View source for History of monarchy in Canada

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{{History of Canada}}
The '''history of monarchy in Canada''' stretches from [[History of Canada#Indigenous peoples|pre-colonial times]] through to the present day. The date monarchy was established in Canada varies; some sources say it was when the French colony of [[New France]] was founded in the name of [[Francis I of France|King Francis I]] in 1534,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1363629314164/1363629390521| title=Origin of the Name - Canada| publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada| date=18 June 2013| access-date=6 October 2015| archive-date=12 April 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412211144/http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1363629314164/1363629390521}}</ref> while others state it was in 1497, when [[John Cabot]] made landfall in what is thought to be modern day [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] or [[Nova Scotia]], making a claim in the name of [[Henry VII of England|King Henry VII]].{{refn|<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/discover/section-06.asp| title=Discover Canada – Canada's History| publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada| date=1 July 2012| author=Government of Canada}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-cabot| title=John Cabot| publisher=Historica Canada| date=1 July 2008| author=The Canadian Encyclopedia| author-link=The Canadian Encyclopedia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/SovereignsofCanada.html| last1=Bousfield| first1=Arthur| last2=Toffoli| first2=Garry| title=The Sovereigns of Canada |publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust| access-date=7 March 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816232814/http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/SovereignsofCanada.html| archive-date=16 August 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| last=Kenney| first=Jason| author-link=Jason Kenney| date=23 April 2007| contribution=Speech to the Lieutenant Governors Meeting| contribution-url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/minstr/arc_disc-spch/kenney/2007/20070423-eng.cfm| editor-last=Department of Canadian Heritage| editor-link=Department of Canadian Heritage| title=Speeches > The Honourable Jason Kenney| place=Regina| publication-place=Ottawa| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=27 January 2010| archive-date=11 June 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611163321/http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/minstr/arc_disc-spch/kenney/2007/20070423-eng.cfm}}</ref>}} Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries often considered the territories belonging to different [[First Nations in Canada|aboriginal groups]] to be kingdoms. Nevertheless, the present [[Monarchy of Canada|Canadian monarchy]] can trace itself back to the [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] period and ultimately to the [[List of kings of the Angles|kings of the Angles]] and the early [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scottish kings]]; [[List of Canadian monarchs|monarchs reigning over Canada]] have included [[List of French monarchs|those of France]] (to [[Louis XV of France|King Louis XV]] in 1763), [[List of British monarchs|those of the United Kingdom]] (to King [[George V]] in 1931), and those of Canada (to [[King regnant|King]] [[Charles III]] as [[Title and style of the Canadian monarch|King of Canada]] today).<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/senate/Monarchy/SenMonarchy_00-e.htm| last=Clerk of the Senate| author-link=Senate of Canada| title=Canada: A Constitutional Monarchy| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=27 January 2010}}</ref> Canadian historian Father [[Jacques Monet]] said of Canada's Crown, "[it is] one of an approximate half-dozen that have survived through uninterrupted inheritance from beginnings that are older than our Canadian institution itself."<ref name=CandC>{{Cite magazine| last=Monet| first=Jacques| title=Crown and Country| magazine=Canadian Monarchist News| volume=Summer 2007| issue=26| page=8|  location=Toronto| year=2007| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf| access-date=27 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413184456/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf |archive-date=2008-04-13}}</ref>

Canada's first European monarchs instigated, funded, and supported the exploration and settlement of the country.<ref>{{Citation| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z0tRpB891bIC&q=toffoli| isbn=1-55002-076-5| last1=Bousfield| first1=Arthur |last2=Toffoli |first2=Garry | title=Royal Observations| publisher=Dundurn Press Ltd.| year=1991| location=Toronto| page=8| access-date=7 March 2010}}</ref> After the [[Glorious Revolution]] in 1689, the sovereigns had their powers constrained by the tenets of [[constitutional monarchy]] and [[responsible government]], thereby having less, and then no say in colonization, or policy, in general,<ref>{{cite journal| url=https://ppgreview.ca/2016/03/19/the-key-role-of-the-queen-and-her-representatives-in-reconciliation/| last=Tidridge| first=Nathan| title=The key role of The Queen and her representatives in Reconciliation| journal=PP+G Review| date=19 March 2016| access-date=2 August 2022}}</ref> the Crown coming to function as the guarantor of Canada's continuous and stable governance and as a [[Nonpartisanism|nonpartisan]] safeguard against the [[abuse of power]].<ref>{{Citation| last=MacLeod| first=Kevin S.| author-link=Kevin S. MacLeod| title=A Crown of Maples| page=20| place=Ottawa| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| year=2015| edition=3| url=https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/pch/documents/services/royal-symbols-titles/crnMpls-eng.pdf| isbn=978-0-662-46012-1| access-date=15 April 2023}}</ref> Concurrent with constitutional developments, the Canadian colonies of France were, via war and treaties through the 18th century, ceded to King [[George III]]; four [[Confederation of Canada|colonies were confederated]] by [[Queen Victoria]] in 1867 to form [[Dominion#Canadian Confederation and evolution of the term Dominion|the Dominion of Canada]], with other colonies and territories joining over the decades up to 1949; and Canada became a fully independent kingdom through the [[Statute of Westminster, 1931]]—enacted by King George V—and then the [[Constitution Act, 1982|Constitution Act of 1982]]—brought into force by [[Elizabeth II]], the Queen of Canada.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/SenatorEugeneForsey/book/assets/pdf/How_Canadians_Govern_Themselves7.pdf| title=How Canadians Govern Themselves| publisher=Library of Parliament |year=2010| access-date=25 February 2012| author=Eugene Forsey| pages=8–10| isbn=978-1-100-14351-4| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331024514/http://www.parl.gc.ca/about/parliament/senatoreugeneforsey/book/assets/pdf/How_Canadians_Govern_Themselves7.pdf |archive-date=31 March 2012}}</ref><ref name=Buck1>{{cite web| url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Canada.aspx| last=The Royal Household| title=The Queen and the Commonwealth > Queen and Canada| publisher=[[Queen's Printer]]| access-date=14 May 2009}}</ref>

==Pre-colonial==
While no [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous North Americans]] in what is now Canada had what would be seen today as an official monarchy, some [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|aboriginal peoples]], before their first encounters with French and British colonisers, were governmentally organised in a fashion similar to the [[Western world|occidental]] idea of monarchy.<ref>{{Cite magazine| last=Ferguson| first=Will| author-link=Will Ferguson| title=The Lost Kingdom| magazine=Maclean's|  location=Toronto| date=27 October 2003| url=http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20031027_68038_68038&source=srch| issn=0024-9262| access-date=27 January 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807100344/http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20031027_68038_68038&source=srch| archive-date=7 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.worldandi.com/specialreport/2001/october/Sa21577.htm| last=Kehoe| first=Alice Beck| title=First Nations History| publisher=The World & I Online| date=October 2001| access-date=27 January 2010}}</ref> Europeans often considered territories belonging to different aboriginal groups to be kingdoms—such as along the north shore of the [[St Lawrence River]], between the Trinity River and the [[L'Isle-aux-Coudres, Quebec|Isle-aux-Coudres]], and the neighbouring kingdom of Canada, which stretched west to the [[Island of Montreal]]<ref>{{Cite book| last=Bourinot| first=J.G.| title=The Story of Canada| publisher=Read Books| year=2009| page=35| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GiyViOSkLcwC| isbn=978-1-4446-3974-2| ref=CITEREF_Bourinot_2009}}</ref>—and the leaders of these communities were referred to as kings,<ref>{{Cite book| last=Coates| first=Colin MacMillan| title=Majesty in Canada: essays on the role of royalty| publisher=Dundurn Press Ltd.| year=2006| location=Toronto| page=13| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FhFyvhpPx8MC| isbn=978-1-55002-586-6}}</ref> particularly those chosen through heredity.<ref>{{Citation| last=Bousfield| first=Arthur |author2=Toffoli, Gary |title=Fifty Years the Queen| publisher=Dundurn Press| year=2002| location=Toronto| page=8| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8l5reK7NjoC| isbn=1-55002-360-8| ref=CITEREF_Bousfield_2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/4Chiefs.html| last=Odrowaz-Sypniewska| first=Margaret| title=The Four Indian Kings| publisher=The Bear Clan| access-date=27 January 2010}}</ref> Many had [[Tribal chief|chieftain]]s, whose powers varied from one nation to the next; in some instances, 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. In the latter cases, considering 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 [[American Indian elder|elders]], the form of government would have closely resembled a modern [[constitutional monarchy]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/monarchy-canada#introduction| last=Makarenko| first=Jay| title=The Monarchy in Canada| publisher=Maple Leaf Web| date=1 June 2007| access-date=30 August 2007| archive-date=19 April 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419161314/http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/monarchy-canada#introduction}}</ref>

[[Hereditary chiefs in Canada|Hereditary chieftainship continues today]]; though, the chiefs are not sovereign{{refn|<ref name=SCC1>{{cite court| litigants=Haida Nation v British Columbia (Minister of Forests)| vol=3| reporter=Haida Nation| pinpoint=73| court=Supreme Court of Canada| date=2004| postscript=511}}</ref><ref name=SCC2>{{cite court| litigants=Taku River Tlingit First Nation v British Columbia (Project Assessment Director)| vol=3| reporter=Taku River| pinpoint=74| court=Supreme Court of Canada| date=2004| postscript=550}}</ref><ref name=SCC3>{{cite court| litigants=Mikasew Cree First Nation v Canada (Minister of Canadian Heritage)| vol=3| pinpoint=69| court=Supreme Court of Canada| date=2005| postscript=388}}</ref>}} and only have jurisdiction over [[List of traditional territories of the indigenous peoples of North America|traditional territories]] that fall outside of [[Band government|band]]-controlled [[Indian reserve|reservation land]];<ref>{{citation| url=https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/02/14/Wetsuweten-Crisis-Whose-Rule-Law/| last=Hyslop | first=Katie| title=Wet'suwet'en Crisis: Whose Rule of Law?| date=14 February 2020| publisher=The Tyee| access-date=28 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{citation| url=http://www.chonfm.com/news/chon-fm-northern-news/wetsuweten-hereditary-chiefs-it-is-complicated/| title=Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs - elected Band Council - it is complicated| date=20 February 2020| publisher=CHON-FM| access-date=28 February 2020}}</ref> on reservation land, it is "up to the community's tolerance, or its politics, on how much [the hereditary chiefs are] involved in governance."<ref>{{citation| url=https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-powers-of-hereditary-chiefs-test-many-first-nations| last=Todd| first=Douglas| title=Powers of hereditary chiefs test many First Nations| date=26 January 2023| newspaper=Vancouver Sun| access-date=10 March 2023}}</ref> The hereditary chiefs often serve as knowledge-keepers, responsible for the upholding of a First Nation's [[Traditional knowledge|traditional customs, legal systems, and cultural practices]].<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/chief| last=Robinson| first=Amanda| title=Chief| encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia| date=6 November 2018| publisher=Historica Canada| access-date=28 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last1=Neel| first1=David| last2=Harper| first2=Elijah| title=Our Chiefs and Elders: Words and Photographs of Native Leaders| page=78| publisher=UBC Press| year=1992| isbn=978-0-7748-5656-0| location=Vancouver| oclc=951203045}}</ref>

==Establishment of European colonies==
{{further|Monarchy of Canada and the Indigenous peoples of Canada|Monarchy in Newfoundland and Labrador#History|Monarchy in Nova Scotia#History|Monarchy in Quebec#History}}
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| caption1    =[[Samuel de Champlain]], who was later named as [[New France]]'s viceregal representative, directing the construction for [[Quebec City]], 1609
| image2      =Royal Flag of France.svg
| caption2    =The [[Flag of France#Kingdom of France|royal standard of France]], commonly used in [[New France]] from 1589 to 1763 and now [[Charge (heraldry)|charged]] in the fourth quarter of the [[Escutcheon (heraldry)|escutcheon]] of the modern [[Arms of Canada|royal coat of arms of Canada]]
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The first French colonies in North America were established in the name of [[Henry IV of France|King Henry&nbsp;IV]], one at [[Acadia]] (today [[Nova Scotia]]), founded three years into the 17th century, and the second at [[Habitation at Port-Royal|Port Royal]], named to honour Henry. By 1610, the first British settlements were established on [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], which had been claimed in 1583 for [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;I]]. The following year, [[Henry Hudson]] embarked on the first trading voyage that led to the formation of the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] by [[royal charter]] from [[Charles II of England|King Charles&nbsp;II]]; with it, the King claimed an area that covered what is now [[Alberta]], [[Saskatchewan]], [[Manitoba]], [[Ontario]], [[Minnesota]], [[North Dakota]], and more and called the area [[Rupert's Land]], after [[Prince Rupert of the Rhine|Prince Rupert]], who helped to form the HBC.

The French monarch also moved quickly and it was in 1602 that [[Aymar de Chaste]] was appointed as Viceroy of Canada to represent King Henry&nbsp;IV.<ref>{{citation| last=Tidridge| first=Nathan| title=Canada's Constitutional Monarchy: An Introduction to Our Form of Government| page=26| publisher=Dundurn Press| location=Toronto| year=2011| isbn=978-1-4597-0084-0| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JvGsvHsAtDgC}}</ref> In 1615, [[Quebec City]] was, on the recommendation of [[Samuel de Champlain]], made a royal capital of the [[French colonial empire|French empire]] in the Americas,<ref name=CandC/> with Champlain—who had previously been representative of, or lieutenant governor to, most viceroys of Canada<ref>{{Harvnb| Tidridge| 2011| pp=26–27}}</ref>—installed as the first [[viceregal]] representative of the King in [[New France]].

Some 60 years later, New France was designated as a royal province of France itself and the [[Governor General of New France|governor general]] acted as the monarch's stand-in. One of the king's decrees was to send the {{lang|fr|[[King's Daughters|filles du roi]]}} (daughters of the King) to the province. As the population expanded, infrastructure such as the {{lang|fr|chemin du Roi}} (King's Highway) was built and,<ref name=Wood162>{{Cite book| last=Wood| first=William| date=1911| contribution=Preface| contribution-url=http://www.ourroots.ca/e/page.aspx?id=424718| editor-last=Doughty| editor-first=A.G.| editor2-last=Wood| editor2-first=William| title=The King's Book of Quebec| page=162| location=Ottawa| publisher=The Mortimer Co. Ltd.| isbn=978-0-665-71157-2| ref=CITEREFDoughty1911| access-date=27 February 2011| archive-date=4 March 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304213156/http://www.ourroots.ca/e/page.aspx?id=424718}}</ref> through the 18th century, the kings gave financing to the construction of cities like [[Île-Royale (New France)|Île-Royale]] and [[Louisbourg]]; the names of these locations reflecting their royal patronage.<ref>{{Citation| editor-last=Coates| editor-first=Colin M.| date=2006| title=Majesty in Canada| contribution=The Look of the Town| publisher=Dundurn Press| location=Hamilton| page=200| isbn=978-1-55002-586-6| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FhFyvhpPx8MC| access-date=16 October 2012}}</ref>

As Europeans moved inland, they encountered the aboriginal peoples. Relations with them were originally considered to be between European and North American monarchs; though, for the French, that later changed to be one between sovereign and subject and, for the British, between European and aboriginal nations under one monarch, leading to the incorporation of treaties with the Crown into the political culture of Canada.{{fact|date=October 2024}}
[[File:Mohawk-kings.jpg|thumb|left|Portraits of the [[Four Mohawk Kings]], painted during their visit with Queen [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Anne]] in 1710]]

Respect between the British sovereign and indigenous chiefs was maintained, exemplified by gestures such as [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]] welcoming the "[[Four Mohawk Kings]]" at [[St James's Palace]] in 1710<ref>{{citation| url=http://www.tyendinaga.net/hmrc/page1.htm| title=Page 1| publisher=Christ Church, Her Majesty's Royal Chapel of the Mohawks| access-date=1 October 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100514091557/http://www.tyendinaga.net/hmrc/page1.htm| archive-date=14 May 2010}}</ref> and Anne paying for the construction of a chapel for the Mohawks (as they requested) and furnishing it with a reed organ and set of silver [[chalice (cup)|chalice]]s (still held by the [[Mohawk Chapel]] in [[Brantford, Ontario]]) in 1712.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.tyendinaga.net/history/| title=Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory > The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte| publisher=The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte Research Department| access-date=30 September 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311044702/http://www.tyendinaga.net/history/| archive-date=11 March 2009}}</ref> Governor [[Frederick Haldimand]], in the name of [[George&nbsp;III]], [[Haldimand Proclamation|granted land]] to the [[Six Nations of the Grand River]] after they lost their ancestral territories in what is now [[New York (state)|the state of New York]] during the [[American Revolution]].{{fact|date=October 2024}}
[[File:Deportation Grand-Pré.jpg|thumb|[[Acadians]] being deported from [[Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia|Grand-Pré]]]]

While the aboriginal chiefs aided the monarchs with their North American conflicts, affairs in Europe would also affect the dealings of the [[New World]] and, eventually, almost all of the French king's possessions in what was known as Canada were relinquished by him to the British Crown, providing Canada with one singular monarchy. But, this placement of French people under a British sovereign did not come without friction; the Acadians refused to affirm their allegiance to George&nbsp;III and insisted upon remaining Catholic, leading to their deportation in what became known as the [[Great Upheaval]].{{fact|date=October 2024}}

==The American Revolution==
{{further|Monarchy in Manitoba#History|Monarchy in New Brunswick#History|Monarchy in Nova Scotia#History|Monarchy in Ontario#History|Monarchy in Quebec#History}}

Following the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]], concluding the [[Seven Years' War]], King George III issued the [[Royal Proclamation of 1763]], setting the [[Appalachian Mountains]] as the division between the [[Thirteen Colonies]], to the east, and "[[Indian Reserve (1763)|Indian Reserve]]", to the west. Being the first legal recognition by the British Crown of [[aboriginal rights]],<ref>{{citation| last1=Francis| first1=Douglas R.| last2=Jones| first2=Richard| last3=Smith| first3=Donald B.| title=Origins: Canadian History to Confederation| edition=6th| location=Toronto| publisher=Nelson Education Ltd| date=2009| page=157}}</ref> the document is today viewed as fundamental for [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] land claims and [[self-government]] in Canada.<ref>{{citation| last=Borrows| title=Wampum| page=155}}</ref>
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|caption1    =''Canadien'' militiamen, wishing to remain under the Crown, defending [[Quebec City]] from attack by American revolutionaries, 31 December 1775
|image2      =Tory Refugees by Howard Pyle.jpg
|caption2    =[[United Empire Loyalists|Loyalist]] refugees on their way to [[the Canadas]] during the [[American Revolutionary War|American Revolution]]
|image3      =Military Coronet of a Loyalist.svg
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|footer      =Loyalists' military [[coronet]] (left) and civil coronet (right) 
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The [[Quebec Act]]—shaped by the views of the anti-assimilationist [[List of governors general of Canada#Governors of the Province of Quebec, 1760–1786|Governor of Quebec]], [[Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester|Guy Carlton]]<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quebec-act| last=Dagenais| first=Maxime| title=Quebec Act, 1774| journal=The Canadian Encyclopedia| date=11 May 2020| publisher=Historica Canada| access-date=17 February 2023}}</ref> and supported by King George<ref name=TQA>Adapted from: {{citation| url=https://canadahistoryproject.ca/1774/index.html| title=A Country by Consent| publisher=WEST/DUNN productions| work=The Quebec Act: Introduction| access-date=10 March 2023}}</ref>—was passed in 1774, by which the Crown guaranteed the continued free practice of Catholicism, as well as restored the French system of [[civil law (legal system)|civil law]] for issues relating to [[private law]]. This originated the tradition of Canadian constitutional law protecting linguistic, religious, and legal rights in Quebec.<ref name=TQA/>

The Royal Proclamation and Quebec Act were regarded by American colonists as two of the [[Intolerable Acts]] that eventually led to the outbreak of the American Revolution.<ref>{{Cite journal| last=Holton| first=Woody| title=The Ohio Indians and the Coming of the American Revolution in Virginia| journal=The Journal of Southern History| volume=60| issue=3| pages=453–478| publisher=The Southern Historical Association| location=Houston| date=August 1994| doi=10.2307/2210989| jstor=2210989}}</ref> But, the American hostility toward the spirit of those laws is what led most ''Québécois'' to rebuff the revolution;<ref>{{cite journal| last1=Black| first1=Jeremy| year=2009| title=The Three Sieges of Quebec| journal=History Today| issue=June 2009| pages=50–55| url=http://www.historytoday.com/MainArticle.aspx?m=33419&amid=30284996| ref=Black| access-date=18 February 2023| archive-date=2 June 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602193322/http://www.historytoday.com/MainArticle.aspx?m=33419&amid=30284996}}</ref><ref>{{citation| url=https://www.amrevmuseum.org/canada-and-the-american-revolution-revolution-around-the-world| title=Canada and the American Revolution| publisher=Museum of the American Revolution| access-date=17 February 2023}}</ref> they fought, in provincial militias, alongside British soldiers repelling invasions by the republican revolutionaries.<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/quebec-campaign/| last=Wuertenberg| first=Nathan| title=Quebec Campaign| journal=George Washington's Mount Vernon| publisher=Mount Vernon Ladies' Association| access-date=17 February 2023}}</ref> Others, though—especially the peasant ''[[habitants]]''—aided the Americans.<ref name=JAR>{{citation| url=https://allthingsliberty.com/2019/07/les-habitants-collaboration-and-pro-american-violence-in-canada-1774-1776/| last=van Bastelaer| first=Sebastian| title=Les Habitants: Collaboration and Pro-American Violence in Canada| journal=Journal of the American Revolution| date=9 July 2019| access-date=17 February 2023}}</ref>

The conflict resulted in some 46,000 [[United Empire Loyalist]]s fleeing north from the United States, the King-in-Council granting each family {{convert|200|acre|km2}} of land in his various colonies, mostly in Nova Scotia, but, also in Quebec and what is today Ontario and Manitoba.<ref>{{citation| url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/98-187-x/4151286-eng.htm| title=Censuses of Canada 1665 to 1871: Upper Canada & Loyalists (1785 to 1797)| date=22 October 2008| publisher=Statistics Canada| access-date=24 July 2013}}</ref> At the same time, approximately 3,000 former slaves of African ancestry, known as [[Black Loyalist]]s, moved to the [[Maritimes]] and thousands of [[Iroquois]], [[Mohawk nation|Mohawks]], and other aboriginals expelled from New York and other states resettled under the protection of the Crown in what is now [[southern Ontario]]. In all, so many arrived that, for administrative purposes, the colony of [[New Brunswick]] was split out of Nova Scotia and [[Upper Canada]] (today Ontario) split from the [[Province of Quebec]] (the remainder becoming [[Lower Canada]], today [[Quebec]]). Since then, Ontario residents descended from these original refugees retain the [[post-nominal]]s ''UE'', standing for ''United Empire'',<ref>{{Citation| url=http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/special/royalvisit2005/history_e.cfm| last=Department of Canadian Heritage| author-link=Department of Canadian Heritage| title=Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion > The Canadian Monarchy > 2005 Royal Visit > The Royal Presence in Canada – A Historical Overview| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=4 November 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807052914/http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/special/royalvisit2005/history_e.cfm| archive-date=7 August 2007}}</ref> and may employ [[coronets]] in their [[Coat of arms|coats of arms]].<ref>{{Citation| url=http://www.uelac.org/UELAC-history/Cdn-Heraldic-Authority-Gazette-1990.pdf| last=Ruch| first=John E.| title=The Canadian Heraldic Authority and the Loyalists| year=1990| publisher=The United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada}}</ref>

The loyalists who settled in the Maritimes, however, found themselves among some residents aligned with the United States and its republican cause.<ref>{{Citation| last=Clark| first=S.D.| title=Movements of Political Protest in Canada, 1640–1840| publisher=University of Toronto Press| year=1978| location=Toronto| pages=150–151}}</ref>

==Royalty and rebellions==
{{further|Monarchy in Newfoundland and Labrador#History|Monarchy in Nova Scotia#History|Monarchy in Ontario#History|Monarchy in Prince Edward Island#History|Monarchy in Quebec#History}}

Prince William (later King [[William IV]]) arrived in the Canadas in July 1786, on board and in command of {{HMS|Pegasus|1779|6}}. The Prince spent time in [[Newfoundland Colony|Newfoundland]], [[Nova Scotia]], and the [[Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|Province of Quebec]], being the first member of the [[British Royal Family|royal family]] to visit the latter<ref>{{Harvnb| Doughty| 1911| p=161}}</ref> and "making Canada's royal family one of the earliest families to call the country its home."<ref>{{cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/royaltours1786200000bous/page/23| last1=Bousfield| first1=Arthur| last2=Toffoli |first2=Gary| title=Home to Canada: Royal Tours 1786–2010| publisher=Dundurn Press| year=2010| location=Tonawanda| page=23| isbn=978-1-55488-800-9}}</ref> Two of William's 10 illegitimate children with [[Dorothea Jordan]] eventually lived in Halifax: [[Lady Mary Fox|Mary]], in 1830, and [[Amelia Cary, Viscountess Falkland|Amelia]], from 1840 to 1846, while [[Lucius Cary, 10th Viscount Falkland|her husband]] served as [[List of lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia#Lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia, 1786–1867|Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia]].<ref>{{harvnb| Bousfield| Toffoli| 2010| p=29}}</ref>
{{multiple image
| total_width =330
| align       =left
| image1      =Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) - William IV (1765–1837), as the Duke of Clarence - 446684 - National Trust.jpg
| caption1    =[[William IV|Prince William]] between 1790 and 1795. The Prince was the first member of the royal family to set foot in the Canadas, in 1786 and 1787
| image2      =John Hoppner (1758-1810) - Edward, Duke of Kent (1767-1820) - RCIN 401521 - Royal Collection.jpg
| caption2    =[[Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn|Prince Edward]] in 1799, with the [[Order of the Garter|Star of the Garter]], voted to him by the [[Nova Scotia House of Assembly]] in 1798. He lived in Quebec and Nova Scotia between 1791 and 1798 and 1799 to 1800.
}}

