title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: Scranton has two private high schools: Scranton Preparatory School, a private Jesuit school, and Yeshiva Bais Moshe, an Ultra Orthodox school. Holy Cross High School in Dunmore is a Catholic high school operated by the Diocese of Scranton that serves students in Scranton and the surrounding area. The diocese also operates several private elementary schools in the city. Protestant schools that serve the Scranton area include Abington Christian Academy, Canaan Christian Academy, The Geneva School, Summit Academy, and Triboro Christian Academy. The Pennsylvania Department of Education provides oversight for the Scranton School for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children. The Scranton State School for the Deaf, a state-run school was replaced by the Scranton School for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: Penn Foster High School, a distance education high school, is headquartered in Scranton. Merakey Education Center is a small private school located in North Scranton.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: Scranton, West Scranton, Scranton Prep and Holy Cross all compete athletically in Pennsylvania's Lackawanna League which is a part of District 2 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: The city hosts five colleges and universities: The University of Scranton, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Johnson College, Lackawanna College, Marywood University, and two technical schools, Fortis Institute and The Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County. The Pennsylvania State University operates a Commonwealth Campus, Penn State Scranton, north of the city, in the borough of Dunmore. LCCC, a community college operating out of Nanticoke in Luzerne County, operates a satellite campus at The Marketplace at Steamtown. Penn Foster Career School, a distance education vocational school, is headquartered in Scranton.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area is the 55th largest U.S. television market. Local television stations include:


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: Local public-access television and government-access television (ECTV) programming is aired on Comcast cable TV channels 19 and 21.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: Scranton hosts the headquarters of Times-Shamrock Communications, which publishes the city's major newspaper, "The Times-Tribune", a Pulitzer Prize-winning broadsheet daily founded in 1870. "Times-Shamrock" also publishes the" Electric City", a weekly entertainment tabloid, and "The Citizens' Voice", a daily tabloid based in Wilkes-Barre. "Times Leader" is a daily paper that primarily covers nearby Wilkes-Barre. The "Times Leader" also publishes "Go Lackawanna", a Sunday newspaper serving Scranton and surrounding municipalities, and the "Weekender" is a Wilkes-Barre-based entertainment tabloid with distribution in Scranton.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: "The Aquinas" is the weekly student newspaper of the University of Scranton. "The Scranton Post" is a weekly general interest broadsheet which bills itself as the city's first online newspaper. There are several other print publications with a more narrow focus, including the "Union News," "La Voz Latina," and "Melanian News."


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: The main highways that serve Scranton are Interstate 81, which runs North to Binghamton, New York and Ontario and south to Wilkes-Barre, Harrisburg and Tennessee; Interstate 84, which runs east to Milford and New England States; Interstate 380, which runs southeast to Pocono Pines and Interstate 80 east to New York City and west to San Francisco; Interstate 476/Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension, which runs south to Allentown and Philadelphia; U.S. Route 6, which runs east to Carbondale/Honesdale and parallel to I-84 to New England States and west to Erie; and U.S. Route 11, which runs parallel to I-81.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: Scranton's provider of public transportation is the County of Lackawanna Transit System (COLTS). COLTS buses provide extensive service within the city and more limited service that reaches in all directions to Carbondale, Daleville, Pittston, and Fleetville. The other bussing company is the Luzerne County Transportation Authority (LCTA), which mainly runs through The Minooka section (closest to Luzerne County) and Downtown Scranton by The Mall at Steamtown. LCTA takes passengers from Scranton to the Mohegan Sun Pocono racino in Plains


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport is located in nearby Avoca. The airport is serviced by American Airlines, Regional Sky and United.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: Martz Trailways and Greyhound Lines provide coach bus transportation from its downtown station to New York City, Philadelphia and other places in the Northeast.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: Private operators such as Posten Taxi and McCarthy Flowered Cabs service the Scranton area. They are hired by telephone through central dispatch and cannot be hailed on the street as in larger cities.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: Rail transportation, in both freight and passenger, were vital to the city's historic growth. The city was a hub, serving the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), the Delaware and Hudson Railway, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DLW), the Erie Railroad, and the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad (LWV), with routes radiating in all directions, to New York State's Southern Tier, to several points in Pennsylvania, and to parts in northern New Jersey. The CNJ station and the DLW station were the last to lose passenger service, in the early 1950s and in 1970, respectively.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: The Norfolk Southern Railway runs freight trains on the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (DL&W) line between Scranton and Binghamton, having taken over operations from the Canadian Pacific Railway (Delaware and Hudson Railway division) in 2015. The Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad serves the former DL&W Keyser Valley branch in the city.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad, as designated operator of county-owned rail lines, oversees the former Delaware and Hudson line from Scranton north to Carbondale, the former DL&W line east to the Delaware Water Gap and the former Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad third-rail interurban streetcar line south to Montage Mountain, Moosic and the Minooka Industrial Track. These lines host the seasonal passenger trains of both the Steamtown National Historic Site and the Electric City Trolley Museum and are under the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: The PNRRA was created by Lackawanna County and Monroe County to oversee the use of common rail freight lines in Northeastern Pennsylvania, including one formerly owned by Conrail running from Scranton, through the Pocono Mountains towards New Jersey and the New York City market.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: One of its primary objectives is to re-establish rail passenger service to Hoboken, New Jersey and thence by connection to New York.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: Indeed, regular passenger train service to Scranton is slated to be restored under a plan to extend NJ Transit service from Hoboken via the Lackawanna Cut-Off. That project is ongoing as rail is being laid down in New Jersey. The trains would pass the Lackawanna Station building and pull in at a new Scranton station on Lackawanna Avenue along the northernmost track east of Bridge 60 (the railroad bridge over the Lackawanna River) and the Cliff Street underpass.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: The Bureau of Fire was incorporated as a paid service in 1901. It is a full-time service consisting of about 139 firefighters. Its headquarters is on Mulberry Street in Central City. The fire department has seven operating fire stations. It has nine firefighting vehicles, including five engines, two trucks (ladders), one rescue, and an assistant chief's vehicle.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: Police headquarters is located on North Washington Avenue in downtown Scranton. Special Units include Arson Investigations, Auto Theft Task Force, Child Abuse Investigation, Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Investigation, Juvenile Unit, Special Investigations Unit, Special Operations Group (SWAT/SOG), Canine Unit, Community Development and Highway Unit. The Police department has recently opened two new satellite stations. The Highway Unit was relocated to one new station at N. Keyser Ave & Morgan Highway. The second was opened at the Valley View Housing complex. There are plans for at least one more, and possibly two.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: The Harry Chapin song "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" is about an actual fatal 1965 accident in Scranton, where a driver hauling bananas lost control of his truck as it barreled down Moosic Street.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: The film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award winning play, That Championship Season, is set in and was filmed in Scranton.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: The city is home to the Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Company, which was the inspiration for a branch of the fictional paper company Dunder Mifflin on NBC's series "The Office". The Scranton branch is the setting for the majority of the show's episodes.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: The city was the setting of the home of Roy Munson (portrayed by Woody Harrelson) in the 1996 American sports comedy "Kingpin". The scenes were shot in Pittsburgh as a stand in for Scranton.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: The city is imagined as a member of the class of interstellar Okies in James Blish's 1962 novel, "A Life for the Stars", in which 2273 AD Scranton, equipped with a space drive, flies away and leaves an impoverished Earth behind.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: In 2017, Scranton got national recognition from late night television host John Oliver when he made jokes about how infatuated Scranton community members were with the little train that runs during the weather reports on Scranton's ABC-affiliated TV station WNEP-TV. The train had been featured in multiple of their Talkback16 segments. After a follow-up segment, Oliver donated a train set to WNEP. It was too big for their backyard, so they donated it to The Electric City Trolley Museum.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: Musician John Legend was the head of the music department and choir director of Scranton's Bethel AME Church from 1995-2004.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: Lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith wrote the song, Winter Wonderland, while being treated at the West Mountain Sanitarium in Scranton for tuberculosis.


