contrast to the previous government which had referred to the Governor General as holding that position. Harper later commented on Canada and Australia sharing "an enduring affinity to the Crown" in a speech introducing Australian Prime Minister John Howard, before the latter addressed a joint session of the Canadian Parliament on 18 May, 2006, and later, in what was dubbed by Toronto Star journalist Graham Fraser as "one of the most monarchist speeches a Canadian prime minister has given since John Diefenbaker," Harper stated before the Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce that Canada and the United Kingdom were joined by "the golden circle of the Crown, which links us all together with the majestic past that takes us back to the Tudors, the Plantagenets, the Magna Carta, habeas corpus, petition of rights, and English common law."

The following year it was reported that Prince Henry, third in line to the Canadian Throne, had arrived in Canada to train, along with other soldiers of the Canadian and British Armies, at CFB Suffield, near Medicine Hat, Alberta, for a tour of duty in Afghanistan; the Calgary Sun front page headline reading: "Wild about Harry!" At the same time, another member of the Canadian Royal Family, Harry's aunt, the Princess Royal, was in Saskatchewan undertaking duties as Colonel-in-Chief of Royal Regina Rifels, marking their centennial, as well as to open the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Heritage Centre.

Though the Prince and Princess had been in Canada in 2007, their grandmother and mother, respectively, the Queen, was not to be attending the 400th anniversary of the foundation of Quebec City in 2008. The government of Quebec requested that Ottawa invite the sovereign to be part of the festivities, however the federal Cabinet advised the monarch not to go, fearing her presence would provoke Quebec separatists. The announcement of the monarch's potential presence at the anniversary did incite separatists, the provincial government said that these groups were a minority of the population and shouldn't be considered.

Monarchs of Canadian territories

A list of monarchs of New France, British North America and Canada:

New France (including territory of Canada) 1534-1764	Rupert's Land 1670-1868 Upper & Lower Canada 1764-1867	Canada 1867-present
House of Capet (Bourbon and Valois)	Houses of Stuart and Hanover	Houses of Hanover, Saxe-Coburg & Gotha, and Windsor
Francis I of France 1534–1547: established French colonies in Acadia and Canada, 1534
File:Henri2-1.jpg Henry II of France 1547–1559
File:Francis2-1.jpg Francis II of France 1559–1560
Charles IX of France 1560–1574
Henry III of France 1574–1589
Henry IV of France 1589–1610
Louis XIII of France 1610–1643
Louis XIV of France 1643–1715: Ceded Acadia, Placentia, and Hudson Bay to Anne, 1713	Charles II of England 1670-1685: Created Rupert's Land through Royal Warrant for the Hudson's Bay Company.
	James II of England 1685-1688
	File:King William III, (1650-1702).jpg William III of England 1689-1702
	Anne of Great Britain 1702-1714
File:LouisXVFrance.jpg Louis XV of France 1715–1763: Ceded New France to George III, 1763	George I of Great Britain 1714–1727
	File:KING GEORGE II.jpg George II of Great Britain 1727–1760
	George III of the United Kingdom 1760–1820: Created provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada, 1790
	George IV of the United Kingdom 1820–1830
	William IV of the United Kingdom 1830–1837: Served in Canada as part of a naval contingent, 1786–1787
	Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom 1837–1901: Signed British North America Act, 1867 and proclaimed Ottawa as Canada's Capital city.
		Edward VII of the United Kingdom 1901–1910
		File:GeorgeVUnitedKingdom.jpg George V of the United Kingdom 1910–1931, of Canada 1931-1936: Signed Statute of Westminster, 1931
		File:EDVIII.jpg Edward VIII of Canada 1936: Maintained a private ranch in Canada
		George VI of Canada 1936–1952: First reigning monarch to enter Canada. Coined the phrase "King of Canada"
		Elizabeth II of Canada 1952–pres.: First to be officially titled separately as Queen of Canada

See also

• Monarchy in Canada
• History of Monarchy in British Columbia
• History of Monarchy in Newfoundland and Labrador
• History of Monarchy in Nova Scotia
• History of Monarchy in Ontario
• History of Monarchy in Quebec
• History of Monarchy in Saskatchewan
• Royal tours of Canada
• List of Canadian monarchs
• Images of the 1939 tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth

External links

• Video of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Canada, 1939
• Video of Queen Elizabeth II and President Eisenhower opening the St. Lawrence Seaway, 1959
• Video of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in Canada, 2002