Four years later, William's brother, [[Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn|Prince Edward]], served in Canada from 1791 until the turn of the 19th century on military duties and as Commander of British North American troops. The Prince lived at Quebec City and took a French-Canadian mistress, with whom it is speculated he had two children.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactive/royalvisits/01.html| last=Hall| first=Trevor| title=Canada: A History of Royal Visits for Canada since 1786| publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]| access-date=8 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070913022443/http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactive/royalvisits/01.html |archive-date=2007-09-13}}</ref> In 1792, when a riot, fuelled by ethnic character, broke out at a poll during the first elections for the [[Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada]], Prince Edward said to the crowd, "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."<ref>{{Harvnb| Bousfield|Toffoli| 2002| p=64}}</ref> It was reportedly the first time the word ''Canadian'' was used to refer to all colonists, rather than only Francophones.<ref name=CHT2>{{cite web|url=http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/QueenElizabethII.html| title=Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada| last1=Bousfield |first1=Arthur| last2=Toffoli| first2=Garry| publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust| access-date=5 July 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618075325/http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/QueenElizabethII.html| archive-date=18 June 2009}}</ref>

Edward also lived in [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]], between 1794 and 1798 and, again, from 1799 to 1800, making a significant mark on the city through projects such as [[Citadel Hill (Fort George)|Fort George]],<ref name=NHS>{{cite web| url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/ns/halifax/culture/histoire-history| title=Halifax Citadel National Historic Site of Canada| date=19 September 2018| publisher=Parks Canada| access-date=10 October 2018}}</ref> the [[Halifax Town Clock]], the [[Prince's Lodge, Nova Scotia|Prince's Lodge]], and [[St. George's (Round) Church (Halifax, Nova Scotia)|St George's Church]],{{refn|In a retrospective article published on the death of Fleiger's daughter in 1890, she is reported to have recalled events that occurred during the life of the Duke of Kent who, she noted, "had a great love of architecture peculiar in form and Mr Fleiger, at his request, designed the plan, or rough sketch, for the Round Church."<ref>{{citation| title=Unknown| journal=Morning Herald| location=Halifax| date=1 February 1890| volume=1| edition=7}}</ref> The Round Church was a reference to St George's Anglican Church in Halifax.<ref>{{citation| last=Rosinski| first=M.| title=Architects of Nova Scotia: A Biographical Dictionary| year=1994| page=39}}</ref>|group=n|name=Round}} which the King and Edward's brother, [[Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany|Prince Frederick]], supported.<ref>{{Citation| url=http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/node/1967| title=Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950| section=Fleiger, John Henry| publisher=Drupal| access-date=17 February 2023}}</ref> Edward also initiated construction of fortifications on [[Prince Edward Island]], which was named in his honour.<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.canadiancrown.com/prince-edward-and-pei.html| last=Tidridge| first=Nathan| title=Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and the province of Prince Edward Island| publisher=The Crown in Canada| access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref> In 1811, Edward sought to obtain the appointment as governor general of the Canadas, although failed to do so.<ref>{{harvnb| Bousfield| Toffoli| 2010| p=41}}</ref>

The Americans once again attempted to conquer the Canadas in the [[War of 1812]],{{refn|<ref>{{cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/warof18120000heid|url-access=registration| last1=Heidler| first1=David S.| last2=Heidler| first2=Jeanne T.| title=The War of 1812| page=4| year=2002| location=Westport; London| publisher=Greenwood Press| isbn=0-313-31687-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAN3AAAAMAAJ| last=Pratt| first=Julius W.| title=Expansionists of 1812| pages=9–15| year=1925| location=New York| publisher=Macmillan}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| last=Hacker| first=Louis M.| author-link=Louis M. Hacker| title=Western Land Hunger and the War of 1812: A Conjecture| date=March 1924| pages=365–395| journal=Mississippi Valley Historical Review| volume=X| issue=4| jstor=1892931| doi=10.2307/1892931}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/warof1812forgo00hick| last=Hickey| first=Donald R.| author-link=Donald R. Hickey| title=The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict| page=47| year=1989| location=Urbana; Chicago| publisher=University of Illinois Press| isbn=0-252-01613-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ka6LxulZaEwC&pg=PA44|publisher=ABC-CLIO| last1=Carlisle| first1=Rodney P.| last2=Golson| first2=J. Geoffrey| title=Manifest Destiny and the Expansion of America| page=44| date=1 February 2007| isbn=978-1-85109-833-0}}</ref>}} assuming Canadians would greet them as liberators from the British Crown's "tyranny".{{refn|<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.warof1812.ca/lacolle1812.htm| last=Henderson| first=Robert| title=The First Invasion of Quebec in the War of 1812| publisher=Access Heritage| access-date=26 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Hickey| first=Donald R.| title=The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition| page=68| year=2012| location=Urbana| publisher=University of Illinois Press| isbn=978-0-252-07837-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fQb5JI-G9bwC&pg=PA131| last=Laxer| first=James| year=2012| title=Tecumseh and Brock: The War of 1812| page=131| publisher=House of Anansi Press| isbn=978-0-88784-261-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nYRpx1X46YC| last=Taylor| first=Alan| title=The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies| pages=137–139| year=2010| publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group| isbn=978-1-4000-4265-4}}</ref>}} While the many Americans who had previously immigrated to [[Upper Canada|Upper]] and [[Lower Canada]] to take advantage of the free land remained neutral,<ref>{{citation| url=http://www.uppercanadahistory.ca/1812/18121.html| last=Wilson| first=W.R.| title=War of 1812| publisher=Upper Canada History| access-date=23 March 2023}}</ref> the free-African-,<ref>{{citation| url=https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1601&context=cmh| last=Newfield| first=Gareth| title=Upper Canada Upper Canada's Black Def s Black Defenders? Re-e enders? Re-evaluating the War of 1812 ar of 1812 Coloured Corps| page=2| publisher=Canadian War Museum| volume=18| issue=3| year=2009| journal=Canadian Military History| access-date=23 March 2023}}</ref> other English-, and French-Canadians,{{refn|<ref>{{citation| last=Ouellet| first=Fernand| title=Lower Canada 1791–1840: Social Change and Nationalism| pages=102–104| location=Toronto| publisher=McClelland & Stewart| year=1980}}</ref><ref>{{citation| last=Ouellet| first=Fernand| title=Economic and Social History of Quebec, 1760–1850: Structures and Conjunctures| location=Ottawa| publisher=Institute of Canadian Studies| year=1980}}</ref><ref>{{citation| last=Smith| first=Lawrence| title=Le Canadien and the British Constitution, 1806–1810", Canadian Historical Review| volume=38| number=2| date=June 1957| pages=93–108}}</ref><ref>{{citation| last=Lartigue| first=Jean-Jacques| title=Sermon de M. Lartigue| page=303| work=p.s.s.| date=5 July 1812| location=Pointe Claire}}</ref>}} as well as First Nations warriors,<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/pages/our-stories/ontarios-military-heritage/war-of-1812| title=The impact of the War of 1812 on Upper Canada| publisher=Ontario Heritage Trust| access-date=22 March 2023}}</ref> resisted every incursion attempted by US troops,<ref>{{citation| url=http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/explore/online/1812/soldier-life.aspx| author=((Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery))| title=Soldiering in Canada (1812-1814)| publisher=King's Printer for Ontario| access-date=22 March 2023}}</ref> fighting off the "immoral and excessively democratic American republic."<ref>{{citation| url=https://hssh.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/hssh/article/download/4291/3489/4157| last=Mills| first=Sean| title=French Canadians and the Beginning of the War of 1812: Revisiting the Lachine Riot| year=2005| publisher=York University| page=42| work=Note 29| access-date=26 March 2023}}</ref> By the time the [[Treaty of Ghent]] was signed on 24 December 1814, ending the war, the United States made no gains into the Canadas.
[[File:Nova Scotia two cents stamp (Queen Victoria).jpg|thumb|A two-cent stamp from the colony of [[Nova Scotia]], printed in 1863, showing the effigy of a young Queen Victoria]]

Prince Edward's only legitimate daughter, [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]], was born on 24 May 1819, at [[Kensington Palace]]. However, Edward died shortly thereafter, leaving Victoria as heir to the throne until, upon the death of her uncle, William IV, she acceded as queen at the age of 18. Though she would never visit Canada, she received numerous Canadians in audience (especially her father's friends) and her image,<ref name=Bousfield10>{{Harvnb| Bousfield| Toffoli| 1991| p=10}}</ref> thanks to the spread of newspapers and the invention of photography, was reproduced sufficiently to maintain popularity and loyalty in her colonies.

Insurrections against the Crown did still take place, though; notably the [[Rebellions of 1837]], which had been stirred up, in part, by the rise in power and influence of the [[United States]] and republican sentiment,<ref>{{Cite web | last=Chevrier| first=Marc| title=Canadian federalism and the autonomy of Quebec: A historical viewpoint| place=Quebec City| publisher=Éditeur officiel du Québec| year=1996| url=http://www.bibliotheque.assnat.qc.ca/01/mono/2005/08/819576.pdf| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706200352/http://www.bibliotheque.assnat.qc.ca/01/mono/2005/08/819576.pdf| archive-date=6 July 2011| page=3| access-date=5 July 2009}}</ref> as well as local political factors. The Queen took a personal interest in the conflicts, expressing her concerns in her diary.<ref name=TCE>{{citation| url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/victoria#:~:text=Queen%20Victoria%20favoured%20Confederation%20and,streets%2C%20communities%20and%20physical%20features.| last1=Rayburn| first1=Alan| last2=Harris| first2=Carolyn| title=Queen Victoria| encyclopedia=THe Canadian Encyclopedia| date=8 September 2015| publisher=Historica Canada| access-date=20 February 2023}}</ref> However, most colonists did not espouse a break with the Crown<ref name=Philips>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2003/CMN_summer_2003_Update-11.pdf| last=Philips| first=Stephen| magazine=Canadian Monarchist News| title=The Emergence of A Canadian Monarchy: 1867–1953| year=2003| volume=7| issue=4|  location=Toronto| access-date=2 July 2009|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090708033423/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2003/CMN_summer_2003_Update%2D11.pdf |archive-date=2009-07-08}}</ref> and the rebellions were put down. The leader of the insurrection in Upper Canada, [[William Lyon Mackenzie]], fled and established the briefly-lived [[Republic of Canada]] on [[Navy Island]], in the [[Niagara River]].<ref>{{cite DCB| url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mackenzie_william_lyon_9E.html| last1=Armstrong| first1=Frederick H.| last2=Stagg| first2=Ronald J.| title=McKenzie, William Lyon| volume=9}}</ref>

In the wake of the disturbances, the Queen called on her people in Upper Canada to eschew vengeance on the perpetrators in favour of justice.<ref>{{Harvnb| Bousfield| Toffoli| 1991| p=11}}</ref> A mark of [[Coronation of Queen Victoria|her coronation]], Victoria granted [[pardon]]s to the rebels.<ref name=TCE/> Further, Victoria requested from her representative, [[List of governors general of Canada#Governors general of the Canadas/British North America, 1786–1841|Governor General]] [[John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham|the Earl of Durham]], a report on the protesters' grievances.<ref name=Senate1>{{citation| url=https://sencanada.ca/en/sencaplus/how-why/victoria-day-how-the-mother-of-confederation-made-her-mark-on-canada/| author=Senate of Canada| title=Victoria Day: How the "Mother of Confederation" made her mark on Canada| date=18 May 2018| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref> Though Durham did, in 1838, recommend the assimilation of French-Canadians into British-Canadian culture, that was ignored in favour of the other suggestions: the union of Upper and Lower Canada and the implementation of [[responsible government]].<ref name=Senate1/> The British Parliament granted both to [[the Canadas]], with the support of Victoria herself,<ref>{{cite AV media| url=https://www.historicacanada.ca/content/heritage-minutes/responsible-government| title=Responsible Government| trans-title=Queen Victoria and Lord Melbourne discuss the notion of political reform in Canada (1841)| people=Victoria: [[Bronwen Mantel]]; Melbourne: [[Harry Hill]]| publisher=Historica Canada| date=1991| type=Educational| format=Video| location=Toronto| language=English| access-date=22 March 2023}}</ref> despite its decrease of the political influence in the colonies of both she and her representatives.

==The first royal tours==
{{further|Monarchy in Newfoundland and Labrador#History|Monarchy in New Brunswick#History|Monarchy in Nova Scotia#History|Monarchy in Ontario#History|Monarchy in Prince Edward Island#History|Monarchy in Quebec#History}}

[[File:H.R.H. Prince of Wales and Suite at Point View, Niagara.jpg|thumb|[[Edward VII|Prince Albert Edward]] (standing, foot on rock) at the top of [[Niagara Falls]], 1860]]

Where royal influence was lessened, it increased in other areas; Canadians celebrated momentous moments in [[Queen Victoria]]'s life, such as her marriage to [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]];<ref>{{Harvnb| Bousfield| Toffoli|1991| pp=13–14}}</ref> royal events were inaugurated, such as the [[Queen's Plate]], created with Queen Victoria's blessing in 1860;<ref>{{Citation| last=Boswell| first=Randy| title=Table set for Elizabeth to make a Queen's Plate appearance?| newspaper=Vancouver Sun| date=12 March 2010| url=https://vancouversun.com/sports/Table+Elizabeth+make+Queen+Plate+appearance/2677273/story.html| access-date=16 March 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505065056/http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Table+Elizabeth+make+Queen+Plate+appearance/2677273/story.html| archive-date=5 May 2010}}</ref> and, while she was monarch, Victoria's children and grandchildren would come to Canada as either the [[Governor General of Canada|governor general]] or [[Viceregal consort of Canada|viceregal consort]], or to undertake tours of the country that included meeting Canadians from a heterogeneity of communities and backgrounds and displaying local cultures.<ref name=TCE/>

In response to a petition from the [[Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada]],<ref>{{harvnb| Bousfield| Toffoli| 2010| p=42}}</ref> the Queen sent her eldest son and heir, Prince Albert Edward (later King [[Edward VII]]) to tour the Maritimes and [[Province of Canada|Canada]] for four months in 1860, laying the final stone of the [[Victoria Bridge (Montreal)|Victoria Bridge]] in [[Montreal]], setting the cornerstone of the [[Centre Block|parliament building]] in [[Ottawa|Bytown]] (today Ottawa), and officially opening [[Queen's Park (Toronto)|Queen's Park]] in [[Toronto]].<ref name=Bentley>{{Citation| ref=Bentley-Cranch| last=Bentley-Cranch| first=Dana| title=Edward VII: Image of an Era 1841–1910| date=1992| pages=20–34| place=London| publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office| isbn=978-0-11-290508-0}}</ref> Sectarian tensions were high in Canada at the time, requiring a deft handling of symbolism by the Prince and his handlers.<ref>{{citation| url=http://www.vssj.jp/journal/9/kelly.pdf| last=Kelly| first=Richard J.| title=Queen Victoria's 1861 Visit to Ireland and Burgeoning Irish Nationalism| publisher=Kiniki University| access-date=19 February 2023}}</ref>

Albert Edward was followed by his younger brother, [[Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Alfred]], who embarked on a five-week tour of the same areas the next year.<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1861/07/06/archives/prince-alfreds-tour-in-the-canadas.html| title=Prince Alfred's Tour in the Canadas| date=6 July 1861| newspaper=Montreal Gazette| access-date=19 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{citation| url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/past-royal-tours/royal-visits-1786-1951.html| author=Government of Canada| title=Royal Visits from 1786 to 1951| date=11 August 2017| publisher=King's Printer for Canada| access-date=2 April 2023}}</ref>

==Confederation and the early Dominion==
[[File:Queen Victoria - Osgoode Hall - Toronto, Canada - DSC00399.jpg|thumb|The portrait of [[Queen Victoria]] that hangs in [[Osgoode Hall]] in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]]; a copy of the [[John Partridge (artist)|John Partridge]] original that was rescued from four fires, including the [[Burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal|burning of the parliament of the Province of Canada]] in 1849 and the [[Centre Block#Great fire|great fire of the Centre Block]] in 1916<ref name=QVLegacy>{{citation| url=https://sencanada.ca/en/sencaplus/how-why/the-legacy-of-queen-victoria/#:~:text=This%20full%2Dlength%20state%20portrait,destroyed%20the%20original%20Centre%20Block.| author=Senate of Canada| title=The Legacy of Queen Victoria| date=22 May 2017| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=23 March 2023}}</ref>]]

The idea of joining the various colonies in [[the Canadas]] was being floated as early as 1814. That year, [[Chief Justice of Quebec#Chief Justice of Lower Canada (1791-1841)|Chief Justice of Lower Canada]] [[Jonathan Sewell]] sent a copy of his proposal, ''A Plan for the federal Union of British Provinces in North America'', to Prince Edward, who Sewell had befriended when they both lived in [[Quebec City]]. The Prince replied, "nothing can be better arranged than the whole thing is, or more perfectly,"<ref>{{citation| title=Journal of the House of Assembly of Upper Canada| year=1839| page=103}}</ref> and made suggestions that were cited by the Earl of Durham in his report in 1838 and in the constitutional conferences of 1864.

Prior to the [[confederation of Canada]], in the 1850s and 1860s, a number of issues were of prime concern in the deliberations on the amalgamation of four Canadian colonies into a country; most notably, the threat of [[Invasion of Canada (disambiguation)|invasion by the United States]], especially considering that country's policy of [[Manifest Destiny]].<ref name=Hall/> It was the explicit intention of the [[Fathers of Confederation]] to unite the disparate British entities in North America into a single state under a [[constitutional monarchy]]; at the 1864 [[Charlottetown Conference]], the delegates, including those from [[Canada East]] (now Quebec),<ref name=FCATM>{{citation| url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/french-canada-and-the-monarchy| last=Harris| first=Carolyn| title=French Canada and the Monarchy| date=13 January 2023| encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia| publisher=Historica Canada| access-date=13 March 2023}}</ref> agreed unanimously that the new federation should have that form of government,<ref>{{Harvnb| Tidridge| 2011| p=20}}</ref> the men seeing it as a balance between the autocracy of the [[Russian Empire]] and the [[popular sovereignty]] of the United States. The latter had just led to the [[American Civil War]], which was seen as "the final stage in the discredit of [American] democracy and republicanism."<ref name=Knop>{{Citation| last=Knop| first=Karen| title=Rethinking Federalism: Citizens, Markets, and Governments in a Changing World| publisher=UBC Press| year=1995| location=Vancouver| page=232| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1QFSk3D1QU8C&q=monarchy+canada&pg=PA232| isbn=978-0-7748-0500-1| ref=CITEREF_Knop_1995}}</ref> A Canadian crown, the Fathers thought, would ensure diversity and racial harmony in Canada,<ref name=Hall>{{cite journal| last=Hall| first=Tony| title=The politics of monarchy: it's not what you might expect| journal=Canadian Forum| issue=April 1998| publisher=James Lorimer and Co.| location=Toronto| year=1998| url=http://sisis.nativeweb.org/clark/apr98que.html| access-date=9 September 2009}}</ref> thereby strengthening its legal and cultural sovereignty.<ref>{{Citation| last=Lakritz| first=Naomi| title=Our ties to monarchy are bigger than the royals| newspaper=Calgary Herald| date=28 October 2009| url=https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/ties+monarchy+bigger+than+royals/2152389/story.html#| access-date=2 November 2009}}{{dead link|date=April 2017| bot=InternetArchiveBot| fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/confederation/023001-2005-e.html| last1=Fisher| first1=Amy| last2=Savard| first2=Nicolas| last3=Mohamed| first3=Tod| title=Canadian Confederation > Towards Confederation > Influence of the American Civil War > Fear of Annexation by the United States| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=30 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919184547/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/confederation/023001-2005-e.html |archive-date=2008-09-19}}</ref>

The Queen herself was a unifying influence not only for the Fathers, but, for the provinces, as well.<ref name=TCE/> She took personal interest in the project of Confederation,<ref>{{Harvnb| Bousfield| Toffoli| 1991| p=16}}</ref> favouring the idea as a way to lower the costs of defence and improve relations with the United States. At first, Victoria remarked on "the impossibility of our being able to hold Canada; but, we must struggle for it; and by far the best solution would be to let it go as an independent kingdom under an English prince."<ref>{{citation| last=Stacey| first=C.P.| title=British Military Policy in the Era of Confederation| journal=CHA Annual Report and Historical Papers| volume=13| year=1934| page=25}}</ref> Later, though, to the delegates from [[Nova Scotia]] to whom Victoria granted an audience, she said, "I take the deepest interest in [Confederation], for I believe it will make [the provinces] great and prosperous."<ref name=TCE/> When the [[Constitution Act, 1867|British North America Act, 1867]], was passed in the Parliament in [[Westminster]], the Queen said to [[John A. Macdonald]], who was then in London, "I am very glad to see you on this mission [...] It is a very important measure and you have all exhibited so much loyalty."<ref name=TCE/>

By the mid-1860s, neither the name nor the location of the capital of the hypothetical new union had been settled. On the former issue, [[Canada's name|various suggestions]] were put forward—including ''Victorialand'', in honour of the Queen—but [[John A. Macdonald]] and then [[Governor General of the Province of Canada]], [[Charles Monck, 4th Viscount Monck|the Viscount Monk]], supported the name ''Kingdom of Canada'',<ref>{{Citation| last=Hubbard| first=R.H.| title=Rideau Hall| publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press| year=1977| location=Montreal and London| page=9| isbn=978-0-7735-0310-6<!-- | ref=CITEREF_Hubbard_1977 -->}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| last=Ewart| first=John Skirving | title=The kingdom of Canada, imperial federation, the colonial conferences, the Alaska boundary and other essays| publisher=Morang Educational Company Limited| year=1908| page=3| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=im5DAAAAIAAJ&q=kingdom+of+canada| access-date=6 March 2010}}</ref> to "fix the monarchical basis of the constitution."<ref>{{Citation| last=Colquhoun| first=A. H. U.| date=2009| contribution=The Fathers of Confederation: A Chronicle of the Birth of the Dominion| editor-last=Wrong| editor-first=George M.| editor2-last=Langton| editor2-first=H. H.| title=The Chronicles of Canada| volume=III| page=60| location=Tucson| publisher=Fireship Press| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qs6IKxQxUjsC| isbn=978-1-934757-51-2| access-date=1 July 2010}}</ref> The proposal, however, caused worries in the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office|Foreign and Colonial Office]] in London that such a title would provoke the republican United States and a compromise term, ''[[dominion]]'', was adopted instead.<ref>{{Citation| last=Forsey| first=Eugene| author-link=Eugene Forsey| title=How Canadians Govern Themselves| pages=8–9| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| year=2005| location=Ottawa| edition=6| url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/idb/forsey/PDFs/How_Canadians_Govern_Themselves-6ed.pdf| isbn=0-662-39689-8| access-date=14 May 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325074418/http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/idb/forsey/PDFs/How_Canadians_Govern_Themselves-6ed.pdf| archive-date=25 March 2009}}</ref> This new Dominion was formed by the [[Constitution Act, 1867|British North America Act, 1867]], to take effect on 1 July of that year. As it was Queen Victoria's [[royal assent]] that enacted the bill into law and she had taken such an interest in the endeavour of Confederation, she has since been dubbed the "Mother of Confederation".<ref name=Bousfield10/>

The matter of which city would serve as the country's capital was left by the British North America Act, 1867, to be decided by the Queen. From a list that included various well-established cities in [[Upper Canada|Upper]] and [[Lower Canada]], Victoria chose the small community of [[Ottawa|Bytown]] (later renamed as Ottawa) on the grounds that it was defensible,<ref name=Bousfield10/> located on [[Ottawa River|a major waterway]], and sat on the border between the two largest provinces of Canada, [[Quebec]] and [[Ontario]]. The [[Centre Block|buildings]] originally intended to house the parliament of the [[Province of Canada]] were also already in Bytown.
{{multiple image
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 | image1      =Prince Arthur Mohawk Chapel Canada 1869.jpg
 | caption1    =[[Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn|Prince Arthur]] (in doorway, holding [[bowler hat]]) with the Chiefs of the [[Iroquois|Six Nations]] at the [[Mohawk Chapel]], in [[Brantford, Ontario]], 1869. The church would be designated as a [[chapel royal]] by Arthur's brother, King [[Edward VII]], in 1904.
 | image2      =Skating Carnival, Victoria Rink, Montreal, QC, painted composite, 1870.jpg
 | caption2    =[[Compositing|Composite]] painting depicting the skating party held in honour of Prince Arthur at the [[Victoria Skating Rink]] in [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], 1870
}}

The new constitution vested in the Queen responsibility for [[peace, order, and good government]], as [[D'Arcy McGee]] had desired.<ref name=CandC/> In practice, though, the Second Reform Act, 1867, and the emergence of a two-party system decreased Victoria's personal room for manoeuvre. Still, the ceremonial role for the monarchy remained unaltered and the first visit of a member of the royal family to the Dominion of Canada took place two years after its creation; the sovereign's second son, [[Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn|Prince Arthur]], arrived for training with the Rifle Brigade based at [[Montreal]].<ref name=Heritage>{{cite web| url=http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/special/royalvisit2005/history_e.cfm| last=Department of Canadian Heritage| author-link=Department of Canadian Heritage| title=Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion > The Canadian Monarchy > 2005 Royal Visit > The Royal Presence in Canada – A Historical Overview| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=8 May 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807052914/http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/special/royalvisit2005/history_e.cfm| archive-date=7 August 2007}}</ref> Arthur toured the country for eight weeks, was made a chief by the [[Iroquois]] of the [[Six Nations of the Grand River|Grand River Reserve]],<ref>{{Harvnb| Bousfield| Toffoli |2010| p=83}}</ref> and, in 1870, attended a fancy-dress skating carnival at [[Victoria Skating Rink]] in Montreal.<ref name=Bousfield80>{{harvnb| Bousfield| Toffoli| 2010| pp=80–81}}</ref> Of the Prince, Lady Lisgar, wife of then Governor General of Canada [[John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar|the Lord Lisgar]], noted in a letter to Victoria that Canadians seemed hopeful Prince Arthur would one day return as governor general.<ref>{{harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=17}}</ref>

In the same year, [[Rupert's Land]] was ceded to the Crown in Right of Canada from the [[Hudson's Bay Company]], pulling it into the jurisdiction of the [[Northwest Territories|North-West Territories]]. This move sparked a [[Métis people (Canada)|Métis]] [[The Red River Rebellion|rebellion]] and the establishment by [[Louis Riel]] of a provisional republican government in the Red River Valley. Following negotiations with Riel's administration, the province of [[Manitoba]] was established in 1870 by the granting of royal assent to the [[Manitoba Act]] by Governor General [[Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava|the Earl of Dufferin]].