title: Scranton, Pennsylvania

text: American singer, actress and television personality Cher lived in Scranton as a baby and spent time at a Catholic orphanage in the city run by the Sisters of Mercy. Cher wrote about the experience in the song, Sisters of Mercy.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Ingram Cecil Connor III (November 5, 1946 – September 19, 1973) who was known professionally as Gram Parsons, was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist who recorded as a solo artist and with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, popularizing what he called "Cosmic American Music", a hybrid of country, rhythm and blues, soul, folk, and rock.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Parsons was born in Winter Haven, Florida, and developed an interest in country music while attending Harvard University. He founded the International Submarine Band in 1966, but the group disbanded prior to the 1968 release of its debut album, "Safe at Home". Parsons joined the Byrds in early 1968 and played a pivotal role in the making of the "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" album, a seminal album in the country rock genre. After leaving the group in late 1968, Parsons and fellow Byrd Chris Hillman formed The Flying Burrito Brothers in 1969; the band released its debut, "The Gilded Palace of Sin", the same year. The album was well received but failed commercially. After a sloppy cross-country tour, the band hastily recorded "Burrito Deluxe". Parsons was fired from the band before the album's release in early 1970. Parsons spent the first half of 1971 with Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, living in his French villa Nellcôte during the recording sessions for "Exile on Main Street", though he contributed very little to the recording process itself. After traveling around Britain with friends in late 1971, he was treated for heroin addiction and returned to the U.S., where he was introduced to Emmylou Harris, who assisted him on vocals for his first solo record, "GP", released in 1973. Although it received enthusiastic reviews, the release failed to chart. His health deteriorated due to several years of drug abuse culminating in his death from a toxic combination of morphine and alcohol in 1973 at the age of 26. A posthumous solo album, "Grievous Angel", peaked at number 195 on the "Billboard" chart.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Parsons's relatively short career was described by AllMusic as "enormously influential" for country and rock, "blending the two genres to the point that they became indistinguishable from each other." He has been credited with helping to found the country rock and alt-country genres. His posthumous honors include the Americana Music Association "President's Award" for 2003 and a ranking at No. 87 on "Rolling Stone"'s list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time."


title: Gram Parsons

text: Ingram Cecil Connor III was born on November 5, 1946, in Winter Haven, Florida, to Ingram Cecil "Coon Dog" (1917–1958) and Avis (née Snively) Connor (1923–1965). The Connors normally resided at their main residence in Waycross, Georgia, but Avis returned to her hometown in Florida to give birth. She was the daughter of citrus fruit magnate John A. Snively, who held extensive properties in Winter Haven and in Waycross. Gram's father, Ingram Connor II was a famous World War II flying ace, decorated with the Air Medal, who was present at the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Biographer David Meyer characterized these parents as loving; he wrote in "Twenty Thousand Roads" that they are "remembered as affectionate parents and a loving couple".


title: Gram Parsons

text: However, he also notes that "unhappiness was eating away at the Connor family": Avis suffered from depression, and both parents were alcoholics. Ingram Connor II died by suicide two days before Christmas in 1958, devastating the 12-year-old Gram and his younger sister, also named Avis. Avis subsequently married Robert Parsons, who adopted Gram and his sister; they took his surname.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Gram Parsons briefly attended the prestigious Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, before transferring to the public Winter Haven High School; after failing his junior year, he returned to Bolles. For a time, the family found a stability of sorts. They were torn apart in early 1965, when Robert became embroiled in an extramarital affair and Avis' heavy drinking led to her death from cirrhosis on June 5, 1965, the day of Gram's graduation from Bolles.


title: Gram Parsons

text: As his family was disintegrating around him, Parsons developed strong musical interests, particularly after seeing Elvis Presley perform in concert on February 22, 1956, in Waycross. Five years later, barely in his teens, he played in rock and roll cover bands such as the Pacers and the Legends, headlining in clubs owned by his stepfather in the Winter Haven/Polk County area. By the age of 16, he graduated to folk music, and in 1963 he teamed up with his first professional outfit, the Shilohs, in Greenville, South Carolina. Heavily influenced by The Kingston Trio and The Journeymen, the band played hootenannies, coffee houses and high school auditoriums; as Parsons was still enrolled in prep school, he performed with the group only in select engagements. Forays into New York City (where Parsons briefly lived with a female folk singer in a loft on Houston Street) included a performance at Florida's exhibition in the 1964 New York World's Fair and regular appearances at the Café Rafio on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village in the summer of 1964. Although John Phillips (an acquaintance of Shiloh George Wrigley) arranged an exploratory meeting with Albert Grossman, the impresario balked at booking the group for a Christmas engagement at The Bitter End when he discovered that the Shilohs were still high school students. Following a recording session at the radio station of Bob Jones University, the group reached a creative impasse amid the emergence of folk rock and dissolved in the spring of 1965.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Despite his middling grades and test scores, Parsons was admitted to Harvard University's class of 1966 on the basis of a strong admissions essay (or, more likely, because his family was rich - his grandfather owned one-third of all the citrus orchards in Florida). Although he claimed to have studied theology (an oblique reference to his close friendship with his residential tutor, Harvard Divinity School graduate student Jet Thomas) in subsequent interviews, Parsons seldom attended his general education courses before departing in early 1966 after one semester. He did not become seriously interested in country music until his time at Harvard, where he heard Merle Haggard for the first time.


title: Gram Parsons

text: In 1966, he and other musicians from the Boston folk scene formed a group called the International Submarine Band. After briefly residing in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, they relocated to Los Angeles the following year. Following several lineup changes, the band signed to Lee Hazlewood's LHI Records, where they spent late 1967 recording "Safe at Home". The album contains one of Parsons' best-known songs, "Luxury Liner," and an early version of "Do You Know How It Feels," which he revised later in his career. "Safe at Home" would remain unreleased until mid-1968, by which time the International Submarine Band had broken up.


title: Gram Parsons

text: By 1968, Parsons had come to the attention of the Byrds' bassist, Chris Hillman, via business manager Larry Spector as a possible replacement band member following the departures of David Crosby and Michael Clarke from the group in late 1967. Parsons had been acquainted with Hillman since the pair had met in a bank during 1967 and in February 1968 he passed an audition for the band, being initially recruited as a jazz pianist but soon switching to rhythm guitar and vocals as well.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Although Parsons was an equal contributor to the band, he was not regarded as a full member of the Byrds by the band's record label, Columbia Records. Consequently, when the Byrds' Columbia recording contract was renewed on February 29, 1968, it was only original members Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman who signed it. Parsons, like fellow new recruit Kevin Kelley, was hired as a sideman and received a salary from McGuinn and Hillman. In later years, this led Hillman to state, "Gram was hired. He was not a member of the Byrds, ever. He was on salary; that was the only way we could get him to turn up." However, these comments overlook the fact that Parsons, like Kelley, was considered a bona fide member of the band during 1968 and, as such, was given equal billing alongside McGuinn, Hillman, and Kelley on the "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" album and in contemporary press coverage of the band.


title: Gram Parsons

text: "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" was originally conceived by band leader Roger McGuinn as a sprawling, double album history of American popular music. It was to begin with bluegrass music, then move through country and western, jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock music, before finally ending with the most advanced (for the time) form of electronic music. However, as recording plans were made, Parsons exerted a controlling influence over the group, persuading the other members to leave Los Angeles and record the album in Nashville, Tennessee. Along the way, McGuinn's original album concept was jettisoned in favor of a fully fledged country project, which included Parsons' songs such as "One Hundred Years from Now" and "Hickory Wind", along with compositions by Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Merle Haggard, and others.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Recording sessions for "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" commenced at Columbia Records' recording studios in the Music Row area of Nashville on March 9, 1968. Midway through, the sessions moved to Columbia Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles. They finally came to a close on May 27, 1968. However, Parsons was still under contract to LHI Records and consequently, Hazlewood contested Parsons' appearance on the album and threatened legal action. As a result, McGuinn ended up replacing three of Parsons' lead vocals with his own singing on the finished album, a move that still rankled Parsons as late as 1973, when he told Cameron Crowe in an interview that McGuinn "erased it and did the vocals himself and fucked it up." However, Parsons is still featured as lead vocalist on the songs "You're Still on My Mind", "Life in Prison", and "Hickory Wind".