==A royal viceregal consort==
After the death of her husband, [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]], in 1861, Queen Victoria had gone into deep [[mourning]] and retreated from public life. As that situation carried on for over a decade, resentment toward the Queen grew in Britain, along with republican sentiment. But, because Victoria had never visited Canada, and therefore Canadians did not perceive of any change in her behaviour, the Queen's popularity remained high throughout the country. [[John Charles Dent]] wrote in 1880, "In Canada, loyalty has by no means degenerated into a mere feeble sentiment of expediency. Throughout the length and breadth of our land, the name of Queen Victoria is regarded with an affectionate love and veneration which is felt for no other human being."<ref name=TCE/> In 1872, Canada celebrated a day of [[thanksgiving]] after Prince Albert Edward recovered from a near-fatal bout of typhoid.<ref name=TCE/>
{{multiple image
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| image1      =Toboganning at Government House in the time of Princess Louise c 1878.JPG
| caption1    =[[Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll|Princess Louise]] and Governor General [[John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne]], hosting a [[toboggan]]ning party on the grounds of [[Rideau Hall]], in [[Ottawa]], 1878
| image2      =Opening of Canadian Parliament 1879.gif
| caption2    =[[Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll|Princess Louise]] accompanies Governor General [[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne]], for the [[opening of the Canadian parliament|opening of the]] [[4th Canadian Parliament]], 13 February 1879
}}

As successor to Dufferin, rather than sending Prince Arthur to Canada as her representative, Queen Victoria, on the advice of her [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|British Privy Council]], appointed her son-in-law, [[John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne]], in 1878. This meant that, for the first time, [[Rideau Hall]] would have a permanent royal resident: Victoria's fourth daughter, [[Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll|Princess Louise]]. When the news reached Canada that a daughter of the Queen would be [[Viceregal consorts of Canada|viceregal consort of Canada]], a "thrill of joy burst upon the Dominion"; it was felt the Princess would be a strong link between Canadians and their sovereign.<ref>{{Citation| last=Sandwell| first=R.W.| contribution=Dreaming of the Princess: Love, Subversion, and the Rituals of Empire in British Columbia, 1882| date=2006| editor-last=Coates| editor-first=Colin MacMillan| title=Majesty in Canada: essays on the role of royalty| page=48| location=Toronto| publisher=Dundurn Press Ltd.| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FhFyvhpPx8MC| isbn=978-1-55002-586-6| access-date=16 January 2011}}</ref>

However, the couple were initially not received well by the Canadian press, which complained about the imposition of royalty on the country's hitherto un-regal society, something that was only exasperated by mishaps and misunderstandings and the resulting negative press horrified the Princess.<ref>{{Citation| last=Longford| first=Elizabeth| author-link = Elizabeth Longford |title=Darling Loosy, letters to Princess Louise, 1856–1939| publisher=Little Brown & Co| year=1991| location=New York| page=45| isbn=978-0-297-81179-4}}</ref> Louise endeared herself by making clear she had no pretenses and, eventually, the worries about a rigid court at the Queen's Canadian residence turned out to be unfounded;<ref>{{Harvnb| Longford| 1991| p=45}}</ref> the royal couple were found to be more relaxed than their predecessors, as demonstrated at the many [[Ice skating]] and tobogganing parties, balls, dinners, and other state occasions hosted by Lord Lorne and Princess Louise.<ref name="Hubbard 1977 125">{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=125}}</ref>

The pair also undertook extensive tours of the country; some with other members of the royal family, such as when the Princess' younger brother, [[Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany|Prince Leopold]],<ref name=TCE/> visited and spent time with Louise and the Governor General at their cabin on the [[Gaspé Peninsula]] and Louise's nephew, Prince George (later King [[George V]]) travelled with the Lornes in 1883 to Ottawa, [[Toronto]], and [[Niagara Falls]].<ref name=TCEGeorgeV>{{citation| url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/king-george-v| last=Harris| first=Carolyn| title=King George V| encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia| date=16 July 2021| publisher=Historica Canada| access-date=21 February 2023}}</ref> The royal couples' three-month visit to [[British Columbia]] in 1882 did much to reconcile the local inhabitants to Confederation.<ref name=Heritage/><ref name=mao>{{Cite book | last=Ormsby| first=Margaret A.| title=British Columbia: A History| publisher=Macmillan| year=1958| location=Vancouver| page=287}}</ref> The Princess proved so popular that, when the Governor General announced that the route of the awaited [[Transcontinental railway#Canada|transcontinental railway]] would pass through [[Kicking Horse Pass]] into what has since become [[Vancouver]], rather than by the [[Yellowhead Pass]] to [[Bute Inlet]], Premier [[Robert Beaven]] asked Lord Lorne whether it would be possible for [[Vancouver Island]] to become a separate kingdom with Princess Louise as queen.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sandwell|2006|p=44}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Ormsby|1958|p=289}}</ref> [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] titled Lord Lorne as ''Great Brother-in-Law'' as he and Louise travelled across [[Canadian Prairies|the Prairies]].<ref name=TCE/>
[[File:Canadian Academy of Arts 1880.gif|thumb|left|The Canadian Academy of Arts Building, [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], 1880]]

Princess Louise and Lord Lorne made a number of lasting contributions to Canadian society, especially in the realm of the 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 was proficient in [[watercolour]] and [[oil painting]], hanging many of her own works around Rideau Hall and painting sprigs of apple blossoms on doors along the palace's Monck wing corridor (one of which remains to the present), as well as overseeing the creation of the statue of Queen Victoria that stands on [[McGill University]]'s campus.<ref name=ODNB1>{{Cite encyclopedia| last=Stocker| first=Mark| title=Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll| encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography| volume=2| publisher=Oxford University Press| year=2004}}</ref> [[Royal eponyms in Canada#Princess Louise (1867–1931)|Various locations were named for her]], including the province of [[Alberta]],<ref>{{cite web| url=http://alberta.ca/home/182.cfm| last=Government of Alberta| title=About Alberta > History| publisher=Alberta Queen's Printer| access-date=28 June 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917065055/http://alberta.ca/home/182.cfm| archive-date=17 September 2010}}</ref> and the Princess herself gave the name ''Regina'' to the [[Regina, Saskatchewan|capital of Saskatchewan]].<ref name=ODNB1/> In all, Louise made such an impression on Canadian life that, at her funeral, on 12 December 1939, her coffin was bourne by her own Canadian regiment, [[The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's)|the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada]].<ref>{{Citation| last=Wake| first=Jehanne| author-link=Jehanne Wake| title=Princess Louise: Queen Victoria's unconventional daughter| publisher=Collins| year=1988| location=London| page=410| isbn=978-0-00-217076-5}}</ref>

==The end of Victoria's reign==
{{multiple image
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| image1      =Stamp Canada 1897 5c.jpg
| caption1    =A [[Postage stamps and postal history of Canada|Canadian stamp]] commemorating [[Queen Victoria]]'s [[Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria|Diamond Jubilee]], with depictions of the Queen as she appeared in 1837 and 1897
| image2      =Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee on Parliamant Hill.jpg
| caption2    =Celebrations for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee on [[Parliament Hill]] in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], 1897
}}

In Queen Victoria's latter years, both her [[Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria|Golden]] and [[Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria|Diamond]] Jubilees—held in 1887 and 1897, respectively—were marked with great displays and public ceremonies in Canada. Victoria was the first of Canada's monarchs to reach those milestones. [[Thanksgiving]] holidays were held to celebrate the occasions. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald was in London for the Golden Jubilee and there, along with the premiers of the other Dominions, attended a conference that turned out to be the forerunner of the modern [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting]].<ref name=TCE/> The anniversary was monumentalized in Canada by the establishment of [[public service]] institutions, such as the [[Royal Jubilee Hospital]] in [[Victoria, British Columbia]].

For the Diamond Jubilee in Britain, Prime Minister [[Wilfrid Laurier]] was invited and Canadian [[cavalry]]men, five-abreast and followed by Laurier in a carriage, led the Dominions contingent of the royal procession through London on 22 June.<ref name=Senate1/><ref name=Peters26>{{Cite journal| last=Peters| first=Diane| title=A Celebration of Empire: Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee| journal=CAML Review| volume=26| issue=2| page=26| publisher=Canadian Association of Music Libraries| location=Ottawa| year=1998| url=http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/caml/article/viewFile/3674/2873| access-date=2 March 2010}}</ref> The Toronto Grenadiers (today the [[Royal Regiment of Canada]]) and the [[Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada]] also took part. In Canada, a series of commemorative stamps, the first ever produced by the country, was issued on 19 June and streets were decorated in cities and towns to mark [[Accession Day]] and the 22 June public holiday,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.arpinphilately.com/blog/learning-about-the-diamond-jubilee-canada-stamps/en/| title=Learning about the Diamond Jubilee Canada stamps| date=13 July 2009| publisher=The Stamp Echo| access-date=2 March 2010}}</ref><ref>{{citation| last=Aitken| first=Peter G.| title=Canada Sc# 54 on cover| publisher=Peter Aitken}}</ref> on which fêtes brought Canadians of different ethnicities together.<ref name=Peters26/><ref name=TCE/> On that day, the Queen sent a [[Telegraphy|telegram]] to all the Dominions, the message arriving in Canada five minutes after being sent from Buckingham Palace.<ref name=Peters26/> To Canadians, she wrote, "from my heart, I thank my beloved people. May God bless them."<ref name=TCE/> Led by [[Ishbel Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair|the Marchioness of Aberdeen]] (then the viceregal consort of Canada), Canada's gift to the Queen was the creation of the [[Victorian Order of Nurses]], which still operates today. In contemporary [[Pop culture|popular culture]], new songs were composed in the Queen's honour and buildings named for her.<ref name=TCE/>

In between the jubilees, in December 1894, Prime Minister [[John Sparrow David Thompson|John Thompson]] died at [[Windsor Castle]] when there to be admitted by the Queen to the [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|imperial Privy Council]], being struck with a heart attack mere hours after the ceremony. Victoria, then aged and using a wheelchair, was wheeled into [[St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle|St George's Chapel]], where Thompson lay-in-state, and placed a wreath on her former prime minister's coffin. This moment was captured in a painting by [[Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith|Frederic Bell-Smith]], but the canvas was destroyed in [[Centre Block#Great fire|the burning of the Centre Block]] in 1916.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hubbard|1977|p=82}}</ref>
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| image1      = Montreal Queen Vicky - Quebec 1992.jpg
| image2      = JordanLifeCare Statue 2013.jpg
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| image4      = Statue of Queen Victoria, Victoria, Canada 04.jpg
| footer      = Statues of Queen Victoria in (clockwise from top) [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]]; [[Ottawa]], Ontario; [[Victoria, British Columbia]]; [[River Glade, New Brunswick]]
}}

Victoria herself died at [[Osborne House]] on 22 January 1901, after a reign lasting almost 64 years, and was succeeded by her eldest son, King [[Edward VII]]. Canada mourned the loss of Victoria;<ref>{{Harvnb| Bousfield| Toffoli| 1991| pp=20–22}}</ref> news "brought much of the country to a halt"; Church bells were rung for hours, [[gun salute]]s fired at Parliament Hill and armouries across the country, and concerts and social events were cancelled.<ref name=Annett>{{citation| url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-six-royal-funerals-one-changing-canada-what-the-deaths-of-monarchs/| last=Annett| first=Evan| title=Six royal funerals, one changing Canada: What the deaths of monarchs have revealed about us| date=17 September 2022| newspaper=The Globe and Mail| access-date=17 March 2023}}</ref> The day of [[Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria|the funeral]] was a nationwide period of mourning, with the majority of businesses closed; Victorian mourning etiquette dictated Canadians continue to wear black clothes or armbands for up to three months following Victoria's death and black [[crepe]] was draped over public buildings.<ref name=Annett/> [[Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto|The Earl of Minto]], then Governor General, and Wilfrid Laurier were at odds over which church in Ottawa should host the official memorial service for the late Queen; Minto favoured the [[Church of England]] cathedral, respecting the church to which Victoria had belonged, while Laurier and other ministers attended services of their own communion.<ref>{{Citation| last=Buchan| first=John| author-link=John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir| title=Lord Minto: A Memoir| publisher=T. Nelson and Sons| year=1924| location=London, New York}}</ref>

Due to the [[transatlantic telegraph cable]], this was the first time Canadians would learn of their monarch's passing within minutes of it being announced in the United Kingdom. However, otherwise, the country's denizens had been mostly unaware of the Queen having been in poor health; the media and society around the royal family was taciturn regarding the sovereign's frailties. As such, upon hearing of Victoria's death, many Canadians double-checked with the cable dispatches posted on bulletin boards outside newspaper offices.<ref name=Annett/>

Victoria's long and popular reign resulted in many [[Royal eponyms in Canada#Queen Victoria|places being named in her honour]] and [[Royal monuments in Canada|monuments to her]], such as statues on [[Parliament Hill]] and throughout the provinces. The Queen's reign was permanently memorialized in Canada when, in the spring of 1901, it was decided by parliament that 24 May would continue as a holiday marking the late Queen's birthday, named as [[Victoria Day]], to distinguish it from the King's birthday celebration to be held in November.<ref>{{Citation| last=Clerk of the House of Commons| title=Debates: official report| publisher=King's Printer for Canada| year=1901| location=Ottawa| volume=1}}</ref>

==Twentieth century and the First World War==
The end of Victoria's reign marked the beginning of a new century and one that would see Canada's rapid growth as a nation. As modern modes of transportation allowed for easier travel across the oceans, more of the royal family came to [[Royal tours of Canada|tour the King's northern Dominion]]. The first since Queen Victoria's death was Prince George (later King [[George V]])—the son of the reigning king—returning to Canada in 1901, accompanied by his wife, [[Mary of Teck|the Duchess of Cornwall and York]] (later Quen Mary), and her brother, [[Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone|Prince Alexander of Teck]] (who would, in future, serve as governor general of Canada). Events during the royal tour, which took in the country between [[Quebec City]] and [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]],<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| pp=101–106}}</ref> had a more casual atmosphere than their equivalents in the United Kingdom; it was reported that, at one official 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."<ref>{{Citation| last=Arthur| first=George| title=Queen Mary| publisher=Thornton Butterworth| year=1935| location=London}}</ref>
[[File:Duke of York at Montreal and Quebec 1901.ogv|thumb|[[George V|Prince George, Duke of Cornwall and York]], in [[Montreal]] and [[Quebec City]] during his 1901 royal tour]]
[[File:The web of empire - a diary of the imperial tour of their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York in 1901 (1902) (14764178055).jpg|thumb|Prince George, with [[Mary of Teck|the Duchess of Cornwall and York]], listens to addresses from leaders of the [[Blackfoot Confederacy|Blackfoot]], [[Kainai Nation|Káínaa]], [[Piegan Blackfeet|Piegan]], [[Tsuutʼina Nation|Tsúùtʼínà]], [[Nakoda people|Îyârhe Nakoda]], and [[Cree|Néhinaw]] peoples at [[Shaganappi, Calgary|Shagannapi]] Point, near [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]], 28 September 1901]]

The Prince returned only once more before he became king: when he visited in 1908, by then as [[Prince of Wales]], to celebrate the tercentenary of Quebec City's founding. He reviewed the Canadian armed forces on the [[Plains of Abraham]], in addition to presenting a cheque for 90,000 pounds to aid the federal Crown in purchasing the area of the plains so as to establish a park,<ref name=TCEGeorgeV/> which was opened on 17 March 1908. The Prince wrote to his father, "I hope my visit has done good, especially to improve the relations between the English and French Canadians, which have never been so good as they are now."<ref name=TCEGeorgeV/> The governor general at the time, [[Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey|the Earl Grey]], reported back to King [[Edward VII]] that the Prince "has taught the people of Quebec how to cheer."<ref>{{Citation| last=Doig| first=Ronald P.| title=Earl Grey's papers: An introductory survey| publisher=Private Libraries Association| year=1961| location=London| id=Grey to Queen Alexandra, 21 May 1910; George V to Grey, 27 May 1910}}</ref>

Edward VII died two years later, which led to a period of [[Mourning#State and official mourning|official mourning]], with numerous memorials, military parades, and tributes held across the country; [[Death and state funeral of Edward VII|the funeral]] day was made an official holiday. However, due to Edward's relatively short reign, his passing was not as impactful on Canadians as his mother's had been. Newspapers were more forthright in their coverage than they had been at the time of Victoria's death; they reported right away on [[Alexandra of Denmark|Queen Alexandra]]'s last moments with the King and some even pointed at Edward's smoking habit as a contributor to his demise.<ref name=Annett/>

Edward was succeeded by Prince George and Canada sent 700 dignitaries and military personnel to take part in the celebrations in London.<ref name=TCEGeorgeV/> In 1911, the King appointed his uncle, [[Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn|Prince Arthur]], as governor general of Canada, thereby fulfilling the desire of Canadians earlier expressed by the Lady Lisgar and bringing Arthur back to Canada for a fourth time and 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.<ref name="Hubbard 1977 125"/> Arthur brought with him to Canada his wife, [[Princess Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught|Princess Louise]], and his youngest daughter, [[Princess Patricia of Connaught|Princess Patricia]], and the family travelled extensively across Canada, the Prince performing ceremonial tasks, such as in 1917 laying the cornerstone of the reconstructed federal parliament building. The royal couple made a concerted effort to contribute to the social life of the capital, using Rideau Hall as a major site for events for Canadians from across the country.

Two years after Arthur's appointment, his nephew, Prince Albert (the future King [[George VI]]), arrived as a midshipman on [[HMS Cumberland (1902)|HMS ''Cumberland'']], spending six months visiting Ontario (seeing Niagara Falls and Toronto), Prince Edward Island (where he umpired a cricket match), and Quebec and Newfoundland (enjoying salmon fishing).<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/king-george-vi| last=Harris| first=Carolyn| title=King George VI| date=13 September 2022| encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia| publisher=Historica Canada| access-date=12 March 2024}}</ref>
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| image1      =5th Royal Highlanders- inspection by Governor General at Champ de Mars, Montreal, August 1914 (19533676175).jpg
| caption1    =Prince Arthur (centre left), in 1914, inspecting the troops at [[CFB Valcartier|Valcartier base]], near [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], before they were transported to [[Europe]]
| image2      =The Royal Visits To the Western Front, 1914-1918 Q5679.jpg
| caption2    =King [[George V]] regards the graves of Canadian soldiers on the [[Battle of Vimy Ridge|battlefield of Vimy Ridge]], accompanied by General [[Arthur Currie]], in [[Pas-de-Calais]], [[France]], 11 July 1917
}}

Prince Arthur was, though, sometimes thought to have overstepped the still un-cemented bounds of constitutional monarchy in Canada, particularly in his carrying out of the ceremonial duties of the [[Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces|commander-in-chief]] during the [[First World War]].<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| last=Borden| first=Robert| author-link=Robert Borden| title=Memoirs| publisher=McClelland and Stewart| date=1 January 1969| location=Toronto| pages=601–602| volume=1}}</ref> Overall, though, Prince Arthur stressed the importance of Canadian military contributions, promoting training and readiness for Canadian troops, but also sought to enhance charity at home.<ref name=Lived>{{citation| url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/royals-who-lived-in-canada| last=Harris| first=Carolyn| title=Royals Who Lived in Canada| date=3 February 2002| encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia| publisher=Historica Canada| access-date=3 April 2023}}</ref> To put this preaching into practice, the Duchess of Connaught, in addition to establishing the Duchess of Connaught Hospital Fund<ref name=Lived/> and 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 brought to Rideau Hall, which she used to make 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 Anglican Church (Ottawa)|St Bartholomew's Church]], next to Rideau Hall, in memory of the [[Rideau Hall|Government House]] staff who lost their lives during the war.

The Connaughts' daughter became a prominent public figure during the Duke's time as Governor General, acting as hostess at Rideau Hall while her mother was ill. During the war, the [[Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry]] was created and named after Patricia, who embroidered the regimental colours herself. The Princess was, on 22 February 1918, appointed by the King as [[colonel-in-chief]] of the regiment; an appointment she held until her death. She contributed her paintings to Canadian exhibitions and galleries and, in 1917, her image appeared on the $1 bill.<ref name=Lived/> Additionally, it was during her time in Rideau Hall that Patricia met her future husband, [[Alexander Ramsay (Royal Navy officer)|Alexander Ramsay]], who was then acting as [[aide-de-camp]] to her father.

The King and Queen called on Canadian troops stationed in the United Kingdom, as well as the nurses of [[Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital|Canada's Red Cross Hospital]]. The King often visited the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] on the European continent, meeting with members of the [[Canadian Expeditionary Force]] and touring Canadian [[field hospital]]s. General [[Arthur Currie]] was, in June 1917, knighted by the George V on [[Battle of Vimy Ridge|the battlefield]] at [[Vimy Ridge]]. The King kept up correspondence with Prince Arthur, discussing conditions on the home front in Canada.<ref name=TCEGeorgeV/> To deflect anti-German feelings away from the monarchy, George V issued in 1917 [[letters patent]] changing the name of the [[royal house]] from [[House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]] (established when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert) to [[House of Windsor|Windsor]] and stripping German royal titles from anyone in the royal family who had them, such as his wife, who was a princess of Teck, and her brother, Prince Alexander, who took the surname ''Cambridge'' and became the Earl of Athlone.

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, Ontario|Port Arthur]] (now part of [[Thunder Bay]], Ontario) was named in honour of the Prince, who also gave his name to the Connaught Cup for pistol marksmanship of recruits in the [[North-West Mounted Police|Royal North-West Mounted Police]].

==Interwar period==
{{multiple image
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| image1      =Prince of Wales' visit to Canada. Inspecting veterans Halifax, Aug. 17-18, 1919.jpg
| caption1    =[[Edward VIII|Prince Edward]] (centre) inspects and gives medals to veterans of the [[First World War]], [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]], 17 August 1919
| image2      =PrinceOfWalesCanoeing.jpg
| caption2    =Prince Edward [[canoe]]ing on the [[Nipigon River]] in [[Ontario]], 5 to 7 September 1919
| image3      =Prince of Wales and George Webster Alberta.jpg
| caption3    =[[Edward VIII|Prince Edward, Prince of Wales]], with [[Mayor of Calgary]] [[George Harry Webster]] at the Prince's ranch, E.P. Ranch, in [[Pekisko, Alberta]], September 1923
}}

After the end of the war, [[Edward VIII|Prince Edward, Prince of Wales]] (later King Edward VIII), toured Canada in 1919, opening the third [[Parliamentary session|session]] of the [[13th Canadian Parliament]], amongst other duties performed when he had not disappeared to attend dances or to play golf, instead.<ref name=HUB145>{{Harvnb|Hubbard|1977|pp=145–146}}</ref> He proved very popular with Canadians, though; when, in [[Toronto]], he was greeted with enthusiasm by a crowd of soldiers just returned from Europe after the end of the war, who lifted Edward off his horse and "passed him, like a football, over their heads," and a veteran approached the Prince and casually 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."<ref name=cbc>{{cite news| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactive/royalvisits/01.html| last=Hall| first=Trevor| title=Canada: A History of Royal Visits for Canada since 1786| publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]| access-date=8 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070913022443/http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactive/royalvisits/01.html |archive-date=2007-09-13}}</ref> Edward returned to Ottawa to lay the [[foundation stone]] of the [[Peace Tower]] before returning to the United Kingdom.<ref name=HUB145/> Canada proved popular with the Prince as well; he purchased the {{convert|400|acre|km2|adj=on}} [[E.P. Ranch]] near [[Pekisko, Alberta|Pekisko]], [[High River]], in [[Alberta]]; Edward held this ranch, and stayed at it numerous times, before selling it in 1962, a decade before his death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/royalvisit/prince-quiz-answers.htm |last=Department of Canadian Heritage |author-link=Department of Canadian Heritage |title=Royal Visit 2001 > Getting to Know the Prince of Wales |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=9 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506124908/http://www.pch.gc.ca/royalvisit/prince-quiz-answers.htm |archive-date=6 May 2008}}</ref>

Events took place in 1926 that would set the course for a dramatic shift in the role of the federal viceroy and ultimately result in the creation of a distinct monarchy for Canada.<ref name=TCEGeorgeV/> Until that point, the governor general remained a representative in Canada of the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]]<ref name=Heard>{{Cite book| first=Andrew| last=Heard| title=Canadian Independence| year=1990| place=Vancouver| publisher=Simon Fraser University| url=https://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/324/Independence.html| access-date=6 May 2009}}</ref>—the King in his [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|British Council]]—but was still able to exercise the [[royal prerogative]] over the Canadian prime minister without orders from the King [[King-in-Council|acting on the advice of his British ministers]] back in [[Westminster]]. After the Governor General at the time, [[Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy|the Lord Byng of Vimy]], did just that and independently decided to refuse the advice of his Canadian Prime Minister, [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]], to dissolve Parliament, thus forcing Mackenzie King to resign in what came to be known as the [[King–Byng Affair]], the latter was, once reappointed following [[1926 Canadian federal election|that year's general election]], motivated to raise at the [[1926 Imperial Conference]] questions about the relationship between the Dominions and the United Kingdom.<ref name=Heard/>

The premiers were mostly receptive and, following the close of the meeting, the [[Balfour Declaration 1926|Balfour Declaration]] was issued, which stated that the Dominions of the Crown were to be considered equal to the United Kingdom,<ref>{{Citation| first=Arthur| last=Balfour| author-link=Arthur Balfour| editor-last=Inter-Imperial Relations Committee| title=Imperial Conference 1926| series=E (I.R./26) Series| year=1926| page=2| place=Westminster| publisher=King's Printer| url=http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item.asp?dID=24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116030426/http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-24.html| archive-date=2016-01-16}}</ref> as Mackenzie King had wished. The governor general of Canada, as with all the other governors-general of [[British Empire|the Empire]], would be the direct, personal representative of the King, rather than a diplomatic channel between the Canadian and British governments.<ref name=Heard/><ref>{{Harvnb| Balfour| 1926| p=3}}</ref>
{{multiple image
| align       =left
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| total_width =260
| image1      =ImperialConference.jpg
| caption1    =[[George V]] with his prime ministers at the [[1926 Imperial Conference]]
| image2      =KingRoyals1927.jpg
| caption2    =Governor General [[Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon|the Viscount Willingdon]] with Princes [[Edward VIII|Edward]] and [[Prince George, Duke of Kent|George]] and Prime Minister [[William Lyon Mackenzie King|W.L.M. King]] in front of [[Rideau Hall]], [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], 4 August 1927
}}

The first evocation of these concepts in statute law was seen in 1927. Passed by the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]], the [[Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927|Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act]] altered part of the King's title to reflect his new status as monarch of each Dominion individually, rather than as king of the United Kingdom throughout all countries.<ref name=Heard/> Then, in 1931—following deliberations involving Canada's delegation, led by [[Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]] [[Ernest Lapointe]]<ref name=FCATM/>—the notions of independence and equality were manifested in the [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster]]'s legal end to the Westminster Parliament's ability to legislate for the Dominions without the expressed request and consent of the latter.<ref name=Heard/> As a result, laws outlining the succession—notably, the [[Act of Settlement 1701|Act of Settlement, 1701]]—as pertaining to Canada, were now under the control of the Canadian Parliament and the King could only be advised on Canadian affairs by his Canadian ministers;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.marianopolis.edu/quebechistory/federal/1931.htm |last=Bélanger |first=Claude |title=The Statute of Westminster (1931) |date=26 February 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517042554/http://www2.marianopolis.edu/quebechistory/federal/1931.htm |archive-date=17 May 2008}}</ref> the monarchy of Canada had "assumed its full constitutional meaning."<ref>{{Citation| last=Monet| first=Jacques| title=The Canadian Crown| publisher=Clarke, Irwin & Co. Ltd.| year=1979| page=37| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eacFAAAAMAAJ&q=canadian+crown| isbn=978-0-7720-1252-4| access-date=6 March 2010}}</ref> This had widespread support from Quebec's political elite, as along with its own Crown, Canada gained control over its foreign policy and became distinct from the United Kingdom and its empire.<ref name=FCATM/>

Through 1927, King George V and his [[List of Canadian monarchs#Consorts|consort]], [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]], opened [[Canada House]] in London and the King's sons, Princes Edward and George, unveiled the [[Wilfrid Laurier|Laurier]] monument on Parliament Hill and dedicated the [[Princes' Gates]] and opened [[Union Station (Toronto)|Union Station]] in [[Toronto]], after which Edward went to Alberta to spend time on his ranch.

Though the Canadian Cabinet had in 1930 suggested to the King that he appoint his other son, [[George VI|Prince Albert, Duke of York]], as governor general of Canada,<ref name=TCERoyalTour>{{citation| url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/1939-royal-tour#:~:text=%E2%80%8BThe%201939%20royal%20tour,crossed%20the%20country%20by%20train|
last=Harris| first=Caroline| title=1939 Royal Tour| encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia| date=25 March 2022| publisher=Historica Canada| access-date=22 February 2023}}</ref> both George V and the Duke were hesitant; the latter had two young daughters—a toddler (later Queen [[Elizabeth II]]) and a newborn ([[Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon|Princess Margaret]])—and the former wished that Albert remain close to compensate for the behaviour of the Prince of Wales.<ref>{{Citation| last1=Bell| first1=Lynne| last2=Bousfield| first2=Arthur| last3=Bousfield| first3=Gary| title=Queen and Consort| publisher=Dundurn Press| year=2007| location=Toronto| page=33| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sqFPntVyzK4C&q=united+states&pg=PT147| isbn=978-1-55002-725-9}}</ref> As the Statute of Westminster had not yet been implemented, the British Cabinet eventually advised against the Canadian idea and, instead, recommended [[Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough|the Earl of Bessborough]] as viceroy.<ref>{{Citation| last=Picknett| first=Lynn |author2=Prince, Clive |author3=Prior, Stephen |author4=Brydon, Robert |title=War of the Windsors: A Century of Unconstitutional Monarchy| publisher=Mainstream Publishing| year=2002| location=Edinburgh| page=37| isbn=978-1-84018-631-4}}</ref> This, though. was ultimately because [[Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield|the Lord Passfield]], then the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies|Minister for the Dominions]], thought that, despite the request directly from their government, Canadians disliked the royal family.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bell|Bousfield|Bousfield|2007|p=34}}</ref> As Albert eventually went on to become King George VI, had the Canadian Privy Council's idea been accepted, a Canadian governor general who represented the King would have gone on to become king of Canada himself.
{{multiple image
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| total_width =260
| image1      =HM King Edward VIII unveiling the figure of Canada on the Vimy Ridge Memorial.jpg
| caption1    =King [[Edward VIII]], in his capacity as the king of Canada, unveils the [[Canadian National Vimy Memorial|Vimy Memorial]] in France, July 1936
| image2      =The year of the three Kings.jpg
| caption2    =A postcard commemorating "the year of the three kings": [[George V]], [[Edward VIII]], and [[George VI]]
}}

Canadians (and the Commonwealth as a whole) heard in 1932 the first [[Royal Christmas Message]], as read by George V, who, three years later, celebrated [[Silver Jubilee of George V|his Silver Jubilee]]. The euphoria was short lived, however, as the King died on 20 January 1936. Announcements were made over radio; but, then the broadcasters fell silent for the rest of the night out of respect. Through the following week, courthouses were shut, the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]] delayed the opening of its new session so members of provincial parliament could recite new [[Oath of Allegiance (Canada)|oaths of allegiance]], and the [[University of Toronto]] cancelled social events (though, not classes). On 28 January, the day of [[Death and state funeral of George V|the late King's funeral]], the Governor General issued a proclamation encouraging Canadians to attend church services and for Crown-owned buildings to be draped in black crepe.<ref name=Annett/>

The hope that surrounded the accession of Prince Edward as King Edward VIII did not, as with Edward's reign, survive the year. However, Edward was the first monarch of Canada to accede to the country's throne by Canada's own laws and, as such, it was deemed "constitutionally inappropriate" for Canada's (and the other Dominions') accession proclamations to be approved by a British order-in-council.<ref>{{citation| url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9372/CBP-9372.pdf| last=Torrance| first=David| title=The Death of a Monarch| page=34| date=8 September 2022| publisher=House of Commons Library| access-date=1 March 2023}}</ref> Early into his time as monarch, Edward, in July 1936, took his only foreign trip as sovereign, to unveil the [[Canadian National Vimy Memorial]] in France, in his capacity as the king of Canada.

==Abdication and the king of Canada comes home==

Despite his popularity in Canada and elsewhere when he was Prince of Wales, the new King's relationship with the twice-divorced, American socialite [[Wallis, Duchess of Windsor|Wallis Simpson]] caused serious concern; more so among Canadians, who were more familiar with the personal life of their sovereign than the populace of the UK, due to the British press imposing on itself a ban on publishing the exploits of the King and Simpson that the American [[newspaper]]s did not.<ref>{{Citation| last=Broad| first=Lewis| title=The Abdication| publisher=Frederick Muller Ltd.| year=1961| location=London| page=47}}</ref> Governor General [[John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir|the Lord Tweedsmuir]] conveyed to [[Buckingham Palace]] and British Prime Minister [[Stanley Baldwin]] his observations of Canadians' deep affection for the King; but, also the outrage towards Canadian puritanism—both Catholic and Protestant—that would occur if Edward VIII married a [[Divorcee|divorcée]].<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=187}}</ref> Further, the Cabinet telegrammed the King, urging him to place his duty as sovereign above his feelings for Simpson.<ref name=Heard/> As popular anger mounted in tandem with the imminence of a marriage between Edward and Simpson, the King's prime ministers sought solutions to the crisis. Mackenzie King, along with the other Dominion first ministers, rejected the ideas of either a royal or [[morganatic marriage]] taking place. This left only Edward's [[abdication]] as the final option.<ref>[[Éamon de Valera]] quoted in {{Citation| last=Bradford| first=Sarah| title=King George VI| year=1989| page=188| publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson| location=London| isbn=0-297-79667-4}}</ref>

[[Edward VIII abdication crisis|Edward VIII renounced his Canadian Crown]] on 10 December, giving, with the consent of his Canadian ministers,<ref name=Heard/> [[royal assent]] to [[His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936]]. Consequently, his brother, Prince Albert, became Canada's king, choosing the [[regnal name]] [[George VI]]. A proclamation of accession was drafted by the Cabinet and read by the Prime Minister as a radio broadcast.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/king/001059-119.02-e.php?&page_id_nbr=17509&interval=20PHPSESSID=bgajorjbf37d43pri9gimsmfv0| last=Library and Archives Canada| author-link=Library and Archives Canada| title=The Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| page=581| year=2007| access-date=14 August 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605185230/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/king/001059-119.02-e.php?&page_id_nbr=17509&interval=20PHPSESSID=bgajorjbf37d43pri9gimsmfv0| archive-date=5 June 2013}}</ref> The Canadian Parliament later passed the [[Succession to the Throne Act, 1937]], to ratify the abdication into Canadian law and demonstrate Canada's independence from the United Kingdom.<ref name=Heard/><ref>{{cite court| url=http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2003/2003canlii41404/2003canlii41404.html| litigants=Tony O'Donohue v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada| vol=41404 (ON S.C.)| pinpoint=S.33| court=Ontario Superior Court of Justice| year=2003| access-date=16 May 2009}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2003/2003canlii41404/2003canlii41404.html |title=CanLII - 2003 CanLII 41404 (ON SC) |access-date=11 February 2010 |archive-date=27 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627231349/http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2003/2003canlii41404/2003canlii41404.html |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> Mackenzie King wrote in his diary just before the abdication that he had "no fears about Canada [...] [I]n all probability, with the Duke and Duchess of York as king and queen, and with the little Princess Elizabeth in the picture, there will be a much happier situation in the new year than there has been at any time since the time of George V."<ref>{{Harvnb| Library and Archives Canada| 2007| loc=[http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/king/001059-119.02-e.php?&page_id_nbr=17474&interval=20PHPSESSID=bgajorjbf37d43pri9gimsmfv0 p. 556]}}</ref>
{{multiple image
| align       =left
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| total_width =260
| image1      =RoyalVisitSenate.jpg
| caption1    =King [[George VI]] giving [[royal assent]] to bills in the [[Canadian Senate]], accompanied by [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]], during their [[1939 royal tour of Canada]]
| image2      =King George VI delivering a radio broadcast to the Empire on Empire Day, Winnipeg, Manitoba - Le roi George VI diffusant un message à la radio aux sujets de l'Empire britannique le jour de l'Empire, Winnipeg (Manitoba) (38766480811).jpg
| caption2    =King George VI delivers his [[Empire Day]] speech by radio from [[Government House (Manitoba)|Government House]] in [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]], 24 May 1939
}}

In an effort to foster [[Canadian identity]], Tweedsmuir conceived in 1937 of [[1939 royal tour of Canada|a royal tour]] by the monarch, so that, through seeing "their king performing royal functions, supported by his Canadian ministers," Canadians might be made more aware of their country's status as an independent kingdom.{{refn|<ref name=Galbraith7>{{cite magazine| last=Galbraith| first=William | title=Fiftieth Anniversary of the 1939 Royal Visit| magazine=Canadian Parliamentary Review| volume=12| issue=3| page=7| publisher=Commonwealth Parliamentary Association| location=Ottawa| year=1989| url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/Infoparl/english/issue.htm?param=130&art=820| access-date=20 February 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last=Bousfield| first=Arthur|author2=Toffoli, Garry| title=Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 1900–2002: The Queen Mother and Her Century a Tribute| publisher=Dundurn Press| year=2002| location=Toronto| page=77| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6PQ84ovPcMC| isbn=978-1-55002-391-6}}</ref><ref name=PalmBeach>{{Citation| last=Thornton| first=Willis| title=Royal tour confirms reality of 'King of Canada' idea| newspaper=The Palm Beach Post| page=5| date=5 June 1939| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=K3cyAAAAIBAJ&pg=1143,2929279&dq=george-vi+king-of-canada&hl=en| access-date=14 October 2010}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>}} Mackenzie King agreed with this notion;<ref>{{Citation| last=McCulloch| first=Tony| title=Roosevelt, Mackenzie King and the British Royal Visit to the USA in 1939| journal=London Journal of Canadian Studies| publisher=London Conference for Canadian Studies| volume=23| pages=86–87| year=2007| url=http://www.canadian-studies.net/lccs/LJCS/current/McCulloch.pdf| access-date=30 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb| Library and Archives Canada| 2007| loc=[http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/king/001059-119.02-e.php?&page_id_nbr=20124&interval=20&&PHPSESSID=bgajorjbf37d43pri9gimsmfv0 pp. 398, 533]}}</ref> though, he also felt, along with officials in the United Kingdom, that the trip would have an element of 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]].<ref>{{Harvnb| Douglas| Greenhous| 1995| p=12}}</ref> Thus, Tweedsmuir put the suggestion to the King<ref name=TCERoyalTour/> and the Prime Minister, while in London for [[Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth|the coronation]] in May 1937, formally consulted with George on the matter. More than a year later, the King agreed.<ref name=Galbraith7/> Officials in the Dominions Office in London, however, resisted the reality of a separate role for George VI as Canada's sovereign.<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kY-Tk0-quyoC| last=Boyce| first=Peter| title=The Queen's Other Realms| page=27| publisher=Federation Press| location=Sydney| year=2008| isbn=978-1-86287-700-9| access-date=15 October 2010}}</ref>

On 17 May 1939, the king of Canada,{{refn|<ref name=PalmBeach/><ref>{{Citation| last=MacCormac| first=John| title=George VI as King of Canada; Canada's suggestion| newspaper=The New York Times| page=77| date=2 February 1939| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/02/12/archives/george-vi-as-king-of-canada-canadas-suggestion.html| access-date=13 October 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last=Warwick| first=Christopher| title=King George VI & Queen Elizabeth: a Portrait| publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson| year=1985| location=Ann Arbor| page=106| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ba8gAAAAMAAJ&q=canada| isbn=978-0-283-99182-0}}</ref><ref name=Gaz1959>{{Citation| last=Metheral| first=Ken| title=Canada Queen's Role Underlined| newspaper=Montreal Gazette| page=2| date=19 June 1959| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=g8AtAAAAIBAJ&pg=2957,4090957&dq=george-vi+king-of-canada&hl=en| access-date=14 October 2010}}</ref>}} accompanied by his royal consort, [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]], sailed up to [[Quebec City]] on the [[Canadian Pacific Limited|Canadian Pacific]] liner [[RMS Empress of Australia (1919)|RMS ''Empress of Australia'']], escorted by two [[destroyer]]s and two [[cruiser]]s of the [[Royal Canadian Navy]].<ref name=TCERoyalTour/> George stepped ashore at Wolfe's Cove, becoming the first reigning sovereign of Canada to set foot on Canadian soil.<ref name=Galbraith8>{{Harvnb| Galbraith| 1989| p=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last=De-la-Noy| first=Michael| title=The Queen Behind the Throne| publisher=Ramboro Books PLC| year=1997| location=London| page=116| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ke0WAQAAIAAJ&q=%22george+VI%22+%22king+of+canada%22+%22united+states%22+visit+1939| isbn=978-7-215-99003-6}}</ref> The reaction by the public was positive beyond expectation and,<ref>{{Harvnb| Hubbard| 1977| p=191}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| last1=Douglas| first1=W.A.B. |last2=Greenhous |first2=Brereton |title=Out of the Shadows: Canada in the Second World War| publisher=Dundurn Press Ltd.| year=1995| location=Toronto| page=11| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-rtgaVVHVsUC| isbn=1-55002-151-6}}</ref> from the start, it was noted that the King was present as Canada's sovereign; a newspaper at the time stated, "the King of Canada walked yesterday, as he walks today, among his own. There can be welcomes elsewhere in Canada equal to his reception in Quebec. None will surpass it."<ref>{{citation| chapter-url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/17800/1/Metcalfe_Heather_M_200906_PhD_thesis.pdf| title=It's All About War: Canadian Opinion and the Canadian Approach to International Relations, 1935–1939| editor-last=Metcalfe| editor-first=Heather M.| publisher=University of Toronto| publication-date=2009| publication-place=Toronto| page=10| chapter=''The King Arrives''; Winnipeg Free Press| date=18 May 1939| place=Winnipeg| access-date=8 October 2010}}</ref>

Of the King and Queen's arrival [[Rideau Hall]], on 20 May, official royal tour historian [[Gustave Lanctot]] wrote, "when Their Majesties walked into their Canadian residence, the Statute of Westminster had assumed full reality: the king of Canada had come home."<ref name=Lanctot>{{cite book| last=Lanctot| first=Gustave| author-link=Gustave Lanctot| title=Royal Tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Canada and the United States of America 1939| publisher=E.P. Taylor Foundation| year=1964| location=Toronto| asin=B0006EB752}}</ref> While in the nation's capital, George set to carrying out his royal duties, including receiving the new American [[Diplomacy|envoy]] to Canada, granting royal assent to nine bills passed by Parliament,<ref name=TCERoyalTour/> and ratifying treaties,<ref name=Galbraith8/><ref>{{Harvnb| Galbraith| 1989| p=9}}</ref> while the Queen laid the cornerstone of the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] building.<ref name=TCERoyalTour/> The King presided over celebrations on Parliament Hill for his [[King's Birthday#Canada|official birthday in Canada]]—the first time this had been marked in the presence of the sovereign himself—and he dedicated the [[National War Memorial (Canada)|National War Memorial]]. It was there that the King and Queen conducted the first-ever royal walkabout: rather than return to their motorcade at the end of the official ceremony, George and Elizabeth spent half an hour mingling casually among the 25,000 veterans, who were part of a crowd of some 100,000 people. The act was remarkable, as, at the time, royalty was generally perceived to be distant. Tweedsmuir captured the importance of the moment: "One old fellow said to me, 'aye, man, if [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] could just see this.' It was wonderful proof of what a people's king means."<ref name=TCERoyalTour/>
[[File:King George VI presenting the King's Colour to the Royal Canadian Navy during a ceremony in Beacon Hill Park.jpg|thumb|King George VI presents the [[Military colours, standards and guidons#Australia, Canada, and New Zealand|King's Colour]] to his [[Royal Canadian Navy]] in [[Beacon Hill Park]], [[Victoria, British Columbia]], June 1939]]

While travelling on the Royal Train to the [[British Columbia|west coast]] and back, meeting thousands of Canadians along the way (by the end of the first week alone, two million of Canada's 11 million inhabitants had turned out to see the royal couple<ref name=PalmBeach/>), the King, from [[Government House (Manitoba)|Government House]] in [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]], delivered the [[Empire Day]] speech by radio to the Dominions and Britain and its colonies; met with the [[Nakoda people|Îyârhe Nakoda]] outside of [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]]; and presented the [[Military colours, standards and guidons#Australia, Canada, and New Zealand|King's Colour]] to his [[Royal Canadian Navy]] in [[Victoria, British Columbia]]. During the return leg, the King and Queen also conducted, between 7 and 10 June, a [[state visit]] on behalf of Canada to the United States.{{refn|<ref name=Lanctot/><ref>{{Citation|last=Bell |first=Peter |title=The Foreign Office and the 1939 Royal Visit to America: Courting the USA in an Era of Isolationism |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=603, 611 |date=October 2002 |url=http://www.transatlantic.uj.edu.pl/upload/_16ec_Bell.Royal.Visit.Isolationism.pdf|doi=10.1177/00220094020370040601 |s2cid=159572988 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725204732/http://www.transatlantic.uj.edu.pl/upload/_16ec_Bell.Royal.Visit.Isolationism.pdf |archive-date=25 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb| Library and Archives Canada| 2007| pp=[http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/king/001059-119.02-e.php?&page_id_nbr=19972&interval=20&&PHPSESSID=bgajorjbf37d43pri9gimsmfv0 247], [http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/king/001059-119.02-e.php?&page_id_nbr=20138&interval=20&&PHPSESSID=bgajorjbf37d43pri9gimsmfv0 413–414]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last=Bousfield| first=Arthur|author2=Toffoli, Gary| title=Royal Spring: The Royal Tour of 1939 and the Queen Mother in Canada| publisher=Dundurn Press| year=1989| location=Toronto| pages=60, 66| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Go5p_CN8UQC| isbn=1-55002-065-X| ref=CITEREF_Bousfield_1989}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb| Douglas| Greenhous| 1995| p=19}}</ref><ref name=Tidridge/>}} The royal couple then returned to Canada, touring the [[Maritimes]] and the still separate [[Dominion of Newfoundland]].

==The Second World War and the resident monarchies==
[[File:GeoVICan.jpg|thumb|Prime Minister Mackenzie King's request to King George VI for approval that war be declared against [[Nazi Germany]] in His Majesty's name, 10 September 1939]]

Only five months after the departure of George VI and his wife from Canada, Britain declared war on [[Nazi Germany]]. The King did so as King of the United Kingdom on 3 September 1939, but, as king of Canada,<ref>{{Citation| last=Lesser| first=Rebecca| title=By the Side of the Roaring Lion| publisher=University of British Columbia| year=2007| page=20| url=https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/20469/ubc_2010_spring_lesser_rebecca.pdf?sequence=6| access-date=8 September 2010| archive-date=17 July 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717044405/https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/20469/ubc_2010_spring_lesser_rebecca.pdf?sequence=6}}</ref> was not advised by his Canadian ministers to [[Canadian declaration of war on Germany|do the same]] until 10 September.<ref>{{Citation| last=Granatstein| first=Jack | author-link=Jack Granatstein| title=Going to war? 'Parliament will decide'| newspaper=The Globe and Mail| date=10 September 2009| url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/going-to-war-parliament-will-decide/article1281065/| access-date=13 September 2009| location=Toronto}}</ref> Mackenzie King and [[Minister of Justice (Canada)|Minister of Justice]] [[Ernest Lapointe]] initially argued that Canada was bound by Britain's declaration of war.<ref name=Heard/> However, after it was realised that Canada was absent from the list of belligerent states in President of the United States [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s declaration of neutrality,<ref>{{cite journal| last=Scott| first=F.R.| title=The End of Dominion Status| journal=The American Journal of International Law| volume=38| date=January 1944| doi=10.2307/2192530| issue=1| pages=34–49| jstor=2192530| publisher=American Society of International Law| s2cid=147122057}}</ref> [[Opening of the Canadian parliament|Parliament was summoned]] by the Governor General on 7 September and approved of Canada's need to defend itself.<ref name=Heard/> These were significant developments, as they became examples for other Dominions to follow, and, by the war's end, F.R. Scott concluded, "it is firmly established as a basic constitutional principle that, so far as relates to Canada, the King is regulated by Canadian law and must act only on the advice and responsibility of Canadian ministers."<ref>{{Harvnb|Scott| 1944| p=152}}</ref>

Governor General the Lord Tweedsmuir died in February 1940, while still [[viceroy]], and so an uncle of George VI, [[Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone|the Earl of Athlone]], was appointed to the post, requiring he and his wife, [[Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone|Princess Alice]] (a granddaughter of Queen Victoria), and Athlone's Aide-de-Camp, [[Alastair Windsor, 2nd Duke of Connaught and Strathearn|Alastair Windsor, Earl of Macduff]] (the grandson of previous Governor General Prince Arthur), to make the trans-oceanic journey in the midst of the ongoing [[Battle of the Atlantic]].