title: Gram Parsons

text: While in England with the Byrds in the summer of 1968, Parsons left the band due to his concerns over a planned concert tour of South Africa, and after speaking to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards about the tour, he cited opposition to that country's apartheid policies. There has been some doubt expressed by Hillman over the sincerity of Parsons' protest. It appears that Parsons was mostly apolitical, although he did refer to one of the younger African-American butlers in the Connor household as being "like a brother" to him in an interview. During this period Parsons became acquainted with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. Before Parsons' departure from the Byrds, he had accompanied the two Rolling Stones to Stonehenge (along with McGuinn and Hillman) in the English county of Wiltshire. Immediately after leaving the band, Parsons stayed at Richards' house and the pair developed a close friendship over the next few years, with Parsons reintroducing the guitarist to country music. According to Stones' confidant and close friend of Parsons, Phil Kaufman, the two would sit around for hours playing obscure country records and trading off on various songs with their guitars.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Returning to Los Angeles, Parsons sought out Hillman, and the two formed The Flying Burrito Brothers with bassist Chris Ethridge and pedal steel player Sneaky Pete Kleinow. Their 1969 album "The Gilded Palace of Sin" marked the culmination of Parsons' post-1966 musical vision: a modernized variant of the Bakersfield sound that was popularized by Buck Owens amalgamated with strands of soul and psychedelic rock. The band appeared on the album cover wearing Nudie suits emblazoned with all sorts of hippie accoutrements, including marijuana, Tuinal, and Seconal-inspired patches on Parsons' suit. Along with the Parsons-Hillman originals "Christine's Tune" and "Sin City" were versions of the soul music classics "The Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman", the latter featuring David Crosby on high harmony. The album's original songs were the result of a very productive songwriting partnership between Parsons and Hillman, who were sharing a bachelor pad in the San Fernando Valley during this period. The atypically pronounced (for Parsons) gospel-soul influence on this album likely evolved from the ecumenical tastes of bassist Chris Ethridge (who co-wrote "Hot Burrito No. 1 [I'm Your Toy]" and "Hot Burrito No. 2" with Parsons) and frequent jamming with Delaney & Bonnie and Richards during the album's gestation.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Original drummer Eddie Hoh (best known for his work with The Monkees and Al Kooper) proved to be unable to perform adequate takes due to an incipient substance abuse problem and was dismissed after two songs, leading the group to record the remainder of the album with a variety of session drummers, including former International Submarine Band drummer Jon Corneal (who briefly joined the group as an official member, appearing on a plurality of the tracks) and Popeye Phillips of Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. Before commencing live performances, the group ultimately settled upon original Byrds drummer Michael Clarke. Technically different in comparison to his predecessors, Clarke's striking physical appearance proved to be the primary criterion in this decision; an associate of the band would later recall that "the Burritos had to be pretty" and "Corneal didn't fit" from that standpoint.


title: Gram Parsons

text: While unsuccessful from a commercial standpoint, the album was measured by rock critic Robert Christgau as "an ominous, obsessive, tongue-in-cheek country-rock synthesis, absorbing rural and urban, traditional and contemporary, at point of impact." Embarking on a cross-country tour via train, as Parsons suffered from periodic bouts of fear of flying, the group squandered most of their money in a perpetual poker game and received bewildered reactions in most cities. Parsons was frequently indulging in massive quantities of psilocybin and cocaine, so his performances were erratic at best, while much of the band's repertoire consisted of vintage honky-tonk and soul standards with few originals. Perhaps the most successful appearance occurred in Philadelphia, where the group opened for the reconstituted Byrds. Midway through their set, Parsons joined the headline act and fronted his former group on renditions of "Hickory Wind" and "You Don't Miss Your Water". The other Burritos surfaced with the exception of Clarke, and the joint aggregation played several songs, including "Long Black Veil" and "Goin' Back".


title: Gram Parsons

text: The Flying Burrito Brothers appeared at the Sky River Rock Festival near Sultan, Washington, at the end of August.


title: Gram Parsons

text: After returning to Los Angeles, the group recorded "The Train Song", written during an increasingly infrequent songwriting session on the train and produced by 1950s R&B legends Larry Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson. Despite a request from the Burritos that the remnants of their publicity budget be diverted to promotion of the single, it also flopped. During this period, Ethridge realized that he did not share Parsons' and Hillman's affinity for country music, precipitating his departure shortly thereafter. He was replaced by lead guitarist Bernie Leadon, while Hillman reverted to bass.


title: Gram Parsons

text: By this time, Parsons's own use of drugs had increased so much that new songs were rare and much of his time was diverted to partying with the Stones, who briefly relocated to America in the summer of 1969 to finish their forthcoming "Let It Bleed" album and prepare for an autumn cross-country tour, their first series of regular live engagements in over two years. As the Stones prepared to play the nation's largest basketball arenas and early stadium concerts, the Burritos played to dwindling nightclub audiences; on one occasion, Jagger had to beseech Parsons to fulfill an obligation to his group. As Parsons "became a trust-fund baby when he came of age," he was still receiving about $30,000 per year (equivalent to $210,000 in 2018) from his family trust during this period, "distinguishing him from his many hungry, hard-scrabble peers."


title: Gram Parsons

text: However, the singer's dedication to the Rolling Stones was rewarded when the Burrito Brothers were booked as one of the acts at the infamous Altamont Music Festival. Playing a short set including "Six Days on the Road" and "Bony Moronie," Parsons left on one of the final helicopters and attempted to seduce Michelle Phillips. "Six Days..." was included in "Gimme Shelter", a documentary of the event.


title: Gram Parsons

text: With mounting debt incurred, A&M hoped to recoup some of their losses by marketing the Burritos as a straight country group. To this end, manager Jim Dickson instigated a loose session where the band recorded several honky tonk staples from their live act, contemporary pop covers in a countrified vein ("To Love Somebody", "Lodi", "I Shall Be Released", "Honky Tonk Women"), and Larry Williams' "Bony Moronie." This was soon scrapped in favor of a second album of originals on an extremely reduced budget.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Faced with a dearth of new material, most of the album was hastily written in the studio by Leadon, Hillman, and Parsons, with two "Gilded Palace of Sin" outtakes thrown into the mix. The resulting album, entitled "Burrito Deluxe", was released in April 1970. Although it is considered less inspired than its predecessor, it is notable for the Parsons-Hillman-Leadon song "Older Guys" and for its take on Jagger and Richards' "Wild Horses", the first recording released of this famous song. Parsons was inspired to cover the song after hearing an advance tape of the "Sticky Fingers" track sent to Kleinow, who was scheduled to overdub a pedal steel part; although Kleinow's part was not included on the released Rolling Stones version, it is available on bootlegs. Ultimately—and to the chagrin of Hillman, who was not keen on the song amid the band's creative malaise—Jagger and Richards consented to the cover version.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Like its predecessor, "Burrito Deluxe" underperformed commercially but also failed to carry the critical cachet of the debut. Disenchanted with the band, Parsons left the Burritos in mutual agreement with Hillman, who was long fatigued by his friend's unprofessionalism. Under Hillman's direction, the group recorded one more studio album before dissolving in the autumn of 1971.


title: Gram Parsons

text: In a recent interview with "American Songwriter" Chris Hillman explained that "[t]he greatest legacy of the Flying Burrito Brothers and Gram is we were the alternative country band. We couldn't get on country radio and we couldn't get on rock radio! We were the outlaw country band for a brief period."


title: Gram Parsons

text: Parsons signed a solo deal with A&M Records and moved in with producer Terry Melcher in early 1970. Melcher, who had worked with the Byrds and the Beach Boys, was a member of the successful duo Bruce & Terry, also known as The Rip Chords. The two shared a mutual penchant for cocaine and heroin, and as a result, the sessions were largely unproductive, with Parsons eventually losing interest in the project. "Terry loved Gram and wanted to produce him ... But neither of them could get anything done," recalled writer and mutual friend Eve Babitz. "Long lost, the tapes from this session have gathered a legendary patina," writes David Meyer. The recording stalled, and the master tapes were checked out, but there is conflict as to whether "Gram ... or Melcher took them".


title: Gram Parsons

text: He then accompanied the Rolling Stones on their 1971 U.K. tour in the hope of being signed to the newly formed Rolling Stones Records; by this juncture, Parsons and Richards had mulled the possibility of recording a duo album. Moving into Villa Nellcôte with the guitarist during the sessions for "Exile on Main Street" that commenced thereafter, Parsons remained in a consistently incapacitated state and frequently quarreled with his girlfriend, aspiring actress Gretchen Burrell. Eventually, Parsons was asked to leave by Anita Pallenberg, Richards' longtime domestic partner. Decades later, Richards suggested in his memoir that Jagger may have been the impetus for Parsons' departure because Richards was spending so much time playing music with Parsons. Rumors have persisted that he appears somewhere on the legendary album, and while Richards concedes that it is very likely he is among the chorus of singers on "Sweet Virginia", this has never been substantiated. Parsons attempted to rekindle his relationship with the band on their 1972 American tour to no avail.


title: Gram Parsons

text: After leaving the Stones' camp, Parsons married Burrell in 1971 at his stepfather's New Orleans estate. Allegedly, the relationship was far from stable, with Burrell cutting a needy and jealous figure while Parsons quashed her burgeoning film career. Many of the singer's closest associates and friends claim that Parsons was preparing to commence divorce proceedings at the time of his death; the couple had already separated by this point.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Parsons and Burrell enjoyed the most idyllic time of their relationship in the second half of 1971, visiting old cohorts like Ian Dunlop and Family/Blind Faith/Traffic member Ric Grech in England. With the assistance of Grech and one of the bassist's friends, a doctor who also dabbled in country music and is now known as Hank Wangford, Parsons eventually stopped taking heroin; a previous treatment suggested by William Burroughs proved unsuccessful.