The Governor General and Princess Alice became supporters of the Canadian war effort;<ref name=Lived/> Alice was appointed 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 Athlone travelled extensively throughout the country in an effort to spread the message that King George VI was dedicated to fighting [[totalitarianism]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=55| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| author-link=Governor General of Canada| title=Role and Responsibilities > Former Governors General > Major General The Earl of Athlone| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=12 February 2010}}</ref> The royal couple hosted the [[Quebec Conference, 1943|Quebec Conferences in 1943]] and [[Second Quebec Conference|1944]],<ref name=Lived/> wherein Mackenzie King, Roosevelt, and British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] decided the strategies of the [[Allies of World War II|western allies]] that would lead to victory over Nazi Germany and Japan in 1945.
[[File:H.M. THE KING VISITS 5TH CORPS NA17384 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|[[George VI]], [[Monarchy of Canada|king of Canada]], meets Major General [[Charles Loewen]] in the [[Alife, Campania|Volturno Valley]], [[Italy]], 30 July 1944]]

As the war threatened the royal family, plans were formed for the King, Queen, and their two children to reside for the duration of the conflict at [[Hatley Park National Historic Site|Hatley Castle]], in [[Colwood, British Columbia]], which the King [[Queen-in-Council|in his federal Council]] had purchased for use as a royal palace.<ref>{{Citation| first=Iona| last=Campagnolo| author-link=Iona Campagnolo| editor-last=Office of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia| contribution=Speech to Retired Heads of Mission Association's Gala Dinner| contribution-url=http://www.ltgov.bc.ca/whatsnew/sp/sp_may07_2004.htm| title=Government House| date=5 February 2007| place=Victoria| publisher=Queen's Printer for British Columbia| url=http://www.ltgov.bc.ca/| access-date=27 May 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501050735/http://www.ltgov.bc.ca/| archive-date=1 May 2009}}</ref> It was, however, eventually settled that morale in the United Kingdom would be seriously diminished should the King abandon the European front and, so, the royal family would remain in London and [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]]. From there, Canada's monarch and his family engaged with Canadian militia, navy, and airmen and women. For example, to the first men from the [[1st Canadian Division]] to arrive in the UK from [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]], on 16 December 1939, the King wrote, "the British Army will be proud to have as comrades-in-arms the successors of those who came from Canada in the Great War and fought with a heroism that has never been forgotten."<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/themes/defence/caf/militaryhistory/dhh/official/book-1948-army-1939-1945-en.pdf| last=Stacey| first=C.P.| title=The Canadian Army 1939 - 1945| date=1948| journal=The Canada Gazette| publisher=King's Printer| location=Ottawa| page=6| access-date=8 February 2023}}</ref> Ahead of the [[Normandy landings]] on 6 June 1944, the King, along with his Canadian Prime Minister, inspected the formations that were to be sent across the [[English Channel]], including [[1st Canadian Parachute Battalion]] and the [[3rd Canadian Division]].<ref>{{harvnb| Stacey| 1948| p=182}}</ref> With the Queen, George inspected the 1st Canadian Division at [[Aldershot]] on 8 June.<ref>{{harvnb| Stacey| 1948| p=1}}</ref> Travelling incognito as "General Coilingwood", the King visited Canadian units in [[Italy]]'s [[Alife, Campania|Volturno Valley]] in August 1944, there presenting Major [[John Keefer Mahony]] with the [[Victoria Cross]].<ref>{{harvnb| Stacey| 1948| p=148}}</ref>
{{multiple image
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| image1      =ElizabethQueenMother1.jpg
| caption1    =[[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]] at the 15 Canadian General Hospital, [[Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps]], in Bramshott, UK, 17 March 1941
| image2      =Elizabeth II of UK 1943.jpg
| caption2    =Portrait of Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) by photographer [[Yousuf Karsh]] of [[Montreal]], 1943
}}

[[Prince George, Duke of Kent]] (the King's brother), visited air bases and training centres across Canada; Queen Elizabeth made an appeal to Canadian women to contribute to the war efforts;<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/queen-asks-canadian-women-to-help-war-effort| title=War & Conflict > Second World War > Queen asks Canadian women to help war effort| publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]| access-date=27 January 2010}}</ref> and her daughter, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen [[Elizabeth II]]), in 1940, posed for her first official Canadian portrait. With her parents, the Princess 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, she 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 Armed Forces|Canadian military]] and which she held until her death in 2022.<ref name=CHT2/> While Mackenzie King was speaking with the King at [[Buckingham Palace]] on 23 October 1945, the Princess said she was prepared to shoot the German [[Führer]], [[Adolf Hitler]], if given the chance.<ref name=WLMKPress>{{citation| url=https://www.pressreader.com/canada/national-post-latest-edition/20220910/282063395805709| last=King| first=William Lyon Mackenzie| title=William Lyon Mackenzie King: 10th Prime Minister of Canada| date=10 September 2022| newspaper=National Post| via=[[PressReader]]| access-date=1 March 2023}}</ref>

Canada was also home to foreign royalty in [[exile]] during the war, many of whom resided at [[Rideau Hall]]. Among the royal guests were [[Crown prince|Crown Prince]] [[Olav V of Norway|Olav]] and Crown Princess [[Märtha of Sweden|Martha]] of [[Norway]]; [[Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg|Grand Duchess]] [[Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg|Charlotte]] and Prince [[Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma|Felix]] of [[Luxembourg]]; [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|King]] [[Peter II of Yugoslavia|Peter II]] of [[Yugoslavia]]; [[List of heads of state of Greece|King]] [[George II of Greece|George II]] of [[Greece]]; [[Emperor of Austria|Empress]] [[Zita of Bourbon-Parma|Zita]] of [[Austria]] and her daughters; as well as Crown Princess [[Juliana of the Netherlands]] and her daughters, Princesses [[Beatrix of the Netherlands|Beatrix]] and [[Princess Irene of the Netherlands|Irene]]. While in Ottawa, Juliana gave birth to her third daughter, [[Princess Margriet of the Netherlands|Margriet]], at the [[The Ottawa Hospital|Civic Hospital]], where the delivery room was temporarily declared as extraterritorial soil to ensure that the Princess would have only Dutch nationality.<ref name=Lived/> At the same time, the former [[Empress of Austria]] and [[List of Hungarian consorts|Queen of Hungary]], [[Zita of Bourbon-Parma|Zita Bourbon-Parma]], moved from [[German occupation of Belgium during World War II|Nazi occupied Belgium]] to [[Quebec City]], so that her daughters could continue their education in French; one graduated from [[Laval University]]. Quebec was also the wartime home of Zita's sister-in-law, [[List of Luxembourgish consorts|Grand Duchess of Luxembourg]] [[Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium|Joséphine-Charlotte]].<ref name=Lived/> [[Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia|Olga Alexandrovna]], a former Grand Duchess of Russia and the youngest daughter of Tzar [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander III]], left Denmark as Soviet troops drew closer after the Second World War. Olga and her husband, [[Nikolai Kulikovsky]], purchased a farm in [[Campbellville, Ontario]], before moving to Cooksville in 1952, while Olga, who was a talented watercolour artist, exhibited her paintings in Toronto. Olga died in an apartment above a beauty salon in Toronto in 1960.<ref name=Lived/>

==Dawn of the second Elizabethan age==
Mackenzie King's diary traces Princess Elizabeth's deepening involvement in national affairs as she grew into her 20s. He noted, for instance, conversing with the Princess about Canada at an official dinner for Commonwealth heads of government on 1 May 1944 and her presence at a meal, on 24 May 1946, during which the Prime Minister discussed with the King the case of [[Igor Gouzenko]], a Russian spy who had defected to Canada; though Mackenzie King noted George's awareness of many details about the matter, the Prime Minister recorded that he sent the King a copy of Gouzenko's confession.<ref name=WLMKPress/>
{{multiple image
| align       =left
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| total_width =260
| image1      =GN Menzies Princess Elizabeth.jpg
| caption1    =[[Elizabeth II|Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh]], with [[Mayor of Regina]], [[Saskatchewan]], [[Garnet Menzies]], November 1951
| image2      =Photograph of President Harry S. Truman and England's Princess Elizabeth in Limousine.jpg
| caption2    =Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, with President [[Harry S. Truman]], who greeted Elizabeth as a "Canadian princess"
}}

On 9 July 1947, Mackenzie King received both notice of Princess Elizabeth's wish to marry [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Philip Mountbatten]] and a request for the Canadian Privy Council's approval,<ref name=WLMKPress/> as required by the [[Royal Marriages Act 1772|Royal Marriages Act, 1772]]. The Cabinet (as a quorum of the Privy Council) gave its blessing and the Princess married Philip (made Duke of Edinburgh on the wedding day) in November of the same year, in a ceremony that attracted the attention of Canadians hungry for good news after the dark years of the war. The King-in-Council presented the newlyweds with a [[canoe]] and Elizabeth with a [[mink]]-fur coat (which she wore while in Canada for decades after).<ref name=Boland>{{Cite news| last=Boland| first=Jack| title=Paddling into history| publisher=Canoe News| date=12 May 2006| url=http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/05/12/1576558-sun.html| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130115093659/http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/05/12/1576558-sun.html| url-status=usurped| archive-date=15 January 2013| access-date=4 September 2008}}</ref>

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh toured Canada from coast-to-coast-and-back in late 1951. With her, the Princess brought a draft accession proclamation, in case the King, who was already ill at the time, should die while Elizabeth was in Canada.<ref name=CHT2/><ref>{{citation| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/canada/8612030/A-royal-salute-to-the-Commonwealth.html| last=Oborne| first=Peter| title=A royal salute to the Commonwealth| date=1 July 2011| newspaper=The Telegraph| access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref> Among the many activities the royal couple took part in, they attended their first [[Ice hockey|hockey]] game at [[Maple Leaf Gardens]] in Toronto and enjoyed a [[square dance]] at Rideau Hall. The Princess and Philip also crossed into the United States to pay an official visit to President [[Harry S. Truman]], who greeted Elizabeth as a "Canadian princess" at the reception she hosted at the [[Embassy of Canada, Washington, D.C.|Canadian embassy in Washington, DC]].<ref>{{Harvnb| Bousfield|Toffoli| 2002| p=67}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Bell|Bousfield|Bousfield|2007|pp=127, 143}}</ref>

Having suffered for some time with [[lung cancer]], George VI eventually failed to recover from a [[pneumonectomy]] and died of a [[coronary thrombosis]]<ref name=Annett/> in his sleep on 6 February 1952, at [[Sandringham House]], while Princess Elizabeth was in [[Kenya]]. The monarch's passing—which, despite his health, still caught Canadians off-guard<ref name=Annett/>—was communicated via [[Telegraphy|cable]] between the late King's [[Private Secretary to the Sovereign|Private Secretary]], [[Alan Lascelles]], and [[Thibaudeau Rinfret]], who was acting as [[Administrator of the Government#Canada|Administrator of the Canadian government]] between the departure of Governor General [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|the Earl of Tunis]] and the swearing-in of Tunis' replacement, [[Vincent Massey]], who was in London at the time;<ref name=Bell72>{{Harvnb| Bell| Bousfield| Bousfield| 2007| p=72}}</ref> the telegram read, "profoundly regret to state that His Majesty King George the Sixth passed away peacefully in his sleep early this morning." Rinfret immediately issued on the same day a [[Proclamation of accession of Elizabeth II|proclamation of the King's death and the accession of Elizabeth II]] as Canada's queen,<ref>{{Harvnb| Bell| Bousfield| Bousfield| 2007| p=74}}</ref><ref>{{citation| url=http://www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp?intRefId=3497| last=Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade| author-link=Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade| title=Documents on Canadian External Relations| year=1952| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=20 December 2009| volume=18| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515023246/http://www.international.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details-en.asp?intRefId=3497| archive-date=15 May 2013}}</ref> making Canada the first place in which this was done;<ref>{{cite news| url=http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-69-70/life_society/new_queen/| title=Society > The Monarchy > Canada's New Queen| publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]| access-date=12 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb| Torrance| 2022| p=36}}</ref> her proclamation of accession for the United Kingdom was not read out until the following day, after which the new monarch met with her [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|British Privy Council]] for the first time, with Massey in attendance.<ref name=Bell72/>

With intercontinental [[air travel]] having become easier, a number of the new Queen's Canadian ministers flew to London to join Governor General-designate [[Vincent Massey]] at [[Death and state funeral of George VI|the funeral]] in London. The Prime Minister remained in Ottawa to take part in a wreath-laying ceremony on Parliament Hill. The date was not designated as a statutory holiday in all provinces, however; in others, it was left to the municipalities or businesses to decide whether or not to close for the day and not all did. As televisions were still a rarity in Canada, most listened to the funeral service in London by radio broadcast.<ref name=Annett/>

Wearing a gown that was, along with the floral emblems of the other countries of the Commonwealth,<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.nga.gov.au/ByAppointment/| last1=Cotton| first1=Belinda| last2=Ramsey| first2=Ron| title=By Appointment: Norman Hartnell's sample for the Coronation dress of Queen Elizabeth II| publisher=National Gallery of Australia| access-date=12 February 2010| archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530044811/http://www.nga.gov.au/ByAppointment/| archive-date=30 May 2012}}</ref> embroidered with Canada's [[maple leaf]] in green silk and gold bullion thread veined with crystal,<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Trepanier| first=Peter| title=Some Visual Aspects of the Monarchical Tradition| magazine=Canadian Parliamentary Review| volume=27| issue=2| page=27| location=Ottawa| year=1989| url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/27/2/27n2_04e_trepanier.pdf| access-date=12 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025113756/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/Infoparl/27/2/27n2_04e_trepanier.pdf| archive-date=25 October 2012}}</ref> [[Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II|the Queen was crowned]] at [[Westminster Abbey]] on 2 June 1953, in a ceremony that included, like the Queen's dress, Canadian symbols and participants.<ref>{{Harvnb| Bousfield|Toffoli| 2002| p=78}}</ref> The prime ministers and leading citizens of Canada were present in the abbey, among representatives of other Commonwealth and foreign states, and the ceremony was also, at the Queen's request, broadcast around the world on television; three times as the event carried on, [[Royal Air Force]] [[English Electric Canberra|Canberra jet bombers]] flew film footage of the coronation to Canada for play on the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]], making the first ever non-stop flights between the United Kingdom and the Canadian mainland.<ref name=CBC2>{{cite news| url=http://archives.cbc.ca/society/monarchy/topics/70/| last=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation| author-link=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation| title=Society > The Monarchy > Canada's New Queen > Coronation of Queen Elizabeth > Did You Know?| publisher=CBC| access-date=17 December 2009}}</ref> Guests at the ceremony, television viewers, and radio listeners heard Elizabeth swear a revised [[Oath of office|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."<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.oremus.org/liturgy/coronation/cor1953b.html| title=The Form and Order of Service that is to be performed and the Ceremonies that are to be observed in The Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster, on Tuesday, the second day of June, 1953| publisher=An Anglican Liturgical Library| work=IV| access-date=15 December 2009}}</ref> The separate mention of Canada mirrored the granting of royal assent, the day previous, to the [[Royal Style and Titles Act]], which gave Elizabeth a distinctly Canadian title.<ref>{{Harvnb| Bell| Bousfield| Bousfield| 2007| p=75}}</ref>
{{multiple image
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| image1      =Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip sit on thrones before a full Parliament.jpg
| caption1    =Queen [[Elizabeth II]], wearing her [[Coronation gown of Elizabeth II|coronation gown]], with [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Philip]] during [[Opening of the Canadian parliament|the opening]] of the [[23rd Canadian Parliament]], October 1957
| image2      =Queen Elizabeth and the crowd, 1959.jpg
| caption2    =Queen Elizabeth II at [[Lake Louise, Alberta]], July 1959
}}

During a tour of Canada in 1957, the Queen made her first-ever [[Live television|live appearance]] on television,<ref>{{Harvnb| Bell| Bousfield| Bousfield| 2007| p=135}}</ref> appointed her husband to [[Queen's Privy Council for Canada|her Canadian Privy Council]] at a meeting of which she chaired, and, on 14 October, opened the first session of the [[23rd Canadian Parliament|23rd parliament]];<ref name=Bousfield>{{Harvnb| Bousfield|Toffoli| 2002| pp=11–16}}</ref> some 50,000 people descended on [[Parliament Hill]] to witness the arrival of the monarch,<ref>{{Harvnb| Trepanier| 1989| p=30}}</ref> though, due to the financial austerity of the times,<ref>{{Cite magazine| last=Callwood| first=June| author-link=June Callwood| title=June Callwood's Story of the Queen's Visit| magazine=Maclean's| volume=70| page=16| publisher=Maclean-Hunter| location=Toronto| date=December 1957| issn =0024-9262}}</ref> the pageantry was muted in comparison to what would be seen at a similar event in the United Kingdom. Elizabeth and her husband, accompanied by Canadian Prime Minister, [[John Diefenbaker]], as the Queen's senior minister in attendance, also, on behalf of Canada,{{refn|<ref name=Gaz1959/><ref name=Tidridge>{{Harvnb| Tidridge| 2011| p=49}}</ref><ref>{{citation| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19571014&id=Kl5QAAAAIBAJ&pg=4974,2086015| last=Considine| first=Bob| title=Elizabeth Opens Canada 23rd Parliament Today| date=14 October 1957| newspaper=Milwaukee Sentinel| access-date=13 August 2012}}{{Dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{citation| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19571015&id=nX9WAAAAIBAJ&pg=936,3162462| title=The Queen Emphasises Canadian Role for Visit to America| date=14 October 1957| newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald| access-date=13 August 2012}}</ref><ref name=MontGaz>{{citation| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=g8AtAAAAIBAJ&pg=2957,4090957&dq=george-vi+king-of-canada&hl=en| last=Metheral| first=Ken| title=Canada Queen's Role Underlined| date=19 June 1959| newspaper=Montreal Gazette| access-date=13 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YpVTA6eDjLwC| last1=Bousfield| first1=Arthur| last2=Toffoli| first2=Garry| title=Fifty Years the Queen: A Tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on Her Golden Jubilee| publisher=Dundurn Press| location=Toronto| year=2002| page=16| isbn=978-1-55488-163-5}}</ref>}} paid a state visit to the United States, attending the 350th anniversary of the founding of [[Jamestown, Virginia]], and meeting with President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] at the [[White House]].<ref name=CHT2/><ref>{{cite magazine| title=Royal Visit| magazine=Time| volume=IXX| issue=17| location=New York| date=21 October 1957| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,937945,00.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513184211/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,937945,00.html| archive-date=13 May 2007| issn=0040-781X| access-date=22 May 2009}}</ref>

Elizabeth met the President again two years later, at the official opening of the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/special/royalvisit/royal-quiz-answers.htm| last=Department of Canadian Heritage| author-link=Department of Canadian Heritage| title=Test your royal skills| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=15 June 2008| archive-date=17 June 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617035135/http://www.pch.gc.ca/special/royalvisit/royal-quiz-answers.htm}}</ref> As she made her way through a full tour of Canada, at the end of which she chaired a meeting in Halifax of her Canadian Privy Council and personally appointed [[Georges Vanier]] as her representative in Canada,<ref>{{Citation|last=DeSouza |first=Raymond |title=An extraordinary life |newspaper=National Post |date=5 March 2007 |url=https://nationalpost.com/scripts/story.html?id=269386c7-268b-4127-8b9a-5a5ea446940d&k=9626 |access-date=14 March 2009 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120905084838/http://www.nationalpost.com/scripts/story.html?id=269386c7-268b-4127-8b9a-5a5ea446940d&k=9626 |archive-date=5 September 2012}}</ref><ref name="Bell 2007 147">{{Harvnb|Bell|Bousfield|Bousfield|2007|p=147}}</ref> the Queen crossed the border twice to pay a visit to the United States, stopping in [[Chicago]] and [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]. Again, Diefenbaker was her chief minister in attendance; the Prime Minister was insistent that it be made clear to Americans that Elizabeth was visiting them as the Canadian monarch<ref>{{cite web| url=https://diefenbaker.usask.ca/exhibits/online-exhibits-content/the-crown-in-canada-en.php| title=The Crown in Canada (1957)| publisher=Diefenbaker Canada Centre| access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref> and that it was "the Canadian embassy and not the British Embassy officials who are in charge" of the Queen's itinerary.{{refn|<ref name=Tidridge/><ref name=MontGaz/><ref>{{Citation |last=Buckner |first=Phillip |date=2005 |contribution=The Last Great Royal Tour: Queen Elizabeth's 1959 Tour to Canada |editor-last=Buckner |editor-first=Phillip |title=Canada and the End of Empire |page=69 |location=Vancouver |publisher=UBC Press |isbn=0-7748-0915-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27IggObUC9kC&pg=PP1}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb| Boyce| 2008| p=10}}</ref>}} In this vein, 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<ref>{{Harvnb| Buckner| 2005| p=76}}</ref> and she hosted the return dinner for Eisenhower at the Canadian Embassy in Washington. Elizabeth also did her part to assist in entrenching the newly emerging Canadian character, ensuring that the [[Canadian Red Ensign|Red Ensign]] (then Canada's national flag) be flown on the [[HMY Britannia|Royal Yacht]] and she stood to attention for the duration of each playing of "[[O Canada]]", the country's then still unofficial national anthem, sometimes even joining in the singing.<ref>{{Harvnb| Buckner| 2005| p=87}}</ref>

What was unknown to all, besides Elizabeth herself, including Diefenbaker until he was confided in at [[Kingston, Ontario]], was that the Queen was, at the time, pregnant with [[Prince Andrew, Duke of York|her third child]]. Though her Prime Minister urged her to cut the tour short, Elizabeth swore him to secrecy and continued the journey, leaving the public announcement of the upcoming birth until she returned to London.<ref>{{Harvnb| Buckner| 2005| p=85}}</ref>

==Turbulent decades==
{{multiple image
| align       =right
| direction   =vertical
| total_width =260
| image1      =Queen Elizabeth Charlottetown 1964.jpg
| caption1    =Queen Elizabeth II in [[Charlottetown]], [[Prince Edward Island]], for the centennial of the [[Charlottetown Conference]], October 1964
| image2      =Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her Canadian Ministers at Rideau Hall 1 July 1967.jpg
| caption2    =[[Elizabeth II]], [[Monarchy of Canada|Queen of Canada]], with her [[Cabinet of Canada|Cabinet]], at [[Rideau Hall]], on the [[Canadian Centennial|centennial of Confederation]], 1 July 1967
}}

The 1960s was a decade of swift change in terms of both politics and technology and Canada's monarch found herself affected by both; for instance, Elizabeth II inaugurated the first trans-Atlantic telephone cable—part of one laid to link all the Commonwealth countries—when she, at Buckingham Palace, called Prime Minister Diefenbaker, who was at the [[Château Laurier]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://archives.cbc.ca/clip.asp?page=1&IDClip=5721&IDCat=349&IDCatPa=261&IDDossier=| title=Science & Technology > Technology > Transatlantic phone cable officially opened| publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]| access-date=14 February 2010}}</ref> However, the Queen's success in the other field was not as guaranteed; shifts were taking place in [[Canadian identity]], due, in part, to the establishment of [[multiculturalism]] as an [[Official Policy|official policy]], increased immigration from beyond the [[British Isles]],<ref>{{Citation| last=Anderson| first=Alan B.| title=Ethnicity in Canada: Theoretical Perspectives| publisher=Butterworth Publishing Ltd.| year=1981| location=Oxford| isbn=978-0-409-81110-0}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| editor=Association for Canadian Studies| contribution=Canadian identity: Region, country, nation| title=Selected proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference of the Association for Canadian Studies| date=6–8 June 1997}}</ref> and [[Quebec sovereignty movement|Quebec separatism]], the latter becoming the major impetus of political controversy over the Crown.<ref name=Phillips>{{cite magazine| last=Phillips| first=Stephen| title=Republicanism in Canada in the Reign of Elizabeth II: the Dog that Didn't Bark| magazine=Canadian Monarchist News| volume=Summer 2004| issue=22| page=19| location=Toronto| year=2004| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2004/Sum04PDFRepublicanism.pdf| access-date=13 September 2009 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090708032249/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2004/Sum04PDFRepublicanism.pdf |archive-date=2009-07-08}}</ref>

Those involved with the Quebec sovereignty movement saw the monarchy as a symbol of [[Canadian federalism|federalism]] and/or the British aspects of [[History of Canada|Canada's history]] and publicly displayed their contempt for the institution on a few occasions: At the height of the [[Quiet Revolution]], the Quebec press reported that extreme separatists were plotting to assassinate the Queen during her upcoming 1964 tour of the province,<ref>{{Citation| last=Speaight| first=Robert| title=Vanier, Soldier, Diplomat, Governor General: A Biography| publisher=William Collins, Sons and Co. Ltd.| year=1970| location=London| isbn=978-0-00-262252-3| url=https://archive.org/details/vaniersoldierdip00spea}}</ref><ref name=CRHT1>{{cite web|url=http://www.crht.ca/LibraryShelf/CourageoftheQueen.html |title=Courage of the Queen |publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust |access-date=22 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070909224557/http://www.crht.ca/LibraryShelf/CourageoftheQueen.html |archive-date=9 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| last=Dubois| first=Paul| title=Demonstrations Mar Quebec Events Saturday| newspaper=Montreal Gazette| page=1| date=12 October 1964| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19641012&id=3K4tAAAAIBAJ&pg=6599,2340498| access-date=6 March 2010}}</ref> as well as to kidnap [[Premier of Quebec|Premier]] [[Jean Lesage]]'s son, should the Queen come to Quebec.<ref>{{Citation| last=Pape| first=Gordon| title=Kidnap Threat Made Against Lesage's Son| newspaper=Montreal Gazette| page=1| date=12 October 1964| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19641012&id=3K4tAAAAIBAJ&pg=6599,2340498| access-date=24 February 2010}}</ref> Despite fears for the monarch's safety and talk of cancelling the trip, Prime Minister [[Lester B. Pearson|Lester Pearson]] assured the Queen nothing much would come of the threats,<ref name=FraserNP>{{citation| url=http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/04/28/john-fraser-when-quebecers-loved-the-crown-and-why-they-stopped/| archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120429232227/http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/04/28/john-fraser-when-quebecers-loved-the-crown-and-why-they-stopped/| archive-date=29 April 2012| last=Fraser| first=John| title=John Fraser: When Quebecers loved the Crown (and why they stopped)| date=28 April 2012| newspaper=National Post| access-date=29 April 2012}}</ref> the sovereign arrived as planned and,<ref name=CRHT1/> in a speech delivered, in both French and English,<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Toporoski| first=Richard| title=Can the Queen Grant Royal Assent in a Provincial Legislature?: No| magazine=Canadian Monarchist News| volume=Fall-Winter 2005| issue=24| page=19| publisher=Monarchist League of Canada| location=Toronto| date=June 2006| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2005/AutumnWinter_2005_CMN.pdf| access-date=5 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625225440/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2005/AutumnWinter_2005_CMN.pdf |archive-date=2008-06-25}}</ref> to the [[Quebec Legislature|Legislative Assembly of Quebec]] on 10 October, she spoke of Canada's two "complementary cultures" and the strength of Canada's two founding peoples; she stated, "I am pleased to think that there exists in our Commonwealth a country where I can express myself officially in French [...] Whenever you sing [the French words of] "[[O Canada]]", you are reminded that you come of a proud race."{{refn|<ref name=CHT2/><ref>{{cite news| url=http://archives.cbc.ca/society/monarchy/clips/236/| title=Society > The Monarchy > 1964 Quebec visit – speech| publisher=CBC| access-date=5 July 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| last=Pape| first=Gordon| title=Queen Joins Call for Constitution's Need of Updating| newspaper=Montreal Gazette| page=1| date=12 October 1964| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19641012&id=3K4tAAAAIBAJ&pg=6599,2340498| access-date=24 February 2010}}</ref>}} However, as her motorcade passed through [[Quebec City]], the route was lined with Quebecers showing their backs to her;<ref name=FraserNP/><ref name=CBCTruncheon>{{cite news| url=http://archives.cbc.ca/400d.asp?id=1-69-70-192&wm6=1| title=Society > The Monarchy > Truncheon Saturday| publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]| access-date=22 February 2010}}</ref> others booed her and shouted separatist slogans.<ref name=Gazz>{{Citation| last=Pape| first=Gordon| title=Queen Joins Call for Constitution's Need of Updating| newspaper=Montreal Gazette| page=1| date=12 October 1964| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19641012&id=3K4tAAAAIBAJ&pg=6599,2340498| access-date=24 February 2010}}</ref> Though the protesters were the minority in the crowds gathered to see the Queen (the ''[[Montreal Gazette]]'' reporting that those who opposed the visit were students numbering in the hundreds<ref>{{Cite news| last=Bantey| first=Bill| title=Queen Ends Visit After Receiving Invitation To View Quebec's Progress at Later Date| newspaper=Montreal Gazette| page=1| date=12 October 1964| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19641012&id=3K4tAAAAIBAJ&pg=6599,2340498| access-date=24 February 2010}}</ref>), the provincial police violently dispersed those demonstrators who took to marching through the streets following Elizabeth's address to the Legislative Assembly,<ref name=Gazz/> arresting 36, including some who had been there to show loyalty to the Queen.<ref name=CBCTruncheon/> Elizabeth's "calmness and courage in the face of the violence" was noted.<ref>{{Harvnb| Bousfield|Toffoli| 2002| p=139}}</ref> [[Ben Pimlott]] wrote in his biography of Elizabeth II that "the public reaction in Quebec, and the lack of it elsewhere, led Pearson—who had initiated the visit in the first place—to warn the Queen that the monarchy's days in the Dominion were numbered."<ref>{{Citation| last=Pimlott| first=Ben| year=1996| editor-last=Fraser| editor-first=John| title=When Quebecers loved the Crown (and why they stopped)| journal=National Post| publication-date=2012| url=http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/04/28/john-fraser-when-quebecers-loved-the-crown-and-why-they-stopped/| archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120429232227/http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/04/28/john-fraser-when-quebecers-loved-the-crown-and-why-they-stopped/| archive-date=29 April 2012| access-date=29 April 2012}}</ref>
{{multiple image
| border      = infobox
| align       = left
| total_width = 260
| image_style = border:1;
| perrow      = 2/1
| image1      = Royal Mail.jpg
| caption1    = Royal Mail Canada postbox from c. 1900s
| image2      = Canadapost mailbox.jpg
| caption2    = [[Canada Post]] postbox in 2008
| image3      = Royal standard of Canada (1962–2022).svg
| caption3    = The [[Royal standards of Canada#Sovereign's standard|royal standard of Elizabeth II]], introduced in 1962
| footer      = Several institutions, like the Royal Mail, were re-branded in the 1960s to remove references to the monarchy, while other royal symbols, such as the [[Royal standards of Canada|Queen's personal standard]], were created
}}

Despite calls by the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' for a move to a republic as a mark of [[Canadian Centennial|Canada's centennial]], Elizabeth, accompanied by Prince Philip, presided over the main celebration of the event, taking part in a ceremony on Parliament Hill and touring [[Expo 67]], which had also been visited by her sister, [[Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon|Princess Margaret]]. Philip opened the [[1967 Pan American Games|Pan American Games]] in Winnipeg later in July.

A [[Constitutional convention (political meeting)|constitutional conference]] was held in Ottawa in February 1968, at which the delegates from Quebec indicated that a provincial president might suit the province better than the [[Lieutenant Governor of Quebec|lieutenant governor]], but the proposal was not accepted, the overall feeling being that the monarchy "has served us well and that its reform has no great priority in the present round of constitutional changes."<ref name=ECF>{{Cite web| last=Michener| first=Roland| author-link=Roland Michener| title=The Empire Club of Canada Speeches 1970–1971| url=http://speeches.empireclub.org/details.asp?SpeechID=562&FT=yes| access-date=10 February 2009| orig-date=19 November 1970| year=1971| publisher=The Empire Club Foundation| location=Toronto| pages=130–149| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805165910/http://speeches.empireclub.org/details.asp?SpeechID=562&FT=yes| archive-date=5 August 2009}}</ref> Still, during constitutional talks 10 years later, alterations to the Crown were put back on the table by the Cabinet of [[Pierre Trudeau]], which proposed that the governor general be made full head of state and renamed as ''First Canadian''.<ref name=Heinricks>{{Cite magazine| last=Heinricks| first=Geoff| title=Trudeau and the Monarchy| magazine=Canadian Monarchist News| publisher=Monarchist League of Canada| location=Toronto| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2001/opinion.htm| access-date=10 February 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423033405/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2001/opinion.htm| archive-date=2008-04-23}}</ref><ref name=Smith11>{{Cite magazine| last=Smith| first=David E.| title=Republican Tendencies| url=http://www.irpp.org/po/archive/may99/smith.pdf| editor-last=Watson| editor-first=William| magazine=Policy Options| date=May 1999| page=11| location=Montreal| publisher=Institute for Research on Public Policy| access-date=10 February 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217112938/http://www.irpp.org/po/archive/may99/smith.pdf| archive-date=17 February 2012}}</ref> The [[Premier (Canada)|provincial premiers]], including Quebec's,<ref name=Valpy>{{Cite magazine| last=Valpy| first=Michael| title=Don't Mess With Success – and Good Luck Trying| url=http://www.irpp.org/po/archive/may99/valpy.pdf| editor-last=Watson| editor-first=William| magazine=Policy Options| date=May 1999| page=26| location=Montreal| publisher=Institute for Research on Public Policy| access-date=17 February 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217112947/http://www.irpp.org/po/archive/may99/valpy.pdf| archive-date=17 February 2012}}</ref> reacted strongly against these suggestions.<ref name=Phillips/><ref name=Smith11/>

Over the same period, references to the monarch and the monarchy were slowly removed from the public eye. For instance, while a number of [[Canadian royal symbols|royal symbols]] did remain and new ones, like the [[Queen's Personal Canadian Flag|monarch's royal standard]], were created, the Queen's portrait was seen less and less in [[Public school (government funded)|public schools]], the federal government adopted [[Federal Identity Program|a corporate identity program]] without royal insignia, the Royal Mail became [[Canada Post]], and the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] and [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] were merged, along with the [[Canadian Army|army]], into the [[Canadian Forces|Canadian Armed Forces]]. Of the changes made, it was said, "the Crown was to be rooted in the future, not the past; for the historic Crown, with its anthem, emblems, and symbolism, made accessible a past the government of the day rejected,"<ref>{{Citation| last=Smith| first=David E.| title=The Invisible Crown| page=47| publisher=University of Toronto Press| year=1995| location=Toronto| isbn=0-8020-7793-5}}</ref> a policy never to be discussed, either publicly or at constitutional conferences, following the rejoinder to Trudeau's 1978 constitutional amendments.<ref>{{Cite magazine| last=Toporoski| first=Richard| title=The Invisible Crown| magazine=Monarchy Canada| publisher=Monarchist League of Canada| location=Toronto| year=1998| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/invisib2.htm| access-date=15 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080224145943/http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/invisib2.htm |archive-date=2008-02-24}}</ref> [[John Fraser (journalist)|John Fraser]] called it "the process of gradual attrition".<ref name=FraserNP/>

These moves, in combination with the Cabinet's constitutional tinkering and the Prime Minister's antics and breaches of protocol in the presence of the monarch, fostered suspicion that Trudeau harboured republican notions; it was rumoured by [[Paul Martin Sr.]] that the Queen was worried the Crown "had little meaning for him."<ref name=Heinricks/> In response to Trudeau's attitude towards the monarchy, the [[Monarchist League of Canada]] was founded in 1970 to maintain and promote Canada's status as a constitutional monarchy.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/en/about| title=Who we are and what we do| publisher=Monarchist League of Canada| access-date=19 July 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122213610/http://www.monarchist.ca/en/about| archive-date=22 November 2010}}</ref>
{{multiple image
| align       =right
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| total_width =260
| image1      =Higgitt and Queen Elizabeth II.jpg
| caption1    =Queen Elizabeth II, with [[William Leonard Higgitt]], in [[Regina, Saskatchewan]], for the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]], 1973
| image2      =Royal motorcade (8075978363).jpg
| caption2    =Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and their younger sons, [[Prince Andrew, Duke of York|Prince Andrew]], and [[Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex|Prince Edward]], at the opening of the [[1978 Commonwealth Games]] in [[Edmonton]]
}}

When Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (the former King [[Edward VIII]]), died on 28 May 1972, Canada's diplomats in the United Kingdom attended the [[lying-in-state]] at [[Windsor, England|Windsor]]. In Canada, the official gestures of mourning were minimal: Governor General [[Roland Michener]] and Prime Minister [[Pierre Trudeau]] sent condolences to the Queen, Edward's niece, and Parliament passed a motion expressing the sympathy of members. None of these messages mentioned the Duke's previous role as King; they simply referred to his times in Canada when Prince of Wales.<ref name=Annett/>

Elizabeth toured the country a number of times during the decade. That which was undertaken in 1970—involving the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince Charles]], and [[Anne, Princess Royal|Princess Anne]]—to mark the centennials of the creation of the [[Northwest Territories]] and of [[Manitoba]], was also intended, by way of the monarch's presence in [[Inuvik]] and [[Tuktoyaktuk]], to assert [[Canadian sovereignty]] over [[Northern Canada|the north]], which was then being questioned by the United States.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.thewhig.com/2013/10/18/princess-annes-visit-strengthens-bond-with-kingston| last=Harris| first=Caroline| title=Princess Anne's visit strengthens bond with Kingston| date=18 October 2013| newspaper=Kingston Whig-Standard| access-date=20 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{citation| url=https://uphere.ca/articles/queen-and-north| title=The Queen and the North| date=23 August 2016| magazine=Up Here| issue=August/September 2016| access-date=5 July 2020}}</ref> In 1973, the Queen and Prince Philip travelled to [[Charlottetown]] to celebrate centennial of [[Prince Edward Island]] and to [[Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina]] for the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]. At the same time she, on Trudeau's advice, attended [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1973|that year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting]]—the first held on Canadian soil—initiating the tradition of the monarch attending such conferences, no matter the location. Three years later, Trudeau also, at the urging of [[Premier of Quebec]] [[Robert Bourassa]], advised the Queen to open the [[1976 Summer Olympics|Olympics in Montreal]],<ref name=Heinricks/> which were attended by no less than six other members of the royal family: the Duke of Edinburgh, [[Mark Phillips]], [[Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex|Prince Edward]], [[Prince Andrew, Duke of York|Prince Andrew]], Prince Charles, and Princess Anne, who competed in the games for the United Kingdom. Then, the following year, the Queen, accompanied by her husband, returned to undertake a coast-to-coast circuit marking [[Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II|her Silver Jubilee]].

Though she decided against suggestions that she allow Prince Charles to attend university in Canada, for worry that he would be hounded by the press,<ref name="Bell 2007 147"/> in 1978, Prince Andrew was back in Canada to attend [[Lakefield College School]] for a semester, as part of a [[Round Square (educational organisation)|Round Square]] exchange programme,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/ThecurrentRoyalFamily/TheDukeofYork/Earlylifeandeducation.aspx| last=Royal Household| title=The current Royal Family > The Duke of York > Early life and education| publisher=[[Queen's Printer]]| access-date=27 February 2010}}</ref> and he, too, was presented with a canoe by Elizabeth's Canadian Cabinet.<ref name=Boland/>

==An independent kingdom==
{{multiple image
| align       =right
| direction   =vertical
| total_width =260
| image1      =Queen Elizabeth II, Royal tour of Canada 1983-Mar-09, UBC, Vancouver BC.jpg
| caption1    =Queen [[Elizabeth II]] and [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]], at the [[University of British Columbia]] in [[Vancouver]], 9 March 1983
| image2      =1984-01 Prince Phillip, Madame Mitterrand, Monsieur François Mitterrand, Queen Elizabeth and Mr. Trudeau.jpg
| caption2    =Queen Elizabeth II with her Prime Minister, [[Pierre Trudeau]], and husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, as well as [[President of France]] [[François Mitterrand]] and his wife, [[Danielle Mitterrand]], at a ceremony at the [[Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery]] in [[Normandy]], [[France]], on the 40th anniversary of the [[Normandy landings]], 6 June 1984
}}

As the Queen consented to her representative in Canada undertaking more of her duties, it became common practice for the governor general to represent the Queen and Canada [[List of state and official visits by Canada|abroad on state visits]]; two successive governors general undertook 12 state and working visits, and Elizabeth performed one, herself, through the 1980s, whereas there had been only three through the 1970s and none the decade before that.

On 29 July 1981, with the required approval of the [[Queen's Privy Council for Canada]],<ref name=Palango>{{Citation| last=Palango| first=Paul| title=Privy Council nod on royal betrothal 'medieval'| newspaper=Globe and Mail| date=8 May 1981}}</ref> Prince Charles married [[Diana, Princess of Wales|Lady Diana Spencer]] in a wedding that attracted the attention of millions of Canadians.<ref>{{Cite news| title=Charles and Camilla to wed| publisher=CBC| date=11 February 2005| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/charles-and-camilla-to-wed-1.532527| access-date=14 September 2008}}</ref> The ceremony was attended by Governor General [[Edward Schreyer]] and, echoing the gift presented to the Queen and Prince Philip upon their wedding in 1947, Prime Minister [[Pierre Trudeau]] commissioned a hand built canoe as the Cabinet's gift for the royal couple.<ref name=Boland/> Diana proved more popular with Canadians than the Prince of Wales; it was noted by a former member of Charles' household that, during a 1983 tour of the country, when the Prince emerged from the car, there would be groans, but cheers for Diana when she was seen.<ref>{{Cite journal| last=Leyland| first=Joanne| title=Charles and Diana in Australia (1983)| journal=The Royalist| date=29 May 2006| url=http://www.theroyalist.net/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=767| access-date=4 July 2008}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> Charles' aunt, [[Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon|Princess Margaret]], also received negative attention when, in 1981, her visit to [[the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada]] in [[Cambridge, Ontario]], as their Colonel-in-Chief, was targeted by [[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalist]] protesters. At one of the ceremonies, which were boycotted by three city councillors, there was a scare when a gun barrel was thought to have been seen in the gathered crowd. But, it proved to be a mistake.<ref>{{Citation| last=Dalton| first=Melinda| title=Royal visit sparks memories| newspaper=The Record| date=4 May 2007| url=http://www.pibrochclub.com/files/News/royalvisit/rv04may07.pdf| access-date=2 July 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529035035/http://www.pibrochclub.com/files/News/royalvisit/rv04may07.pdf| archive-date=29 May 2008}}</ref>

The Queen played host to the [[President of France]], [[François Mitterrand]], at the [[Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery]] in [[Normandy]], [[France]], on 6 June 1984, the 40th anniversary of the [[Normany Landings]]. It was noted Elizabeth's motorcade consisted of only a few cars, whereas the President's "extended to the horizon" and included an ambulance. The Queen was accompanied by Trudeau and the Duke of Edinburgh and the President was joined by his wife, [[Danielle Mitterrand]]. After the royal and presidential parties laid wreaths at the [[Cross of Sacrifice]], Elizabeth and the Duke conducted a walkabout, meeting with Canadian veterans and their families.<ref>{{harvnb| Bousfield| Toffoli| 2002| p=183}}</ref>

At the same time, the government was approaching a final resolution on the constitutional issues of the past decades. In 1981, [[Paul Martin Sr]], [[John Roberts (Canadian politician)|John Roberts]], and [[Mark MacGuigan]] were sent to the UK to discuss the patriation project; Martin noted that the Queen had taken a great interest in the constitutional debate and the three found the monarch "better informed on both the substance and politics of Canada's constitutional case than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats."<ref name=Heinricks/> Elizabeth continued to assist with the project until a conclusion was reached the following year, when, in Ottawa on 17 April, she proclaimed the [[Constitution Act, 1982]], into force, which, among other changes and additions, [[Patriation|patriated]] the [[Constitution of Canada|constitution]], making it fully Canadian law, and entrenched the monarchy in Canada;<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacLeod |first=Kevin S. |author-link=Kevin S. MacLeod |title=A Crown of Maples |place=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |year=2008 |edition=1 |page=12 |url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/fr-rf/crnCdn/crn_mpls-eng.pdf |isbn=978-0-662-46012-1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327083452/http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/fr-rf/crnCdn/crn_mpls-eng.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009}}</ref> any change to the position of the monarch or the viceroys thenceforth required the consent of the federal and all 10 provincial legislatures. Trudeau commented in his memoir, "I always said it was thanks to three women that we were eventually able to reform our constitution[, including] the Queen, who was favourable [...] 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."<ref name=Heinricks/>

However, the terms under which the constitution was patriated had not been agreed to by the Cabinet of Quebec, headed by Premier [[René Lévesque]], a move that was viewed by Quebec sovereigntists as a betrayal. The Queen, aware this was the first time in Canadian history that a major constitutional change had been made without the agreement of the Quebec government, privately expressed to journalists her regret that Quebec was not part of the settlement.<ref name=CHT2/>
[[File:The Queen Mother July 7 1989.jpg|thumb|left|[[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother]], dedicates the Flame of Hope at [[Banting House]], in [[London, Ontario]], 7 July 1989]]

In 1987, after the first agreements were reached among the 11 prime ministers in Canada on the [[Meech Lake Accord]]—which attempted to bring Quebec governmental support to the patriated constitution by introducing further amendments—the Queen made a rare foray into political matters when she publicly expressed on 22 and 23 October her personal support for the plan. She received criticism from opponents of the accord and Pierre Trudeau did not arrive for an official lunch with the Queen on 24 October.<ref>{{citation| last=Geddes| first=John| title=The day she descended into the fray| magazine=Maclean's| edition=Special Commemorative Edition: The Diamond Jubilee: Celebrating 60 Remarkable years| year=2012| page=72| publisher=Rogers Communications}}</ref> Also in 1987, [[Prince Andrew, Duke of York|Prince Andrew]] toured Canada with, for the first time, his wife, [[Sarah, Duchess of York]], who proved popular with Canadians and relaxed among them. The royal couple spent 18 days canoeing through the Canadian north and the Duchess later reminisced that "Canada is like my second home."<ref name=Sun>{{Citation| last=Mandel| first=Michelle| title=The Duchess of York – the First Fergie – can be quite down-to-earth until she decides otherwise| newspaper=Toronto Sun| date=10 May 2007| url=http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Mandel_Michele/2007/05/10/4167968.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930205921/http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Mandel_Michele/2007/05/10/4167968.html| archive-date=30 September 2007| access-date=23 November 2008}}</ref> She also revealed in 2009 that, sometime during her marriage to the Duke of York, he had been offered the position of governor general of Canada; the couple agreed to decline and the Duchess speculated in hindsight that the choice may have ultimately been a contributing factor in their eventual divorce in 1996.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/looking-for-love-in-golden-cage/news-story/004e5825e6b4c8348ec7e9274165e38d |title=Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson on love in royal palace |last=Miranda |first=Charles |date=2 March 2009 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=15 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/forget-therapy-duchess-of-york-says-canada-could-have-saved-her-marriage-1.863313 |title=Forget therapy! Duchess of York says Canada could have saved her marriage |date=9 March 2009 |work=[[CBC News]]}}</ref> The idea had also been floated that Canada abandon its status as a Commonwealth realm but retain a separate monarchy with Prince Andrew as king of Canada; this proposal, too, was never pursued.<ref name=Coyne>{{cite magazine| last=Coyne| first=Andrew| author-link=Andrew Coyne| title=Defending the royals| magazine=Maclean's| location=Toronto| date=13 November 2009| url=http://www.macleans.ca/2009/11/13/defending-the-royals/| issn=0024-9262| access-date=18 February 2010}}</ref>

The Queen undertook another tour of Canada in 1990, a trip originally planned for her to put the [[royal sign-manual]] to the constitutional amendment that would have implemented the Meech Lake Accord's plans, including recognising Quebec to be a [[distinct society]].<ref>{{Citation |first=Brian |last=O'Neal |title=Distinct Society: Origins, Interpretations, Implications |date=December 1995 |location=Ottawa |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/bp408-e.htm |id=BP-408E |access-date=7 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091126033013/http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/bp408-e.htm |archive-date=2009-11-26}}</ref> The accord, however, had failed, which inspired fears for the unity of Canada. At [[Canada Day]] celebrations on Parliament Hill, Elizabeth addressed the crowds, stating, "it is my fondest wish [...] that Canadians come together and remain together [...] I and members of my family have been with you on many special days in the life of this country [...] Canada is a country that has been blessed beyond most countries in the world. It is a country worth working for."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactive/royalvisits/56.html| title=Royal Visits to Canada| publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]| access-date=7 March 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061128235245/http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactive/royalvisits/56.html| archive-date=2006-11-28}}</ref>
{{multiple image
| align       =right
| direction   =vertical
| total_width =260
| image1      =The Queen in Ottawa 1992.jpg
| caption1    =Queen Elizabeth II on [[Parliament Hill]] in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], in 1992, to mark the 125th anniversary of [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]] and her 40th year as [[Monarchy of Canada|Queen of Canada]]
| image2      =Canadian Queen Elizabeth II statue (31311707196).jpg
| caption2    =The statue depicting Queen Elizabeth II riding [[Burmese (horse)#Subsequent horses given by the RCMP to Elizabeth II|Centenial<!--sic-->]], which was then located on Parliament Hill (presently at the main gate of [[Rideau Hall]]), was unveiled by the Queen on [[Canada Day]], 1992
}}