title: Gram Parsons

text: He returned to the US for a one-off concert with the Burritos, and at Hillman's request went to hear Emmylou Harris sing in a small club in Washington, D.C. They befriended each other and, within a year, he asked her to join him in Los Angeles for another attempt to record his first solo album. It came as a surprise to many when Parsons was enthusiastically signed to Reprise Records by Mo Ostin in mid-1972. The ensuing "GP" (1973) featured several members of Elvis Presley's TCB Band, led by lead guitarist James Burton. It included six new songs from a creatively revitalized Parsons alongside several country covers, including Tompall Glaser's "Streets of Baltimore" and George Jones' "That's All It Took".


title: Gram Parsons

text: Parsons, by now featuring Harris as his duet partner, toured across the United States as Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels in February–March 1973. Unable to afford the services of the TCB Band for a month, the group featured the talents of Colorado-based rock guitarist Jock Bartley (soon to climb to fame with Firefall), veteran Nashville session musician Neil Flanz on pedal steel, eclectic bassist Kyle Tullis (best known for his work with Dolly Parton and Larry Coryell) and former Mountain drummer N.D. Smart. The touring party also included Gretchen Parsons—by this point extremely envious of Harris—and Harris' young daughter. Coordinating the spectacle as road manager was Phil Kaufman, who had served time with Charles Manson on Terminal Island in the mid-sixties and first met Parsons while working for the Stones in 1968. Kaufman ensured that the performer stayed away from substance abuse, limiting his alcohol intake during shows and throwing out any drugs smuggled into hotel rooms. At first, the band was under-rehearsed and played poorly; however, they improved markedly with steady gigging and received rapturous responses at several leading countercultural venues, including Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas, Max's Kansas City in New York City, and Liberty Hall in Houston, Texas (where Neil Young and Linda Ronstadt sat in for a filmed performance). According to a number of sources, it was Harris who forced the band to practice and work up an actual set list. Nevertheless, the tour failed to galvanize sales of "GP", which never charted in the "Billboard" 200.


title: Gram Parsons

text: For his next and final album, 1974's posthumously released "Grievous Angel", he again used Harris and members of the TCB Band for the sessions. The record generally received more enthusiastic reviews than its predecessor, "GP". Although Parsons only contributed two new songs to the album ("In My Hour of Darkness" and "Return of the Grievous Angel"), he was reportedly enthused with his new sound and seemed to have finally adopted a diligent mindset to his musical career, limiting his intake of alcohol and opiates during most of the sessions.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Before recording, Parsons and Harris played a preliminary four-show mini-tour as the headline act in a June 1973 Warner Brothers country rock package with the New Kentucky Colonels and Country Gazette. A shared backing band included former Byrds lead guitarist and Kentucky Colonel Clarence White, Pete Kleinow, and Chris Ethridge. On July 15, 1973, White was killed by a drunk driver in Palmdale, California, while loading equipment in his car for a concert with the New Kentucky Colonels. At White's funeral, Parsons and Bernie Leadon launched into an impromptu touching rendition of "Farther Along"; that evening, Parsons reportedly informed Phil Kaufman of his final wish: to be cremated in Joshua Tree. Despite the almost insurmountable setback, Parsons, Harris, and the other musicians decided to continue with plans for a fall tour.


title: Gram Parsons

text: In the summer of 1973, Parsons' Topanga Canyon home burned to the ground, the result of a stray cigarette. Nearly all of his possessions were destroyed with the exception of a guitar and a prized Jaguar automobile. The fire proved to be the last straw in the relationship between Burrell and Parsons, who moved into a spare room in Kaufman's house. While not recording, he frequently hung out and jammed with members of New Jersey–based country rockers Quacky Duck and His Barnyard Friends and the proto-punk Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers, who were represented by former Byrds manager Eddie Tickner.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Before formally breaking up with Burrell, Parsons already had a woman waiting in the wings. While recording, he saw a photo of a beautiful woman at a friend's home and was instantly smitten. The woman turned out to be Margaret Fisher, a high school sweetheart of the singer from his Waycross, Georgia, days. Like Parsons, Fisher had drifted west and became established in the Bay Area rock scene. A meeting was arranged and the two instantly rekindled their relationship, with Fisher dividing her weeks between Los Angeles and San Francisco at Parsons' expense.


title: Gram Parsons

text: In the late 1960s, Parsons became enamored of and began to vacation at Joshua Tree National Park (then a National Monument) in southeastern California, where he frequently used psychedelics and reportedly experienced several UFO sightings. After splitting from Burrell, Parsons often spent his weekends in the area with Margaret Fisher and Phil Kaufman, with whom he had been living. Scheduled to resume touring in October 1973, Parsons decided to go on another recuperative excursion on September 17. Accompanying him were Fisher, personal assistant Michael Martin, and Martin's girlfriend Dale McElroy. Kaufman later said that Parsons' attorney was preparing divorce papers to serve to Burrell while Parsons remained in Joshua Tree on September 20.


title: Gram Parsons

text: During the trip, Parsons often retreated to the desert, while the group visited bars in the nearby hamlet of Yucca Valley, California, on both nights of their stay. Parsons consumed large amounts of alcohol and barbiturates. On September 18, Martin drove back to Los Angeles to resupply the group with marijuana. That night, after challenging Fisher and McElroy to drink with him (Fisher didn't like alcohol and McElroy was recovering from a bout of hepatitis), he said, "I'll drink for the three of us," and proceeded to drink six double tequilas. They then returned to the Joshua Tree Inn, where Parsons purchased morphine from an unknown young woman. After being injected by her in room #1, he overdosed. Fisher gave Parsons an ice-cube suppository and, later, a cold shower. Instead of moving Parsons around the room, she put him to bed in room #8 and went out to buy coffee in the hope of reviving him, leaving McElroy to stand watch. As his respirations became irregular and later ceased, McElroy attempted resuscitation. Her efforts failed and Fisher, watching from outside, was visibly alarmed. After further failed attempts, they decided to call an ambulance. Parsons was declared dead on arrival at Yucca Valley Hospital at 12:15 a.m. on September 19, 1973, in Yucca Valley. The official cause of death was an overdose of morphine and alcohol.


title: Gram Parsons

text: According to Fisher in the 2005 biography "Grievous Angel: An Intimate Biography of Gram Parsons," the amount of morphine consumed by Parsons would be lethal to three regular users; thus, he had likely overestimated his tolerance in light of his diminished intake despite his extensive experience with opiates. Keith Richards stated in the 2004 documentary film "Fallen Angel" that Parsons understood the danger of combining opiates and alcohol and should have known better. Upon Parsons' death, Fisher and McElroy were returned to Los Angeles by Kaufman, who dispersed the remnants of Parsons' drugs in the desert.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Before his death, Parsons stated that he wanted his body cremated at Joshua Tree and his ashes spread over Cap Rock, a prominent natural feature there. However, Parsons' stepfather Bob organized a private ceremony back in New Orleans and neglected to invite any of his friends from the music industry. Two accounts state that Bob Parsons stood to inherit Gram's share of his grandfather's estate if he could prove that Gram was a resident of Louisiana, explaining his eagerness to have him buried there.


title: Gram Parsons

text: To fulfill Parsons' funeral wishes, Kaufman and a friend stole his body from Los Angeles International Airport and in a borrowed hearse, they drove it to Joshua Tree. Upon reaching the Cap Rock section of the park, they attempted to cremate Parsons' body by pouring five gallons of gasoline into the open coffin and throwing a lit match inside. What resulted was an enormous fireball. The police gave chase but, as one account puts it, the men "were unencumbered by sobriety," and they escaped. Another telling indicates that the police did not "give chase", but that Kaufman and friend were presumably arrested for an "open-container/motor-vehicle" violation and/or suspected DUI, and somehow escaped that arrest.


title: Gram Parsons

text: The two were arrested several days later. Since there was no law against stealing a dead body, they were only fined $750 for stealing the coffin and were not prosecuted for leaving of his charred remains in the desert. What remained of Parsons' body was eventually buried in Garden of Memories Cemetery in Metairie, Louisiana.


title: Gram Parsons

text: The site of Parsons' cremation is today known as The Cap Rock Parking Lot. A local myth brings Parsons fans out to a large rock flake known to rock climbers as "The Gram Parsons Memorial Hand Traverse". This myth was popularized when someone added a slab that marked Parsons' cremation to the memorial rock. The slab has since been removed by the U.S. National Park Service, and relocated to the Joshua Tree Inn. There is no monument at Cap Rock noting Parsons' cremation at the site. Joshua Tree park guides are given the option to tell the story of Parsons' cremation during tours, but there is no mention of the act in official maps or brochures. Fans regularly assemble simple rock structures and writings on the rock, which the park service periodically remove.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic describes Parsons as "enormously influential" for both country and rock, "blending the two genres to the point that they became indistinguishable from each other. ... His influence could still be heard well into the next millennium." In his 2005 essay on Parsons for "Rolling Stone" magazine's "100 Greatest Artist" list, Keith Richards notes that Parsons' recorded music output was "pretty minimal." Nevertheless, Richards claims that Parsons' "effect on country music is enormous" and adds that this is "why we're talking about him now."


title: Gram Parsons

text: The 2003 film "Grand Theft Parsons" stars Johnny Knoxville as Phil Kaufman and chronicles a farcical version of the theft of Parsons' corpse. In 2006, the Gandulf Hennig-directed documentary film titled "Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel" was released.


title: Gram Parsons

text: Emmylou Harris has continued to champion Parsons' work throughout her career, covering a number of his songs over the years, including "Hickory Wind", "Wheels", "Sin City", "Luxury Liner", and "Hot Burrito No. 2". Harris's songs "Boulder to Birmingham", from her 1975 album "Pieces of the Sky", and "The Road", from her 2011 album "Hard Bargain", are tributes to Parsons. In addition, her 1985 album "The Ballad of Sally Rose" is an original concept album that includes many allusions to Parsons in its narrative. The song "My Man", written by Bernie Leadon and performed by the Eagles on their album "On the Border", is a tribute to Gram Parsons. Both Leadon and Parsons were members of the Flying Burrito Brothers during the late 1960s and early 1970s.


title: Gram Parsons

text: The 1973 album "Crazy Eyes" by Poco pays homage to Parsons, as Richie Furay composed the title track in honor of him, and sings one of Parsons' own compositions, "Brass Buttons." The album was released four days before Parsons died.


title: Gram Parsons

text: A music festival called Gram Fest or the Cosmic American Music Festival was held annually in honor of Parsons in Joshua Tree, California, between 1996 and 2006. The show featured tunes written by Gram Parsons and Gene Clark as well as influential songs and musical styles from other artists that were part of that era. Performers were also encouraged to showcase their own material. The underlying theme of the event is to inspire the performers to take these musical styles to the next level of the creative process. Past concerts have featured such notable artists as Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Chris Ethridge, Spooner Oldham, John Molo, Jack Royerton, Gib Guilbeau, Counting Crows, Bob Warford, Rosie Flores, David Lowery, Barry and Holly Tashian, George Tomsco, Jann Browne, Lucinda Williams, Polly Parsons, The "Road Mangler" Phil Kaufman, Ben Fong-Torres, Victoria Williams, Mark Olson, and Sid Griffin, as well as a variety of many other bands that had played over the two or three day event. In addition, the Gram Parsons Tribute, in Waycross, Georgia, is a music festival remembering Parsons in the town in which he grew up. Additional tributes spring up every year, the latest being the Southern California "Gram On!" celebration by The Rickenbastards in July, 2013, celebrating the life and legacy of a simple country boy with a dream, Gram Parsons.


title: Gram Parsons

text: In February 2008, Gram's protégée, Emmylou Harris, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Despite his influence, however, Parsons has yet to be inducted. Radley Balko has written that "Parsons may be the most influential artist yet to be inducted to either the Rock and Roll or Country Music Hall(s) of Fame. And it's a damned shame." The Gram Parsons Petition Project (now Gram ParsonsInterNational) was begun in May 2008 in support of an ongoing drive to induct Parsons into the Country Music Hall of Fame. On September 19, 2008, the 35th anniversary of Parsons' death, it was first presented to the Country Music Association (CMA) and Hall as a "List of Supporters" together with the official Nomination Proposal. The online List of Supporters reached 10,000 on the 40th anniversary of his death, with more than 14,000 currently listed. Annual Gram Parsons InterNational concerts in Nashville and various other cities, now in the 14th year, support the petition cause.


title: Gram Parsons

text: In November 2009, the musical theatre production "Grievous Angel: The Legend of Gram Parsons" premiered, starring Anders Drerup as Gram Parsons and Kelly Prescott as Emmylou Harris. Directed by Michael Bate and co-written by Bate and David McDonald, the production was inspired by a March 1973 interview that Bate conducted with Parsons, which became Parsons' last recorded conversation.


title: Gram Parsons

text: In 2012, Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit released the single "Emmylou" from the album "The Lion's Roar". The song's chorus is a lyrical acknowledgment of the Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris singing partnership, and to the romantic relationship between them that never fully developed before his death.


title: Gram Parsons

text: In the fall of 2012 Florida festival promoter and musician Randy Judy presented his bio-musical "Farther Along – The Music and Life of Gram Parsons" at Magnoliafest at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as "The Royle Family" (1999–2000), "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps" (2001–2009), "Gavin & Stacey" (2008–2010), and "Benidorm" (2009). She played the role of Joey Ross on the drama series "Jonathan Creek" (2009–2013) and went on to receive acclaim for starring in a succession of television dramas, such as "Mrs Biggs" (2012), "Cilla" (2014), "The C Word" (2015), "Black Work" (2015), and "The Moorside" (2017). Her feature film credits include "Tower Block" (2012), "Quartet" (2012), and "" (2016).


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Smith has performed in the West End musicals "Little Shop of Horrors" (2007), "Legally Blonde" (2010), "Funny Girl" (2016), and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat" (2019). She released her debut album, "Sheridan", in 2017. Her second album, "A Northern Soul", was released in 2018.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: In late 2006, Smith started voicing Lucie Miller for "Doctor Who", as part of the BBC7 Big Finish audio range, alongside Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor, in the story "Blood of the Daleks".


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Smith performed at "D-Day 75: A Tribute to Heroes" commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings during World War II. She sang "When the Lights Go On Again" twice, the second time as the closing song.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Smith is the recipient of two Laurence Olivier Awards, a British Academy Television Award, a National Television Award and a BPG Award, as well as two International Emmy Award nominations. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to drama.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith was born on 25 June 1981 in Epworth, Lincolnshire, the only daughter of Marylin Smith and the late Colin Smith (1936–2016). Her grandfather was a banjo player in Yorkshire and later played as a trio with his daughters. Smith studied dance at the Joyce Mason School of Dancing from an early age. She later attended South Axholme Comprehensive School; she was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre from 1995 to 2001, performing a number of understudy roles in productions such as "Bugsy Malone", "Pendragon", and "Into the Woods". She completed her further education at John Leggott College in Scunthorpe.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: From 1999 to 2000, Smith played Emma in "The Royle Family". She played Janet Keogh in the long-running series "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps" from 2001 until 2009. In February 2003, she appeared in "Immediate Care", an episode of "The Royal", where she played the part of Francesca Wheeler, a teenage girl who was suffering from leukaemia. In 2004, she made a one-episode appearance in "Mile High" as Suzy, an airport cleaner who impersonates a flight attendant in an attempt to become cabin crew. She also featured in "The Comic Strip"s 2005 episode "Sex Actually" as Angie.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Smith played Cleo Martin in "Love Soup" (2005) and starred as Michelle, a hypocritical nutritionist, in three series of the sitcom "Grownups" (2006–2009). She has also appeared on "The Lenny Henry Show" as M.E. Westmocott, a role spoofing the various medical examiners on "". In the 2009 "Two Pints of Lager" Comic Relief special, which crossed over with "Grownups", she played her characters from both series.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Smith has also appeared in a number of other shows including the BBC's "Eyes Down", in which she played Sandy, and smaller parts in shows such as "The Bill" and "Fat Friends". She featured as Rudi, Smithy's little sister, in the second and third series of the BBC Three sitcom "Gavin & Stacey". She guest starred in the Christmas 2008 episode of "Lark Rise to Candleford". Since 2009, she has played Joey Ross in special seasonal episodes of "Jonathan Creek", namely "The Grinning Man" (2009), "The Judas Tree" (2010), and "The Clue of the Savant's Thumb" (2013). She played Brandy in the third series of "Benidorm".


title: Sheridan Smith

text: During 2010, Smith acted as a mentor to the contestants of the BBC show "Over the Rainbow". Sky Arts' Chekhov Comedy Shorts also featured Smith in 2010 when she starred as Natasha in "The Proposal". She appeared in the 2011 film "Hysteria", about the invention of the vibrator. For the factual hospital series "Bizarre ER", she took over narration duties from Freema Agyeman. She appeared in the 2012 ITV film adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel "The Scapegoat".


title: Sheridan Smith

text: In September 2012 Smith played the title role in "Mrs Biggs", a five-part series on ITV. In 2013, she appeared in the Channel 4 series "Dates". In January 2014, she starred in the two-part BBC drama "The 7.39". In March 2014, she appeared in the ITV crime drama "The Widower" as the first wife of serial killer Malcolm Webster. Later that year, she featured in the series "Who Do You Think You Are?" and played Cilla Black in the three-part ITV drama series "Cilla".