Despite the Queen's pleas, nationalism in Quebec gained vigour and [[1995 Quebec independence referendum|another referendum on departure from Canada]] was held in 1995. Five days before the vote, the monarch was tricked into speaking, in both French and English, for 14 minutes with [[Pierre Brassard]], a DJ for [[CKOI-FM|Radio CKOI-FM]] Montreal, who was pretending to be Elizabeth's Prime Minister, [[Jean Chrétien]]. When told that the separatists were showing a lead, the Queen revealed 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."<ref>{{harvnb| Boyce| 2008| p=37}}</ref><ref name=BousfieldMC>{{Cite magazine| last=Bousfield| first=Arthur| title=A Queen Canada Should be Proud Of| magazine=Monarchy Canada| location=Toronto| date=April 1996| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/queenpr.htm| access-date=7 March 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919121013/http://www.monarchist.ca/mc/queenpr.htm| archive-date=19 September 2008}}</ref> However, she pointedly refused to accept the advice that she intervene on the issue without first seeing a draft speech sent by Chrétien. Overall, her tactful handling of the call won plaudits from the DJ who made it<ref name=BousfieldMC/> and the real Chrétien later, in his memoir, recounted the Queen's [[tongue-in-cheek]] comments to him regarding the affair: "'I didn't think you sounded quite like yourself,' she told me. 'But, I thought, given all the duress you were under, you might have been drunk.'"<ref>{{Citation| last=Thompson| first=Elizabeth| title=Chrétien's Revenge| newspaper=The Gazette| date=14 October 2007| url=http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=70a78606-30c2-438e-b541-d6e4ce00087a&k=14039&p=3| access-date=13 April 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080503084103/http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=70a78606-30c2-438e-b541-d6e4ce00087a&k=14039&p=3| archive-date=3 May 2008}}</ref> On 30 October, the day of the referendum, Queen Elizabeth was on her way to a [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting]] in [[New Zealand]] and asked her pilot to remain at [[Los Angeles International Airport]] until the final tally from Quebec had been announced.<ref name=BousfieldMC/>

[[Peter Donolo]], Chrétien's press secretary, leaked on 18 December 1998 that staff in the [[Office of the Prime Minister (Canada)|Prime Minister's Office]] and other [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] members were working on a plan to abolish the monarchy by the turn of the millennium,<ref name=CBC1>{{cite news| title=Liberals considering break from monarchy| publisher=CBC| date=18 December 1998| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/liberals-considering-break-from-monarchy-1.167431| access-date=11 February 2009}}</ref><ref name=CMN2000>{{Cite web | title=Premiers Nix Monarchy Abolition|website=Canadian Monarchist News|date=7 May 1998 | url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/1999/loyalty.htm| access-date=11 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708035657/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/1999/loyalty.htm |archive-date=2009-07-08}}</ref> though this was denied by Chrétien himself{{refn|<ref name=CBC1/><ref name=CMN2000 /><ref>{{Citation| last=Chrétien| first=Jean| author-link=Jean Chrétien| title=My Years as Prime Minister| publisher=Knopf Canada| year=2007| location=Toronto| pages=[https://archive.org/details/myyearsasprimemi00chrt/page/248 248]| isbn=978-0-676-97900-8| url=https://archive.org/details/myyearsasprimemi00chrt/page/248}}</ref>}} and disapproved of by the majority of incumbent provincial premiers.<ref name=CMN2000/> Save for some journalists, such as [[Lawrence Martin (journalist)|Lawrence Martin]], who broke the story,<ref name=CMN2000/> the idea was also roundly denounced in the media.<ref name=CMN2000/>

==The new millennium==
{{expand section|Canadian royal history from 2007 to 2022: Vimy re-dedication in 2007, the 2010 royal tour, [[2020-21 Rideau Hall workplace review|Julie Payette resignation]], Trudeau's decision of not offering free portraits of the sovereign, [[2022 royal tour of Canada|2022 reconciliation royal visit]], etc.|small=no|date=February 2023}}

[[File:Queen and burmese.jpg|thumb|The statue of Elizabeth II riding [[Burmese (horse)|Burmese]] (a horse gifted to the Queen by the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police|RCMP]]) in [[Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina]], unveiled by the Queen during her [[Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Golden Jubilee]] in 2002]]
{{quote box| width=260px| border=1px| align=right| bgcolor=#F5F5DC| quote=It is a privilege to serve you as Queen of Canada to the best of my ability, to play my part in the Canadian identity, to uphold Canadian traditions and heritage, to recognise Canadian excellence and achievement, and to seek to give a sense of continuity in these exciting, ever-changing times in which we are fortunate enough to live.<ref>{{citation| url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/OutPut/Page1722.asp| author=Elizabeth II| title=Speech Given by the QUeen at the Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver, on Monday, 7th October, 2002| publisher=Royal Household| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031019134107/http://www.royal.gov.uk/OutPut/Page1722.asp| access-date=7 March 2023| archive-date=19 October 2003}}</ref>| salign=right| source=[[Elizabeth II]], [[Queen of Canada]], [[Vancouver, British Columbia]], October 2002}}

The Queen and her husband undertook a [[2002 royal tour of Canada|12-day tour of the country]] in 2002, to mark [[Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II#Canada|Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee]] and thousands turned out to the various occasions.{{refn|<ref name=CBCJubilee>{{Cite news| title=Queen begins final leg of Jubilee tour| publisher=CBC| date=13 October 2002| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/queen-begins-final-leg-of-jubilee-tour-1.306977| access-date=9 May 2007}}</ref><ref name="cbc.ca">{{Cite news| title="It means something to be a Canadian": Queen| publisher=CBC| date=13 October 2002| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/it-means-something-to-be-a-canadian-queen-1.313280| access-date=9 May 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| title=Queen visits GM Place to drop ceremonial puck| newspaper=Spirit of Vancouver| publisher=Vancouver Board of Trade| date=7 October 2002| url=http://www.boardoftrade.com/sov_page.asp?pageID=678| access-date=28 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040824162034/http://boardoftrade.com/sov_page.asp?pageID=678 |archive-date=2004-08-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Queen to drop puck at Vancouver hockey game |publisher=CTV |date=15 September 2002 |url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1032038866597_87/ |access-date=28 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050122173037/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1032038866597_87/ |archive-date=22 January 2005}}</ref>}} The royal couple stopped in [[Iqaluit]], Victoria, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]], [[Hull, Quebec|Hull]], [[Fredericton, New Brunswick|Fredericton]], [[Sussex, New Brunswick|Sussex]], [[Moncton]], and Ottawa. In the capital of [[Nunavut]], Elizabeth addressed the new [[Legislative Assembly of Nunavut|Legislative Assembly]], stating, "I am proud to be the first member of the [[Monarchy of Canada#Royal family and house|Canadian royal family]] to be greeted in Canada's newest territory."<ref>{{Cite news| last1=Kay| first1=Christine| last2=Kearsey| first2=Tara| title=Royals start tour in Iqaluit| newspaper=Northern News| date=7 October 2002| url=http://www.nnsl.com/frames/newspapers/2002-10/oct7_02q.html| access-date=28 November 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603120711/http://www.nnsl.com/frames/newspapers/2002-10/oct7_02q.html| archive-date=3 June 2013}}</ref> In Vancouver, on 6 October, the Queen, accompanied by [[Wayne Gretzky]], and in front of a crowd of 18,000 at [[General Motors Place]], dropped the [[ceremonial first puck]] for the [[National Hockey League]] exhibition game between the [[Vancouver Canucks]] and [[San Jose Sharks]]—the first time any reigning monarch, Canadian or otherwise, had performed the task<ref>{{Cite news| title=Queen visits GM Place to drop ceremonial puck| newspaper=Spirit of Vancouver| publisher=Vancouver Board of Trade| date=7 October 2002| url=http://www.boardoftrade.com/sov_page.asp?pageID=678| access-date=28 November 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051122103132/http://www.boardoftrade.com/sov_page.asp?pageID=678| archive-date=22 November 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| title=Queen to drop puck at Vancouver hockey game| publisher=CTV News| date=15 September 2002| url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1032038866597_87/| access-date=28 November 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050122173037/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1032038866597_87/| archive-date=22 January 2005}}</ref>—and, in Saskatchewan, she unveiled a bronze [[equestrian statue]] of herself riding an RCMP horse, [[Burmese (horse)|Burmese]]. At an official dinner at the [[Canadian Museum of Civilization]] in [[Gatineau, Quebec]], the Queen said, "[I wish] to express my profound gratitude to all Canadians [...] for the loyalty, encouragement, and support you have given to me over these past 50 years."<ref>{{Cite news| title=Queen begins final leg of Jubilee tour| publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation| date=13 October 2002| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2002/10/12/queen_sat021012.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629001433/http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2002/10/12/queen_sat021012.html| archive-date=29 June 2011| access-date=9 May 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| title="It means something to be a Canadian": Queen| publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation| date=13 October 2002| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2002/10/13/queen_speech021013.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070717225651/http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2002/10/13/queen_speech021013.html| archive-date=17 July 2007| access-date=9 May 2007}}</ref> However, approximately 100 [[French-speaking Quebecer|Québécois]] protesters were seen when the royal motorcade crossed from Ottawa into Gatineau<ref name=CBCJubilee/><ref name=cbc.ca/> and Quebec Premier [[Bernard Landry]] stated that the provincial government would neither mount any celebrations of the anniversary, nor send representatives to any others, in protest of the Queen's signing of the Constitution Act, 1982.<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Phillips| first=Stephen| title=Republicanism in Canada in the reign of Elizabeth II: the dog that didn't bark| magazine=Canadian Monarchist News| volume=Summer 2004| issue=22| pages=19–20| location=Toronto| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2004/Sum04PDFRepublicanism.pdf| access-date=10 February 2009 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090708032249/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2004/Sum04PDFRepublicanism.pdf |archive-date=2009-07-08}}</ref>

Just prior to the tour, the group [[Citizens for a Canadian Republic]] was formed to promote the replacement of the constitutional monarchy with some kind of republic and attention was drawn to this cause when then-[[Deputy Prime Minister]] [[John Manley]] became the first-ever federal [[minister of the Crown]] to publicly support the end of the Canadian monarchy, saying in an interview that Canada should become a republic upon the demise of Queen Elizabeth II.

In December the next year, after lengthy discussions between the federal government and the [[Acadian]] community, Governor General [[Adrienne Clarkson]] put her signature on the [[Royal Proclamation of 2003]], which expressed the Crown's acknowledgement of the 1754 deportation of the Acadians and established 28 July as the Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval;<ref>{{Cite news| last=Elizabeth II| author-link=Elizabeth II| title=Proclamation Designating July 28 of Every Year as "A Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval", Commencing on July 28, 2005| work=Canada Gazette| volume=137| issue=27| pages=3202–3203| location=Ottawa| date=31 December 2003| url=http://gazette.gc.ca/archives/p2/2003/2003-12-31/pdf/g2-13727.pdf| access-date=14 March 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706181628/http://gazette.gc.ca/archives/p2/2003/2003-12-31/pdf/g2-13727.pdf| archive-date=6 July 2011}}</ref> While not a formal apology, the gesture quelled demands by Acadians that one be issued by the Queen.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.acadianmuseum.com/upheaval.html| title=News and Events > Minister Copps announces a day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval| publisher=The Acadian Museum| date=10 December 2003}}</ref>

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh toured Alberta and Saskatchewan in 2005, to partake in celebrations marking those provinces' centennials. The [[Executive Council of Alberta|Cabinet of Alberta]] wished for the monarch to personally grant royal assent to a bill passed by the provincial legislature; however, the constitutionality of the Queen doing so was questioned and Rideau Hall stated the Queen's personal participation in the legislative process would conflict with the federal government's policy of the "Canadianization" of Canada's institutions.
{{multiple image
| align       =left
| direction   =vertical
| total_width =260
| image1      =Presentation of Membertou Portrait to Queen Elizabeth II.jpg
| caption1    =[[Mi'kmaq people|Mi'kmaq]] leaders present a portrait of Grand Chief [[Henri Membertou]] to Queen [[Elizabeth II]] in [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]], 28 June 2010
| image2      =Jan Lisiecki meeting Queen Elizabeth II in 2011.jpg
| caption2    =Queen Elizabeth II, with her Prime Minister, [[Stephen Harper]] (left), meets [[Jan Lisiecki]] following his performance during [[Canada Day]] celebrations in [[Ottawa]], 30 June 2010
}}

In 2006, [[Stephen Harper]] was appointed as [[Prime Minister of Canada|prime minister]]. In his first address to Parliament as [[head of government]], 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]].<ref>[https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/39-1/house/sitting-3/hansard 39th Parliament, First Session, Edited Hansard, No. 003, Wednesday, 5 April 2006]</ref>

[[Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex|Prince Harry]] arrived in Canada to train, along with other soldiers of the Canadian and [[British Army|British]] armies, at [[Canadian Forces Base Suffield]], near [[Medicine Hat]], Alberta, ahead of a [[tour of duty]] in Afghanistan.<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/prince-harry-may-be-training-in-alberta-reports-1.243509| author=Canadian Press| publisher=CTV News| title=Prince Harry may be training in Alberta: reports| date=2 June 2007| access-date=14 July 2021| archive-date=16 October 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016235653/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070602/harry_canada_070602/20070602?hub=TopStories}}</ref> Harry went off base during down time and journeyed to Calgary to take in the nightlife. At the same time, Harry's aunt, the Princess Royal, was in Saskatchewan meeting with family members of soldiers killed in Afghanistan.<ref name=ctv.ca>{{citation| url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/princess-anne-helps-mark-regimental-centennial-1.243536| publisher=CTV News| title=Princess Anne helps mark regimental centennial| date=2 June 2007| access-date=14 July 2021| archive-date=5 March 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305061754/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070602/royal_visit_070602/20070602?hub=Canada}}</ref> This was part of a wider tour of the province that included her participation in ceremonies to mark the centennial of the [[Royal Regina Rifles]], of which she is Colonel-in-Chief, as well as opening the RCMP Heritage Centre<ref name=ctv.ca/> and meeting with First Nations elders at [[Government House (Saskatchewan)|Government House]].

Nearing the end of 2007, it was revealed that the Queen was not going to attend the festivities for the 400th anniversary of the foundation of Quebec City, to take place the next year. The Executive Council of Quebec had requested that Ottawa make plans for the sovereign to be part of the celebration, having her follow in the footsteps of her grandfather, [[George V]], who presided over the tercentenary celebrations of the same event in 1908. However, the [[Cabinet of Canada|federal Cabinet]] advised the Queen not to go, fearing her presence would provoke Quebec separatists, especially after the announcement of her possibly attending incited separatists to promise protests.<ref>{{cite news| title=Queen won't be at Quebec City's big birthday bash| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/queen-won-t-be-at-quebec-city-s-big-birthday-bash-1.666166| publisher=CBC News| date=10 December 2007}}</ref> Governor General [[Michaëlle Jean]] attended, instead.

Prince Charles(Now [[King Charles  III]]) toured Canada with his second wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (now [[Queen Camilla]]) in 2009. Just prior to the tour, Charles had been appointed by his mother as [[Vice-Admiral]] of the Royal Canadian Navy and [[Lieutenant-General]] of both the Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force.<ref>{{Citation| url=http://www.canada.com/entertainment/Royals+arrive+Ottawa+final+cross+Canada+tour/2203180/story.html| url-status=live| last1=Deachman| first1=Bruce| last2=McCulloch| first2=Sandra| title=Royals arrive in Ottawa in final leg of cross-Canada tour| date=9 November 2009| newspaper=Ottawa Citizen| access-date=10 November 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091117174202/http://www.canada.com/entertainment/Royals+arrive+Ottawa+final+cross+Canada+tour/2203180/story.html| archive-date=17 November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/governor-general-embraces-military-uniform/article1360150/| url-status=live| last=Curry| first=Bill| title=Governor-General embraces military uniform| date=11 November 2009| newspaper=The Globe and Mail| access-date=3 September 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115062140/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/governor-general-embraces-military-uniform/article1360150/| archive-date=15 November 2009| quote=Prince Charles, George VI's grandson, was at Ms. Jean's side in Ottawa, also wearing a green Canadian Forces army uniform as lieutenant-general of all three services of the Canadian Forces.}}</ref> He was also, at Rideau Hall on 10 November 2009, made honorary head of the [[Canadian Rangers]].<ref>{{citation| url=https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/photo_charlies_new_red_sweatshirt/| title=Charlie's new red sweatshirt| date=19 November 2009| publisher=Nunatsiaq News| access-date=10 November 2023}}</ref>

The then-[[William, Prince of Wales|Duke]] and [[Catherine, Princess of Wales|Duchess of Cambridge]], just three months after [[Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton|their marriage]], toured all regions of Canada in 2011, from the Arctic to the West Coast and the Maritimes. The journey fell on the 225th anniversary of the first royal tour of Canada, by then-Prince William (later King William IV).<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/royals-en-route-without-anyone-to-squeeze-williams-toothpaste/article2081452/?from=sec368| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025125737/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/royals-en-route-without-anyone-to-squeeze-williams-toothpaste/article2081452/?from=sec368| archive-date=25 October 2012| last=Taber| first=Jane| title=Royals en route – without yone to squeeze William's toothpaste| date=30 June 2011| newspaper=The Globe and Mail| location=Toronto| access-date=2 July 2011}}</ref> William and Catherine attended a [[Oath of Citizenship (Canada)#Administration of the oath|citizenship ceremony]] on 1 July<ref>{{cite news| url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/Personal+Canadian+flags+unveiled+Prince+Charles+Prince+William/5024659/story.html| last=Baziuk| first=Laura| title=Personal Canadian flags unveiled for Prince Charles, Prince William| date=30 June 2011| newspaper=Montreal Gazette| publisher=Postmedia News| location=Montreal| access-date=30 June 2011| archive-date=2 August 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110802220446/http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Personal+Canadian+flags+unveiled+Prince+Charles+Prince+William/5024659/story.html}}</ref>—the first time any member of the royal family had done so—and, on the same day, the Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/duchess-charms-a-nation/story-e6frg6so-1226086172549| last=Low| first=Valentine| title=Duchess charms a nation| date=2 July 2011| newspaper=The Australian| location=Surry Hills| access-date=2 July 2011}}</ref>
[[File:Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II - Canadian Senate Foyer (14579919150).jpg|thumb|The Diamond Jubilee Window in the [[Centre Block#Senate foyer|Senate foyer]] in the [[Centre Block]] of Canada's Parliament, depicting Elizabeth II along with [[Queen Victoria]], who also celebrated a diamond jubilee]]

Official celebrations for [[Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II#Canada|Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee]] began two years before the event, during Elizabeth's tour of Canada in 2010. During it, she, among other things, planted an Amber Jubilee [[Physocarpus|Ninebark]] shrub—a [[cultivar]] created specifically for the Jubilee—in the newly dedicated Queen Elizabeth II Garden outside her official residence in Manitoba<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.royaltour.gc.ca/itiner/itiner-eng.cfm| last=Department of Canadian Heritage| author-link=Department of Canadian Heritage| title=2010 Royal Tour > Itinerary for 2010 Royal Tour of Canada| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=9 August 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619144300/http://royaltour.gc.ca/itiner/itiner-eng.cfm| archive-date=19 June 2010| df=dmy-all}}</ref> and, at Rideau Hall, unveiled a [[stained glass]] window, depicting herself and Queen Victoria (the only other monarch of Canada who marked a diamond jubilee), that would, later that year, be installed in the [[Centre Block#Senate foyer|Senate foyer]] and unveiled by Governor General [[David Johnston (governor general)|David Johnston]].{{refn|<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Senate/jubilee/crown-e.htm| last=Parliament of Canada| title=The Diamond Jubilee Window: A Celebration of the Crown in Canada| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=15 April 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312084326/http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Senate/jubilee/crown-e.htm| archive-date=12 March 2012| df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| last=Foot| first=Richard| title=Queen Elizabeth in Halifax| publisher=Global News| date=29 June 2010| url=http://news.globaltv.com/canada/Queen+Elizabeth+tour+Canada/3208763/story.html| access-date=1 July 2010| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607195024/http://news.globaltv.com/canada/Queen+Elizabeth+tour+Canada/3208763/story.html| archive-date=7 June 2011| df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Foot |first=Richard |title=Queen Elizabeth to skip Quebec on Canadian tour |newspaper=Montreal Gazette |date=27 June 2010 |url=https://montrealgazette.com/Queen+skip+Quebec+Canadian+tour/3208778/story.html |access-date=1 July 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100630162832/http://www.montrealgazette.com/Queen+skip+Quebec+Canadian+tour/3208778/story.html| archive-date=30 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14416| last=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Governor General to Attend the Dedication Ceremony of the Diamond Jubilee Window in Senate Foyer| date=6 February 2012| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=9 February 2012}}</ref>}} The jubilee proper started with Diamond Jubilee week, starting on 6 February (Accession Day) 2012, with the raising of the [[Royal standards of Canada#Former standards|Queen's Canadian royal standard]] on Parliament Hill and at all [[Government Houses in Canada|government houses]] and viceregal offices across the country;<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 February 2012 |title=Manitoba Celebrating Queen's Diamond Jubilee |url=http://www.chrisd.ca/blog/50254/manitoba-queen-elizabeth-ii-diamond-jubilee-celebrations/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120731184335/http://www.chrisd.ca/blog/50254/manitoba-queen-elizabeth-ii-diamond-jubilee-celebrations/ |archive-date=31 July 2012 |access-date=6 February 2012 |website=ChrisD}}</ref> permission for the breach of protocol (the flag is normally flown only to mark the sovereign's presence) was granted by Elizabeth.<ref>{{Cite news| date=6 February 2012| title=Canada Kicks off Festivities for Queen's Jubilee| publisher=CTV| url=http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120206/diamond-jubilee-celebrations-120206/20120206/?hub=EdmontonHome|access-date=6 February 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318190237/http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120206/diamond-jubilee-celebrations-120206/20120206/?hub=EdmontonHome| archive-date=18 March 2012}}</ref> Event were organized and educational programs established throughout the country, by federal, provincial, and municipal governments and exhibitions were mounted at museums and institutions from the [[Canadian Postal Museum]] to the [[Canadian Museum of History]]. The [[Royal Canadian Mint]] also issued an "extensive set" of coins to mark the anniversary.<ref>{{Citation|last=Canadian Press|title=Canadian mint marking royal wedding with collector coins|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=2 March 2011|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/royalfamily/royalwedding/article/947234--canadian-mint-marking-royal-wedding-with-collector-coins|access-date=8 March 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305044234/http://www.thestar.com/news/world/royalfamily/royalwedding/article/947234--canadian-mint-marking-royal-wedding-with-collector-coins|archive-date=5 March 2011}}</ref>
{{multiple image
| align       =left
| direction   =vertical
| total_width =260
| image1      =The Queen opens Canada House.jpg
| caption1    =Queen Elizabeth II reopens [[Canada House]] on 19 April 2015
| image2      =KateandWilliam.jpg
| caption2    =[[William, Prince of Wales|Prince William, Duke of Cambridge]], and [[Catherine, Princess of Wales|Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge]], at the [[Immigrant Services Society]] centre in [[Vancouver, British Columbia]], 25 September 2016
}}

The Queen re-opened a renovated Canada House in 2015. In the same year, on 9 September, Elizabeth became the second-longest reigning monarch of Canada (after King [[Louis XIV of France]]),<ref>{{citation| url=http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2015/05/18/statement-prime-minister-canada-occasion-victoria-day| author=Office of the Prime Minister of Canada| title=Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada on the occasion of Victoria Day| date=18 May 2015| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=21 May 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529224820/http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2015/05/18/statement-prime-minister-canada-occasion-victoria-day| archive-date=29 May 2015}}</ref> though she was still celebrated as the "longest-reigning sovereign in Canada's modern era".<ref name=reign>{{cite web| url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=16168&lan=eng| author=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Governor General to Host Special Event in Honour of Her Majesty's Historic Reign| date=9 September 2015| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=9 September 2015}}</ref> The [[Bank of Canada]], Canada Post, and the Royal Canadian Mint issued a commemorative bank note, stamp, and coin, respectively. A 30-minute performance of music "reflecting Her Majesty's life and times" was played on the [[Peace Tower#Carillon|Peace Tower Carillon]] on Parliament Hill.<ref name=reign/> The Governor General, lieutenant governors, and territorial commissioners delivered a loyal address to the Queen.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://arts.lgontario.ca/multisite/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Loyal-Address-D%C3%A9claration-de-loyaut%C3%A9.pdf| title=Loyal Address| date=9 September 2015| publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario| access-date=9 September 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116030425/http://arts.lgontario.ca/multisite/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Loyal-Address-D%C3%A9claration-de-loyaut%C3%A9.pdf| archive-date=16 January 2016}}</ref>

Elizabeth addressed Canadians by video on the first day of 2017,<ref>{{cite AV media| people=Elizabeth II| date=1 January 2017| title=The Queen's message to all Canadians on Canada's 150th birthday| type=Video| language=English, French| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KM5a35qAVM| access-date=17 March 2017| publisher=The Royal Channel}}</ref> recognizing the [[150th anniversary of Canada|150th anniversary of Confederation]]; she said, "throughout the years, particularly since your centennial year, I have watched Canada develop into a remarkable nation. [...] Fifty years ago, on the eve of the centennial, I encouraged Canadians to continue to embody the values of equality, freedom, and inclusion. Today, these values remain deeply rooted in the Canadian experience [...] On this eve of national celebrations, my family and I are with you in spirit. As you prepare to mark this important milestone in your country's history, I send my warmest good wishes to you all."<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.royal.uk/message-queen-people-canada| author=Elizabeth II| title=A message from The Queen to the people of Canada| date=1 January 2017| publisher=Royal Household| access-date=17 March 2023}}</ref> [[Charles III|Prince Charles]] represented his mother, the Queen, at the main sesquicentennial events in Ottawa.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=16779&lan=eng| author=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Royal Tour 2017| date=18 April 2017| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref>