title: Sheridan Smith

text: In 2015 she starred as cancer patient Lisa Lynch in the one-off BBC drama "The C Word" and as policewoman Jo Gillespie in the three-part ITV drama "Black Work", which was nominated for a National Television Award in 2016.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Smith narrated the reality series "" from 2015. The show was nominated for a National Television Award in 2016 but was cancelled after two series. In February 2017, she starred in "The Moorside", a BBC drama based on the kidnapping of Shannon Matthews in 2008.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: She appeared in her own ITV music special in November 2017. Titled "Sheridan", the one-off special presented by Alexander Armstrong saw her performing some of the songs from her album, and talking about her life.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: In December 2017, Smith starred as evil step-mum Sheila in the television adaptation of David Walliams' children's book, "Ratburger". It was broadcast on Sky One. In January 2019, she appeared as Sam in ITV drama series "Cleaning Up".


title: Sheridan Smith

text: In January 2021, Smith appeared as a guest judge in the second series of the BBC drag competition series, "RuPaul's Drag Race UK". Later in 2021, she presented the BBC dog-grooming competition "Pooch Perfect".


title: Sheridan Smith

text: In January 2022, Smith starred as Jenna in "The Teacher", a drama series about a drinking, hard-smoking, hard-living teacher who is accused of sleeping with one of her students. Critics generally were positive of Smith, with one reviewer for "The Independent" praising her performance as "so much flair and vulnerability" and rating the show 4/5 stars. In June 2022, Smith narrated all episodes of Channel 5 docusoap "The Cruise".


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Smith's theatre credits include the musical "Into the Woods" at London's Donmar Warehouse, and Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park. She also played Audrey in the stage production of "Little Shop of Horrors" at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London, from November 2006, with the production then transferring to the Duke of York's Theatre in March 2007. Following a successful run the production moved again at the end of June 2007 to the New Ambassadors Theatre, where its played until September 2007. Smith was nominated for the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her performance in the show.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Smith appeared as Vanessa in "Tinderbox: a Revenge Comedy" by Lucy Kirkwood at the Bush Theatre, Shepherd's Bush, in April 2008. Smith originated the role of Elle Woods in the musical version of "Legally Blonde" in its transfer from Broadway to London's West End in December 2009. Ex-Blue boyband member Duncan James played opposite Smith until June 2010, when he was replaced by Richard Fleeshman. Other cast members Smith has performed alongside include Aoife Mulholland as Brooke, Denise Van Outen as Paulette, Peter Davison as Professor Callahan and Alex Gaumond as Emmett Forrest. Her performance was well received, "The Daily Telegraph" describing her as: "blessed with vitality, warmth, great comic timing and sudden moments of touching vulnerability. She is infinitely more likeable than Reese Witherspoon in the film."


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Smith was originally supposed to leave "Legally Blonde" on 23 October 2010, but she extended her run to 8 January 2011, when Susan McFadden took over the role. For her role in "Legally Blonde", Smith won the WhatsOnStage.com Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She was also nominated for the Evening Standard Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress and was the winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Between March and June 2011, she appeared in Trevor Nunn's production of "Flare Path" at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket as Doris, a former barmaid married to a Polish count in the RAF. The production was part of the playwright Terence Rattigan's centenary year celebrations and also starred Sienna Miller and James Purefoy. For this role she won the 2012 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role, the 2011 Evening Standard Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress and the BroadwayWorld UK Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: As well as her role in "Legally Blonde", Smith also performed the title role in the workshop productions of a new musical adaptation of "Bridget Jones' Diary". On 5 April 2012, it was announced that Smith had decided to pull out of the musical, and would no longer be playing the title role, delaying the production of the show.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: From September to November 2012, Smith played the title role in "Hedda Gabler" at the Old Vic, winning the 2013 Theatregoers' Choice Award for "Best Actress in a Leading Role" in a Play. Shortly before collecting her award at the ceremony on 17 February 2013, Smith performed the original song "Stagey and Proud", which was written by Chris Passey and Amy Carroll.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: From September to November 2013, she starred alongside David Walliams in a West End production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", as part of Michael Grandage's season of plays at the Noël Coward Theatre.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Smith starred in a new London production of the musical "Funny Girl". It previewed at the Menier Chocolate Factory from 20 November 2015, opened on 2 December and ran until 6 March 2016. The show then transferred to the Savoy Theatre in the West End for a 12-week run, but extended through 8 October 2016. Sheridan Smith states in "The Stage" that she is married to the job. Smith continued with the role throughout its UK Tour.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Smith played the Narrator in a new production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the London Palladium over the 2019 summer season with Jason Donovan as The Pharaoh and Jac Yarrow as Joseph.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Smith played companion Lucie Miller alongside Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor in a radio series of "Doctor Who", produced by Big Finish and transmitted on BBC 7 from New Year's Eve 2006; the plays returned in a second series released on CD and scheduled for BBC 7 broadcast. A third series of adventures for Lucie and the Doctor aired in March 2009, as weekly half-hour downloads followed by a Christmas Special. Lucie Miller made her final appearances in the fourth series, ending in 2011. She also narrated two "Big Finish Short Trips" stories, "The Curse of the Fugue" and "Flashpoint." Smith has reprised her role as Lucie Miller opposite McGann's Eighth Doctor in "", released in July 2019. Smith also appeared as Ruby Ruggles in the 2008 radio serial "The Way We Live Right Now", and took over the role of Tamsin Trelawny in series 2 of "Elephants to Catch Eels" on BBC Radio 4.


title: Sheridan Smith

text: Smith has spoken about her anxiety, panic attacks, and difficulties with alcohol. She was in a relationship with Jamie Horn, an insurance broker, between 2018 and 2021. Together they have a son, born in May 2020.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the foundation of the executive (King-in-Council), legislative (King-in-Parliament), and judicial (King-on-the-Bench) branches of both federal and provincial jurisdictions. The king of Canada since 8 September 2022 has been Charles III.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Although the person of the sovereign is shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled "King of Canada" and, in this capacity, he and other members of the royal family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of Canada. However, the monarch is the only member of the royal family with any constitutional role. The monarch lives predominantly in the United Kingdom and, while several powers are the sovereign's alone, most of the royal governmental and ceremonial duties in Canada are carried out by the monarch's representative, the governor general of Canada. In Canada's provinces, the monarch in right of each is represented by a lieutenant governor. As territories fall under the federal jurisdiction, they each have a commissioner, rather than a lieutenant governor, who represents the federal Crown-in-Council directly.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: As all executive authority is vested in the sovereign, royal assent is required to allow for bills to become law and for letters patent and orders in council to have legal effect. While the power for these acts stems from the Canadian people through the constitutional conventions of democracy, executive authority remains vested in the Crown and is only entrusted by the sovereign to the government on behalf of the people. This underlines the Crown's role in safeguarding the rights, freedoms, and democratic system of government of Canadians, reinforcing the fact that "governments are the servants of the people and not the reverse". Thus, within Canada's constitutional monarchy the sovereign's direct participation in any of these areas of governance is normally limited, with the sovereign typically exercising executive authority only with the advice and consent of the Cabinet of Canada, and the sovereign's legislative and judicial responsibilities largely carried out through the Parliament of Canada as well as judges and justices of the peace. However, there are cases where the sovereign or their representative would have a duty to act directly and independently under the doctrine of necessity to prevent genuinely unconstitutional acts. In these respects, the sovereign and his viceroys are custodians of the Crown's reserve powers and represent the "power of the people above government and political parties". Put another way, the Crown functions as the guarantor of Canada's continuous and stable governance and as a nonpartisan safeguard against the abuse of power.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Canada is one of the oldest continuing monarchies in the world. Initially established in the 16th century, monarchy in Canada has evolved through a continuous succession of initially French and later British sovereigns into the independent Canadian sovereigns of today. The institution that is Canada's system of constitutional monarchy is sometimes colloquially referred to as the "Maple Crown".


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The person who is the Canadian sovereign is equally shared with 14 other monarchies (a grouping, including Canada, known informally as the Commonwealth realms) in the 56-member Commonwealth of Nations. The monarch resides predominantly in the oldest and most populous realm, the United Kingdom; viceroys (the governor general of Canada in the federal sphere and a lieutenant governor in each province) are the sovereign's representatives in Canada. The emergence of this arrangement paralleled the fruition of Canadian nationalism following the end of the First World War and culminated in the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931. Since then, the pan-national Crown has had both a shared and a separate character: the sovereign's role as monarch of Canada has been distinct from his or her position as monarch of any other realm, including the United Kingdom. Only Canadian federal ministers of the Crown may advise the sovereign on any and all matters of the Canadian state, of which the sovereign, when not in Canada, is kept abreast by weekly communications with the federal viceroy. The monarchy thus ceased to be an exclusively British institution and in Canada became a Canadian, or "domesticated", establishment, though it is still often denoted as "British" in both legal and common language, for reasons historical, political, and of convenience.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: This division is illustrated in a number of ways: The sovereign, for example, holds a unique Canadian title and, when he and other members of the royal family are acting in public specifically as representatives of Canada, they use, where possible, Canadian symbols, including the country's national flag, unique royal symbols, armed forces uniforms, and the like, as well as Canadian Forces aircraft or other Canadian-owned vehicles for travel. Once in Canadian airspace, or arrived at a Canadian event taking place abroad, the Canadian Secretary to the King, officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and other Canadian officials will take over from whichever of their other realms' counterparts were previously escorting the King or other member of the royal family.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The sovereign similarly only draws from Canadian funds for support in the performance of his duties when in Canada or acting as King of Canada abroad; Canadians do not pay any money to the King or any other member of the royal family, either towards personal income or to support royal residences outside of Canada.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: As in the other Commonwealth realms, the current heir apparent to the throne is William, Prince of Wales, who is followed in the line of succession by his eldest child, Prince George.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Upon the death of the monarch, there is a demise (transfer) of the Crown: the late sovereign's heir immediately and automatically succeeds, without any need for confirmation or further ceremony; hence arises the phrase "The King is dead. Long live the King". It is customary for the accession of the new monarch to be publicly proclaimed by the governor general on behalf of the Privy Council, which meets at Rideau Hall after the accession. An appropriate period of mourning also follows, during which portraits of the recently deceased monarch are draped with black fabric and staff at government houses wear customary black armbands. The "Manual of Official Procedure of the Government of Canada" states the prime minister is responsible for convening Parliament, tabling a resolution of loyalty and condolence from Parliament to the new monarch, and arranging for the motion to be seconded by the leader of the Official Opposition. The prime minister will then move to adjourn parliament. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation keeps a regularly updated plan for a "broadcast of national importance" announcing the demise of a sovereign and covering the aftermath, during which all regular programming and advertising is cancelled and on-call commentators contribute to a 24-hour news mode. The day of the funeral is likely to be a public holiday.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The new monarch is crowned in the United Kingdom in an ancient ritual, but one not necessary for a sovereign to reign. Under the federal "Interpretation Act", officials who hold a federal office under the Crown are not affected by the death of the monarch, nor are they required to take the Oath of Allegiance again. All references in federal legislation to previous monarchs, whether in the masculine (e.g. "His Majesty") or feminine (e.g. "the Queen"), continue to mean the reigning sovereign of Canada, regardless of his or her gender. This is because, in common law, the Crown never dies. After an individual ascends the throne, he or she usually continues to reign until death.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The relationship between the Commonwealth realms is such that any change to the rules of succession to their respective crowns requires the unanimous consent of all the realms. Succession is governed by statutes, such as the Bill of Rights 1689, the Act of Settlement 1701, and the Acts of Union 1707. In 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated and any possible future descendants of his were excluded from the line of succession. The British government at the time, wishing for speed so as to avoid embarrassing debate in Dominion parliaments, suggested that the governments of the Dominions of the British Commonwealth—then Australia, New Zealand, the Irish Free State, the Union of South Africa, and Canada—regard whoever was monarch of the UK to automatically be monarch of their respective Dominion. As with the other Dominion governments, the Canadian Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, refused to accept the idea and stressed that the laws of succession were part of Canadian law and, as the Statute of Westminster 1931 disallowed the UK from legislating for Canada, including in relation to succession, altering them required Canada's request and consent to the British legislation (His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936) becoming part of Canadian law. Sir Maurice Gwyer, first parliamentary counsel in the UK, reflected this position, stating the Act of Settlement was a part of the law in each Dominion. Thus, Order in Council P.C. 3144 was issued, expressing the Cabinet's request and consent for His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 to become part of the laws of Canada and the Succession to the Throne Act 1937 gave parliamentary ratification to that action, together bringing the Act of Settlement and Royal Marriages Act 1772 into Canadian law. The latter was deemed by the Cabinet in 1947 to be part of Canadian law. The Department of External Affairs included all succession-related laws in its list of acts within Canadian law.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The Supreme Court of Canada declared unanimously in the 1981 Patriation Reference that the Bill of Rights 1689 is "undoubtedly in force as part of the law of Canada". Furthermore, in "O'Donohue v. Canada" (2003) the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found that the Act of Settlement 1701 is "part of the laws of Canada" and the rules of succession are "by necessity incorporated into the Constitution of Canada". Another ruling of the Ontario Superior Court, in 2014, echoed the 2003 case, stating that the Act of Settlement "is an imperial statute which ultimately became part of the law of Canada." Upon dismissing appeal of that case, the Court of Appeal of Ontario stated "[t]he rules of succession are a part of the fabric of the constitution of Canada and incorporated into it".


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: In a meeting of the Special Joint Committee on the Constitution during the process of patriating the Canadian constitution in 1981, John Munro asked then Minister of Justice Jean Chrétien about the "selective omissions" of the Succession to the Throne Act 1937, the Demise of the Crown Act 1901, the Seals Act, the Governor General's Act, and the Royal Style and Titles Act, 1953, from the schedule to the "Constitution Act, 1982". In response, Chrétien asserted that the schedule to the" Constitution Act, 1982", was not exhaustive, outlining that section 52(2) of the "Constitution Act, 1982" says "[t]he Constitution of Canada includes... the Acts and orders referred to the schedule" and "[w]hen you use the word 'includes'... it means that if ever there is another thing related to the Canadian constitution as part of it, should have been there, or might have been there, it is covered. So we do not have to renumerate [sic] the ones that you are mentioning." In the same meeting, Deputy Attorney General Barry Strayer stated: "Clause 52(2) is not an exhaustive definition of the Constitution of Canada so that while we have certain things listed in the schedule which are clearly part of the constitution, that does not mean that there are not other things which are part of the constitution... [The schedule] is not an exhaustive list."


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: In the 1991 publication "Constitutional Change in the Commonwealth", author Leslie Zines claimed that, though the succession to Canada's throne was outlined by common law and the Act of Settlement 1701, these were not part of the Canadian constitution, which "does not contain rules for succession to the throne." Richard Toporoski, writing three years later for the Monarchist League of Canada, stated, "there is no existing provision in our law, other than the Act of Settlement 1701, that provides that the King or Queen of Canada shall be the same person as the King or Queen of the United Kingdom. If the British law were to be changed and we did not change our law [...] the person provided for in the new law would become king or queen in at least some realms of the Commonwealth; Canada would continue on with the person who would have become monarch under the previous law."


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: In 2011, Canada committed to the Perth Agreement with the other Commonwealth realms, which proposed changes to the rules governing succession to remove male preference and removal of disqualification arising from marriage to a Roman Catholic. As a result of the Perth Agreement, the Canadian Parliament passed the Succession to the Throne Act, 2013, which gave the country's assent to the Succession to the Crown Bill 2013, at that time proceeding in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In dismissing a challenge to the law on the basis that a change to the succession in Canada would require unanimous consent of all provinces under section 41(a) of the "Constitution Act, 1982", Quebec Superior Court Justice Claude Bouchard ruled that Canada "did not have to change its laws nor its constitution for the British royal succession rules to be amended and effective" and constitutional convention committed Canada to having a line of succession symmetrical to those of other Commonwealth realms. The ruling was upheld by the Quebec Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear an appeal in April 2020.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Constitutional scholar Philippe Lagassé argues that, in light of the Succession to the Throne Act, 2013, and court rulings upholding that law, section 41(a) of the "Constitution Act, 1982", which requires a constitutional amendment passed with the unanimous consent of the provinces, applies only to the "office of the Queen", but not who holds that office, and that therefore "ending the principle of symmetry with the United Kingdom can be done with the general amending procedure, or even by parliament alone under section 44 of the "Constitution Act, 1982"."


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Constitutional scholar Ted McWhinney has also argued that a future government of Canada could begin a process of phasing out the monarchy after the death of Elizabeth II "quietly and without fanfare by simply failing legally to proclaim any successor to the Queen in relation to Canada". This would, he claimed, be a way of bypassing the need for a constitutional amendment that would require unanimous consent by the federal parliament and all the provincial legislatures. However, Ian Holloway, Dean of Law at the University of Western Ontario, criticized McWhinney's proposal for its ignorance of provincial input and opined that its implementation "would be contrary to the plain purpose of those who framed our system of government."