In 2019, Prince Harry returned to Canada with his wife, [[Meghan, Duchess of Sussex]], when the couple decided to spend Christmas on Vancouver Island with their baby son, [[Prince Archie of Sussex|Prince Archie]]. During a brief return to the United Kingdom the following year, the Duke and Duchess visited Canada House, on 7 January, to thank Canadians for their hospitality. Soon after, the couple announced that they were stepping back from their roles as senior members of the royal family and moved back to Vancouver Island. Harry, Meghan, and Archie remained in British Columbia until March 2020, when they moved to California.<ref name=Lived/>
[[File:20151104 OH H1013410 0003 (22461197207).jpg|thumb|[[Charles III|Prince Charles]] meets [[Canadian Armed Forces]] members taking part in [[Exercise Southern Katipo]], 7 November 2015]]

During the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the Queen expressed her support for all Canadians and thanks to those who were caring for the vulnerable and providing essential services.<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.gg.ca/en/media/news/2020/message-her-majesty-queen-people-canada-covid-19-pandemic| author=Office of the Governor General of Canada| title=Message from Her Majesty The Queen to the people of Canada on the COVID-19 pandemic| date=5 April 2020| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=6 August 2022}}</ref> As the pandemic waned into 2022, celebrations were mounted around the country and throughout the year to mark [[Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II#Canada|the Queen's Platinum Jubilee]];<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/celebrations-and-community-projects-across-the-country-for-her-majesty-the-queen-s-platinum-jubilee-819137185.html| author=CISION| title=Celebrations and community projects across the country for Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee| date=16 May 2022| access-date=5 August 2022}}</ref> the first-ever such event in Canadian history.<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.lgontario.ca/en/queens-platinum-jubilee/#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20Canada%20and%20Ontario,to%20celebrate%20a%20platinum%20jubilee.| title=The Queen's Platinum Jubilee| author=Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario| publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario| access-date=5 August 2022}}</ref> It was also, though, the first time since at least Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887 that the federal Cabinet did not advise the Crown to issue an associated commemorative medal.<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/queen-elizabeth-jubilee-royal-tour-1.6455325| last=Tasker| first=Jean-Paul| title=Monarchists criticize Canada's 'lacklustre' and 'embarrassing' Platinum Jubilee plans| date=17 May 2022| publisher=CBC News| access-date=5 August 2022}}</ref> In response, six provinces produced their own [[Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal|Platinum Jubilee medal]]s; another first.<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/platinum-jubilee-medals-provinces-royal-visit-charles-camilla-1.6421391| last=Davison| first=Janet| title=Some provinces to offer medals to mark Queen's Platinum Jubilee after Ottawa opts out| date=17 April 2022| publisher=CBC News| access-date=5 August 2022}}</ref> From 2021 into 2022, the subject of [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada|reconciliation]] with Canada's indigenous peoples came to the forefront of the public consciousness, particularly in regard to [[Canadian Indian residential school system|residential schools]]. Statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II in Winnipeg were vandalized.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/queen-victoria-statue-winnipeg-reactions-1.6087938| last=Bergen| first=Rachel| title=Winnipeg police investigating toppling of queen statues at legislature| date=2 July 2021| publisher=CBC News| access-date=4 July 2021| archive-date=4 July 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704170605/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/queen-victoria-statue-winnipeg-reactions-1.6087938}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/queen-victoria-statue-winnipeg-1.6087684| title=2 statues of queens toppled at Manitoba Legislature| date=1 July 2021| publisher=CBC News| access-date=4 July 2021| archive-date=12 July 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712111006/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/queen-victoria-statue-winnipeg-1.6087684}}</ref> On the first [[National Day for Truth and Reconciliation]], Elizabeth made a public statement, saying she "joins with all Canadians [...] to reflect on the painful history that indigenous peoples endured in residential schools in Canada and on the work that remains to heal and to continue to build an inclusive society."<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.royal.uk/queens-message-mark-canadas-first-national-day-truth-and-reconciliation|work=Royal.uk| date=30 September 2021| title=The Queen's message to mark Canada's first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation| access-date=2 August 2022}}</ref> In 2021, the Queen appointed [[Mary Simon]] as the first indigenous governor general in Canadian history.<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-gg-mary-simon-1.6091376| last1=Tunney| first1=Catharine| last2=Tasker| first2=John Paul| title=Inuk leader Mary Simon named Canada's 1st Indigenous governor general| date=6 July 2021| publisher=CBC News| access-date=5 August 2022}}</ref>

==After Elizabeth's reign==
{{summarize section| date=March 2024}}

[[File:Queen Memorial Book Winnipeg.jpg|thumb|A memorial and condolence book set up for the public at the [[Manitoba Legislative Building]] in [[Winnipeg]] following [[Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II|the death]] of Queen [[Elizabeth II]]]]

Queen Elizabeth II passed away on 8 September 2022, and was succeeded by her eldest son, [[King Charles III]]. The Queen's last public statement was on 7 September to express her condolences to, and support for, Canadians across the country in the aftermath of the [[2022 Saskatchewan stabbings]],<ref>{{Citation| url=https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/in-last-public-statement-queen-elizabeth-extended-condolences-following-saskatchewan-stabbing-rampage| title=In last public statement, Queen Elizabeth extended condolences following Saskatchewan stabbing rampage| date=8 September 2022| newspaper=[[Saskatoon StarPhoenix]]| access-date=8 September 2022| archive-date=8 September 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220908193354/https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/in-last-public-statement-queen-elizabeth-extended-condolences-following-saskatchewan-stabbing-rampage| url-status=live}}</ref> saying she "mourn[s] with all Canadians at this tragic time".<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.royal.uk/message-queen-governor-general-and-people-canada| author=Elizabeth II| title=A message from The Queen to the Governor General and the people of Canada| date=7 September 2022| publisher=Royal Household| access-date=7 September 2022| archive-date=7 September 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907121150/https://www.royal.uk/message-queen-governor-general-and-people-canada| url-status=live}}</ref> The monarch's death came as "an existential shock to Canadians who had known only one sovereign" in their lifetimes. Elizabeth's passing, however, did not disrupt daily life as much as those of her predecessors did; business outside of parliaments, ministries, the civil service, and the military largely carried on as usual; with only five day's notice of the national holiday called for the day of [[Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II|the funeral]], financial sectors stated they would operate normally, while the decisions of provincial governments were mixed on whether public servants or schools would take the day off: Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Alberta chose neither; the Maritime provinces and British Columbia chose both; and Manitoba chose one, but not the other. Still, many Canadians paid tribute at legislatures and city halls and online. The [[Internet]]—a technological system inconceivable at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign—allowed Canadians and news media, alike, to follow events in near-real- or real-time, from the moment the Queen's final illness was made known until her death was confirmed by [[Buckingham Palace]], which it did through [[Twitter]] and other [[social media]] platforms, in addition to the traditional announcements on palace gates.<ref name=Annett/>

On 10 September, the proclamation of the new King took place at [[Rideau Hall]], following a formal meeting of the [[King's Privy Council for Canada]], at a ceremony that included heraldic trumpeting, a 21-gun salute and a moment of remembrance for Queen Elizabeth II.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gg.ca/en/media/news/2022/ceremony-proclaim-accession-king-charles-iii|title=Ceremony to proclaim the Accession of the Sovereign to take place at Rideau Hall|website=gg.ca|date=9 September 2022|access-date=10 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=King Charles III proclaimed Canada's new head of state in ceremony at Rideau Hall |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-king-charles-ceremony-rideau-hall-canada/ |access-date=10 September 2022 |work=Globe and Mail |agency=Canadian Press |date=10 September 2022}}</ref> The accession of Charles III was the first since the creation of the [[Canadian Heraldic Authority]] in 1989, that the [[Chief Herald of Canada|Chief Herald]] read the royal proclamation aloud.

After the 2022 [[Quebec general election]], the elected [[Parti Québécois]] members of the Legislative Assembly, briefly joined by members of the equally separatist [[Québec solidaire]] party, refused to recite the [[Oath of Allegiance (Canada)|oath of allegiance to the King of Canada]], rendering them unable to take their seats in the provincial parliament.{{refn|<ref>{{Citation| url=https://globalnews.ca/news/9242596/quebec-politicians-oath-king-charles/| title=Quebec politicians must swear oath to King Charles to sit in legislature: Speaker| publisher=Global News}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| url=https://globalnews.ca/news/9317725/parti-quebecois-oath-king-charles-refusal-legislature/| title=Parti Québécois barred from sitting in legislature for refusing oath to King &#124| publisher=Global News}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/parti-quebecois-barred-from-quebec-legislature-after-refusing-to-take-oath-to-king| title=Parti Quebecois barred from Quebec legislature after refusing to take oath to King| newspaper=National Post}}</ref>}} The legislature, with the nationalist [[Coalition Avenir Québec]] in the government benches, passed a law that attempted to amend the Canadian constitution to make the Oath of Allegiance optional for MNAs.<ref>{{Citation| url=https://www.reuters.com/world/quebec-ends-mandatory-oath-king-charles-elected-officials-2022-12-09/| title=Quebec ends mandatory oath to King Charles for elected officials| date=9 December 2022| publisher=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/reuters/quebec-ends-mandatory-oath-to-king-charles-for-elected-officials/48123706| title=Quebec ends mandatory oath to King Charles for elected officials| date=9 December 2022| publisher=SWI| access-date=26 February 2023| archive-date=31 December 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231044444/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/reuters/quebec-ends-mandatory-oath-to-king-charles-for-elected-officials/48123706}}</ref> It remains unclear if the law has any effect.<ref>{{citation| url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/quebec-rewrite-canada-constitution| last=Hopper| first=Tristan| title=First Reading: Quebec is trying to unilaterally rewrite the Constitution again| date=9 December 2022| newspaper=National Post| access-date=22 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{citation| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-canada-constitution-changes-language-bill-1.6031828| last=Montpetit| first=Jonathan| title=Quebec's proposed changes to Constitution seem small, but they could prompt historic makeover| date=19 May 2021| publisher=CBC News| access-date=22 January 2023}}</ref>

In April 2023, the [[Deputy Prime Minister of Canada|Deputy Prime Minister]], on behalf of Cabinet, introduced Bill C-47 in the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]],<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/C-47/first-reading/| title=Bill C-47 An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023| access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref> containing provisions that authorized the King to issue a [[royal proclamation]] establishing his title for Canada, which excludes a reference to the United Kingdom and the title ''Defender of the Faith''. The bill received royal assent on 22 June 2023;<ref>{{Citation| url=https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/c-47?view=progress| author=Parliament of Canada| title=C-47 (44-1)| publisher=King's Printer for Canada| access-date=27 June 2023}}</ref> a proclamation of the new title was issued on 8 January 2024.<ref>{{cite web |title=Proclamation Establishing for Canada the Royal Style and Titles: SI/2024-4, dated January 8, 2024 |date=31 January 2024 |url=https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2024/2024-01-31/html/si-tr4-eng.html}}</ref> The new title in English is:''Charles the Third, by the Grace of God King of Canada and His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth''.<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-kings-canadian-title-dropping-defender-of-the-faith-is-break-with/| last=Woolf| first=Marie| title=King's Canadian title—dropping defender of the faith—is break with tradition: Church figures, constitutional experts| date=19 April 2023| newspaper=The Globe and Mail| access-date=19 April 2023}}</ref>

In May 2023, just days before the [[coronation of King Charles III]], Governor General Mary Simon organised an audience between the King and Indigenous leaders at Buckingham Palace. The three leaders—Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami Natan Obed, and President of the Métis National Council Cassidy Caron—were also in attendance at the coronation ceremony on 6 May. The following day, Bellegarde addressed the royal household at the first post-coronation morning service at the [[Chapel Royal]] at St James' Palace.<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/national-indigenous-leaders-head-to-coronation-1.6828175| last=Stefanovich| first=Olivia| title=National Indigenous leaders chart new reconciliation path with King Charles| date=5 May 2023| publisher=CBC News| access-date=2 October 2023}}</ref>

{{multiple image
|perrow = 1/1
|image1 = Canadian Royal Crown.svg
|caption1 = The [[Canadian Royal Crown]]
|image2 = Royal Standard of Canada.svg
|caption2 = The [[Royal standards of Canada|Sovereign's Flag for Canada]]
}}

On 6 May, a televised national ceremony took place to mark the coronation of Charles III at the [[Sir John A. Macdonald Building]] in Ottawa.<ref>{{cite web |date=16 March 2023 |title=Prime Minister announces Canadian ceremony to mark the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III |url=https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2023/03/16/prime-minister-announces-canadian-ceremony-mark-coronation-his |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316132652/https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2023/03/16/prime-minister-announces-canadian-ceremony-mark-coronation-his |archive-date=16 March 2023 |access-date=16 March 2023 |work=Office of the Prime Minister of Canada}}</ref> Several items were unveiled at the ceremony, including a new [[royal standards of Canada|standard for the monarch]], a [[Canadian royal symbols#Canadian Royal Crown|heraldic crown]] incorporating distinctly Canadian elements, and a [[definitive stamp]] with an image of the King by [[Canada Post]].<ref name="ctvcanceleb">{{cite web |last=Ferreira |first=Jennifer |date=24 April 2023 |title=Here's how Canada plans to celebrate King Charles III's coronation |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/here-s-how-canada-plans-to-celebrate-king-charles-iii-s-coronation-1.6368687 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424162833/https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/here-s-how-canada-plans-to-celebrate-king-charles-iii-s-coronation-1.6368687 |archive-date=24 April 2023 |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=www.ctv.ca |publisher=Bell Media}}</ref><ref name="canada" /> It was also announced that an effigy of Charles would replace that of Elizabeth II on Canadian coinage and the [[Canadian twenty-dollar note]].<ref name=cbc20dollar>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-coronation-ceremoney-charles-iii-1.6834785|title=Canada marks coronation of King Charles III with national ceremony in Ottawa|last=Major|first=Darren|date=6 May 2023|access-date=6 May 2023|archive-date=6 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506162444/http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadian-coronation-ceremoney-charles-iii-1.6834785|url-status=live}}</ref> The ceremony concluded with a 21-gun salute and a performance by the [[Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces]] on [[Parliament Hill]].<ref name="ctvcanceleb" /> Landmarks across Canada were illuminated emerald green on 6 and 7 May. Tours were offered at [[Rideau Hall]], and the Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces performed there, while members of the [[Governor General's Foot Guards]] performed [[changing of the guard]] ceremonies.<ref name="ctvcanceleb" /><ref name="canada">{{cite web |date=16 March 2023 |title=Celebrate His Majesty's Coronation |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/coronation-his-majesty-king-canada/celebrate.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316174019/https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/coronation-his-majesty-king-canada/celebrate.html |archive-date=16 March 2023 |access-date=16 March 2023 |work=Government of Canada}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gg.ca/en/media/news/2023/public-invited-rideau-hall-celebrate-coronation-king-charles-iii|title=Public invited to Rideau Hall to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III|date=4 May 2023|access-date=10 May 2023|website=www.gg.ca|publisher=Governor General of Canada}}</ref> It was also announced that the government will issue coronation medals to 30,000 Canadians who made significant contributions to the country or their local region.<ref>{{cite web |last=Tasker |first=John Paul |date=3 May 2023 |title=Trudeau announces Canadian delegation for King Charles's coronation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-charles-coronation-guestlist-1.6831355 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503214720/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-charles-coronation-guestlist-1.6831355 |archive-date=3 May 2023 |access-date=3 May 2023 |website=www.cbc.ca |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref>

[[File:Canada's King addresses Parliament.jpg|thumb|[[King Charles III]] delivering the [[2025 Speech from the Throne]] in the [[Senate of Canada Building]], 27 May 2025]]

A planned tour of Canada by Charles was reportedly called off after he was diagnosed with cancer.<ref>{{citation| url=https://www.vicnews.com/world-news/potential-king-charles-iii-tour-of-canada-definitely-out-for-2024-7317192| author=The Canadian Press| title=Potential King Charles III tour of Canada definitely out for 2024| date=12 February 2024| newspaper=Victoria News| access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref> In May 2025, King Charles III, accompanied by [[Queen Camilla]], visited Canada for the first time as monarch and delivered the [[2025 Speech from the Throne|speech from the throne]], the first time a Canadian monarch has done so in person since 1977.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 27, 2025 |title=King Charles hails 'incredible opportunity' for Canada in throne speech |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/livestory/king-charles-hails-incredible-opportunity-for-canada-in-throne-speech-9.6774177 |access-date=May 27, 2025 |work=CBC News}}</ref>

==Monarchs of Canadian territories==
{{main|List of Canadian monarchs}}

The line of monarchs who reigned over territories that would become Canadian or over Canada itself begins approximately at the turn of the 16th century.{{refn|<ref>{{Cite book| last=MacLeod| first=Kevin S.| author-link=Kevin S. MacLeod| title=A Crown of Maples| page=2| place=Ottawa| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| year=2012| edition=2| url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/DAMAssetPub/DAM-CRN-jblDmt-dmdJbl/STAGING/texte-text/crnMpls_1336157759317_eng.pdf?WT.contentAuthority=4.4.4| isbn=978-0-662-46012-1| access-date=28 November 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204231448/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/DAMAssetPub/DAM-CRN-jblDmt-dmdJbl/STAGING/texte-text/crnMpls_1336157759317_eng.pdf?WT.contentAuthority=4.4.4| archive-date=4 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1331826436671/1335290506351| title=Crown in Canada - The Monarch| date=1 June 2012| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=20 October 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209092009/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1331826436671/1335290506351| archive-date=9 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/fr-rf/index-eng.cfm| last=Department of Canadian Heritage| title=Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion > The Canadian Monarchy| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=14 May 2009| archive-date=25 August 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200825002610/https://www.canada.ca/home.html}}</ref><ref name=Kenney>{{Cite book| last=Kenney| first=Jason| author-link=Jason Kenney| date=23 April 2007| contribution=Speech to the Lieutenant Governors Meeting| contribution-url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/minstr/arc_disc-spch/kenney/2007/20070423-eng.cfm| editor-last=Department of Canadian Heritage| editor-link=Department of Canadian Heritage| title=Speeches > The Honourable Jason Kenney| place=Regina| publication-place=Ottawa| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=27 January 2010| archive-date=11 June 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611163321/http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/minstr/arc_disc-spch/kenney/2007/20070423-eng.cfm}}</ref><ref name=Valpy1109>{{Cite news| last=Valpy| first=Michael| author-link=Michael Valpy| title=The monarchy: Offshore, but built-in| newspaper=The Globe and Mail| date=13 November 2009| url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/the-monarchy-offshore-but-built-in/article4292569/?page=all| access-date=14 November 2009| location=Toronto}}</ref><ref name=MacLeod6>{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2012|p=6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last=Monet| first=Jacques| contribution=The Canadian Encyclopedia| title=Government > Parliamentary Institutions > Governor General| editor-last=Marsh| editor-first=James Harley| place=Toronto| publisher=Historica Foundation of Canada| url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0003350| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050515125625/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0003350| archive-date=15 May 2005| access-date=5 March 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Historyandpresentgovernment.aspx| last=The Royal Household| title=The Queen and the Commonwealth > Queen and Canada > History and present government| publisher=[[Queen's Printer]]| access-date=5 March 2010| archive-date=27 July 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727070332/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchAndCommonwealth/Canada/Historyandpresentgovernment.aspx}}</ref><ref name="Coyne"/><ref>{{citation| url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/1193941--celebrating-the-diamond-jubilee-of-elizabeth-ii-queen-of-canada| last=Editorial| title=Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada| date=26 May 2012| newspaper=Toronto Star| access-date=27 May 2012| archive-date=30 May 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530073900/http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/1193941--celebrating-the-diamond-jubilee-of-elizabeth-ii-queen-of-canada}}</ref>}} The date of the first establishment a monarchical form of government in parts of the territory which now forms Canada varies: some sources give the year as 1497, when [[Henry VII of England|King Henry VII]] claimed parts of [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]],<ref name=Harper>{{Cite book| last=Harper| first=Stephen| author-link=Stephen Harper| year=2008| publication-date=2012| contribution=Letter| contribution-url=http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/DAMAssetPub/DAM-CRN-jblDmt-dmdJbl/STAGING/texte-text/crnMpls_1336157759317_eng.pdf?WT.contentAuthority=4.4.4| editor-last=MacLeod| editor-first=Kevin S.| editor-link=Kevin S. MacLeod| title=A Crown of Maples| page=vii| location=Ottawa| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| isbn=978-0-662-46012-1| access-date=1 November 2013| archive-date=10 November 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110140303/http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/DAMAssetPub/DAM-CRN-jblDmt-dmdJbl/STAGING/texte-text/crnMpls_1336157759317_eng.pdf?WT.contentAuthority=4.4.4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/SovereignsofCanada.html |last1=Bousfield |first1=Arthur |last2=Toffoli |first2=Garry |title=The Sovereigns of Canada |publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust |access-date=5 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816232814/http://www.crht.ca/DiscoverMonarchyFiles/SovereignsofCanada.html |archive-date=16 August 2007}}</ref> while others put it at 1534, when [[New France]] was founded in the name of [[Francis I of France|King Francis I]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.irpp.org/en/po/the-dollar/the-true-white-north-reflections-on-being-canadian/| title=The true white north: reflections on being Canadian| publisher=Institute for Research on Public Policy| date=February 2008| access-date=20 October 2013| author=Robertson, Colin| archive-url=https://archive.today/20131020155041/http://www.irpp.org/en/po/the-dollar/the-true-white-north-reflections-on-being-canadian/| archive-date=20 October 2013}}</ref><ref name=Senate2>{{Cite web| url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Senate/Monarchy/senmonarchy_00-e.htm| last=Parliament of Canada| author-link=Parliament of Canada| title=Canada: A Constitutional Monarchy| publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada| access-date=25 September 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509072741/http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Senate/Monarchy/SenMonarchy_00-e.htm| archive-date=9 May 2011}}</ref> Monarchical governance thenceforth evolved under a continuous succession of French and British sovereigns, and eventually the legally distinct Canadian monarchy.{{refn|<ref name=Kenney/><ref name=Valpy1109/><ref name=Harper/><ref name=Senate2/><ref>{{Harvnb| MacLeod| 2012| pp=2–3, 39}}</ref><ref name=Monet>{{cite magazine| last=Monet| first=Jacques| title=Crown and Country| magazine=Canadian Monarchist News| volume=Summer 2007| issue=26| page=8| location=Toronto| year=2007| url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf| access-date=15 June 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625225416/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2007/Summer_2007_CMN.pdf| archive-date=25 June 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2012|p=9}}</ref>}} Since [[John Cabot]] first lay claim to Canada in the name of Henry VII,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://crht.ca/the-monarchy-and-canadian-independence/| title=The Monarchy and Canadian Independence| publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust| year=2004| access-date=21 October 2013| author1=Bousfield, Arthur| author2=Toffoli, Garry| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022021359/http://crht.ca/the-monarchy-and-canadian-independence/| archive-date=22 October 2013}}</ref> there have been 33 sovereigns of Canada, including two sets of co-sovereigns.<ref name=CRHT>{{cite web| url=http://crht.ca/the-sovereigns-of-canada/| last1=Bousfield| first1=Arthur| last2=Toffoli| first2=Garry| title=The Sovereigns of Canada| publisher=Canadian Royal Heritage Trust| access-date=30 September 2013| archive-date=4 October 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213024/http://crht.ca/the-sovereigns-of-canada/}}</ref><ref name=crown>{{Harvnb|MacLeod|2012|p=78}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|History|Canada|Monarchy|British Empire}}
* [[History of Canada]]
* [[Monarchy in Alberta#History|History of monarchy in Alberta]]
* [[Monarchy in British Columbia#History|History of monarchy in British Columbia]]
* [[Monarchy in Manitoba#History|History of monarchy in Manitoba]]
* [[Monarchy in New Brunswick#History|History of monarchy in New Brunswick]] 
* [[Monarchy in Newfoundland and Labrador#History|History of monarchy in Newfoundland and Labrador]]
* [[Monarchy in Nova Scotia#History|History of monarchy in Nova Scotia]]
* [[Monarchy in Ontario#History|History of monarchy in Ontario]]
* [[Monarchy in Prince Edward Island#History|History of monarchy in Prince Edward Island]]
* [[Monarchy in Quebec#History|History of monarchy in Quebec]]
* [[Monarchy in Saskatchewan#History|History of monarchy in Saskatchewan]]
* [[Monarchism in Canada]]
* [[Republicanism in Canada]]
* [[Royal tours of Canada]]
* [[History of monarchy in Australia]]
* [[History of monarchy in the United Kingdom]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=n|30em}}
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{YouTube|HjJjfYgmp4k|Video of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Canada, 1939}}
* [http://www.nfb.ca/film/royal_journey/ ''Royal Journey'', a 1951 NFB documentary on the Royal Visit by Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh]

{{Canadian monarchy}}
{{Canadian history}}
{{Canada topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Monarchy In Canada}}
[[Category:Fathers of Confederation|Fathers of Confederation]]
[[Category:Commonwealth realms|Canada, monarchy in]]
[[Category:Legal history of Canada]]
[[Category:Monarchy of Canada]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]