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Certain aspects of the succession rules have been challenged in the courts. For example, under the provisions of the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701, Catholics are barred from succeeding to the throne; this prohibition has been upheld twice by Canadian courts, once in 2003 and again in 2014.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Canada has no laws allowing for a regency, should the sovereign be a minor or debilitated; none have been passed by the Canadian Parliament and it was made clear by successive Cabinets since 1937 that the United Kingdom's Regency Act had no applicability to Canada, as the Canadian Cabinet had not requested otherwise when the act was passed that year and again in 1943 and 1953. As the 1947 Letters Patent issued by King George VI permit the governor general of Canada to exercise almost all of the monarch's powers in respect of Canada, the viceroy is expected to continue to act as the personal representative of the monarch, and not any regent, even if the monarch is a child or incapacitated. Lagassé states that the Letters Patent 1947 were apparently written to avoid the need for a Canadian regency act and "appear to give governors general the power to appoint their own successors", though this is a power that has not been utilized to date.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The following state and official visits to foreign countries have been made by the monarch as the sovereign of Canada:


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Canada's monarchy was established at Confederation, when its executive government and authority were declared (in section 9 of the Constitution Act, 1867) to continue and be vested in the monarch. Although Canada is a federation, the Canadian monarchy is unitary throughout all jurisdictions in the country, the sovereignty of the different administrations being passed on through the overreaching Crown itself as a part of the executive, legislative, and judicial operations in each of the federal and provincial spheres and the headship of state being a part of all equally. The Crown thus links the various governments into a federal state, though it is simultaneously also "divided" into eleven legal jurisdictions, or eleven "crowns"—one federal and ten provincial—with the monarch taking on a distinct legal persona in each. As such, the constitution instructs that any change to the position of the monarch or his or her representatives in Canada requires the consent of the Senate, the House of Commons, and the legislative assemblies of all the provinces.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The governor general is appointed by the monarch on the advice of his federal prime minister and the lieutenant governors are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the federal prime minister. The commissioners of Canada's territories are appointed by the federal Governor-in-Council, at the recommendation of the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development; but, as the territories are not sovereign entities, the commissioners are not personal representatives of the sovereign. The Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments, which may seek input from the relevant premier and provincial or territorial community, proposes candidates for appointment as governor general, lieutenant governor, and commissioner.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: As the living embodiment of the Crown, the sovereign is regarded as the personification of the Canadian state and, as such, must, along with his or her viceregal representatives, "remain strictly neutral in political terms". The person of the reigning sovereign thus holds two distinct personas in constant coexistence: that of a natural-born human being and that of the state as accorded to him or her through law; the Crown and the monarch are "conceptually divisible but legally indivisible ... [t]he office cannot exist without the office-holder", so, even in private, the monarch is always "on duty". The terms "the state", "the Crown", "the Crown in Right of Canada", "His Majesty the King in Right of Canada" (), and similar are all synonymous and the monarch's legal personality is sometimes referred to simply as "Canada".


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: As such, the king or queen of Canada is the employer of all government officials and staff (including the viceroys, judges, members of the Canadian Forces, police officers, and parliamentarians), the guardian of foster children ("Crown wards"), as well as the owner of all state lands ("Crown land"), buildings and equipment ("Crown held property"), state owned companies ("Crown corporations"), and the copyright for all government publications ("Crown copyright"). This is all in his or her position as sovereign, and not as an individual; all such property is held by the Crown in perpetuity and cannot be sold by the sovereign without the proper advice and consent of his or her ministers.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The monarch is at the apex of the Canadian order of precedence and, as the embodiment of the state, is also the focus of oaths of allegiance, required of many of the aforementioned employees of the Crown, as well as by new citizens, as by the Oath of Citizenship. Allegiance is given in reciprocation to the sovereign's Coronation Oath, wherein he or she promises "to govern the Peoples of ... Canada ... according to their respective laws and customs".


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Although it has been argued that the term "head of state" is a republican one inapplicable in a constitutional monarchy such as Canada, where the monarch is the embodiment of the state and thus cannot be head of it, the sovereign is regarded by official government sources, judges, constitutional scholars, and pollsters as the head of state, while the governor general and lieutenant governors are all only representatives of, and thus equally subordinate to, that figure. Some governors general, their staff, government publications, and constitutional scholars like Ted McWhinney and C. E. S. Franks have, however, referred to the position of governor general as that of Canada's head of state, though sometimes qualifying the assertion with "de facto" or "effective"; Franks has hence recommended that the governor general be named officially as the head of state. Still others view the role of head of state as being shared by both the sovereign and her viceroys. Since 1927, governors general have been received on state visits abroad as though they were heads of state.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Officials at Rideau Hall have attempted to use the Letters Patent, 1947 as justification for describing the governor general as head of state. However, the document makes no such distinction, nor does it effect an abdication of the sovereign's powers in favour of the viceroy, as it only allows the governor general to "act on The Queen's behalf". Dr. D. Michael Jackson, former Chief of Protocol of Saskatchewan, argued that Rideau Hall had been attempting to "recast" the governor general as head of state since the 1970s and doing so preempted both the Queen and all of the lieutenant governors. This caused not only "precedence wars" at provincial events (where the governor general usurped the lieutenant governor's proper spot as most senior official in attendance) and Governor General Adrienne Clarkson to accord herself precedence before the Queen at a national occasion, but also constitutional issues by "unbalancing ... the federalist symmetry". This has been regarded as both a natural evolution and as a dishonest effort to alter the constitution without public scrutiny.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: In a poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid following the first prorogation of the 40th parliament on 4 December 2008, it was found that 42 per cent of the sample group thought the prime minister was head of state, while 33 per cent felt it was the governor general. Only 24 per cent named the Queen as head of state, a number up from 2002, when the results of an EKOS Research Associates survey showed only 5 per cent of those polled knew the Queen was head of state (69 per cent answered that it was the prime minister).


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Canada's constitution is based on the Westminster parliamentary model, wherein the role of the King is both legal and practical, but not political. The sovereign is vested with all the powers of state, collectively known as the royal prerogative, leading the populace to be considered subjects of the Crown. However, as the sovereign's power stems from the people and the monarch is a constitutional one, he or she does not rule alone, as in an absolute monarchy. Instead, the Crown is regarded as a corporation sole, with the monarch being the centre of a construct in which the power of the whole is shared by multiple institutions of government—the executive, legislative, and judicial—acting under the sovereign's authority, which is entrusted for exercise by the politicians (the elected and appointed parliamentarians and the ministers of the Crown generally drawn from among them) and the judges and justices of the peace. The monarchy has thus been described as the underlying principle of Canada's institutional unity and the monarch as a "guardian of constitutional freedoms" whose "job is to ensure that the political process remains intact and is allowed to function."


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The Great Seal of Canada "signifies the power and authority of the Crown flowing from the sovereign to [the] parliamentary government" and is applied to state documents such as royal proclamations and letters patent commissioning cabinet ministers, senators, judges, and other senior government officials. The "lending" of royal authority to the Cabinet is illustrated by the great seal being entrusted by the governor general, the official keeper of the seal, to the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development, who is "ex officio" the Registrar General of Canada. Upon a change of government, the seal is temporarily returned to the governor general and then "lent" to the next incoming registrar general.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The Crown is the pinnacle of the Canadian Forces, with the constitution placing the monarch in the position of commander-in-chief of the entire force, though the governor general carries out the duties attached to the position and also bears the title of "Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada". Further, included in Canada's constitution are the various treaties between the Crown and Canadian First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, who view these documents as agreements directly and only between themselves and the reigning monarch, illustrating the relationship between sovereign and aboriginals.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The government of Canada—formally termed "His Majesty's Government"—is defined by the constitution as the King acting on the advice of his Privy Council; what is technically known as the "King-in-Council", or sometimes the "Governor-in-Council", referring to the governor general as the King's stand-in, though, a few tasks must be specifically performed by, or bills that require assent from, the King. One of the main duties of the Crown is to "ensure that a democratically elected government is always in place," which means appointing a prime minister to thereafter head the Cabinet—a committee of the Privy Council charged with advising the Crown on the exercise of the royal prerogative. The monarch is informed by his viceroy of the swearing-in and resignation of prime ministers and other members of the ministry, remains fully briefed through regular communications from his Canadian ministers, and holds audience with them whenever possible. By convention, the content of these communications and meetings remains confidential so as to protect the impartiality of the monarch and his representative. The appropriateness and viability of this tradition in an age of social media has been questioned.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: In the construct of constitutional monarchy and responsible government, the ministerial advice tendered is typically binding, meaning the monarch "reigns" but does not "rule", the Cabinet ruling "in trust" for the monarch. This has been the case in Canada since the Treaty of Paris ended the reign of the territory's last absolute monarch, King Louis XV of France. However, the royal prerogative belongs to the Crown and not to any of the ministers and the royal and viceroyal figures may unilaterally use these powers in exceptional constitutional crisis situations (an exercise of the reserve powers), thereby allowing the monarch to make sure "that the government conducts itself in compliance with the constitution." Use of the royal prerogative in this manner was seen when the Governor General refused his Prime Minister's advice to dissolve parliament in 1926 and when, in 2008, the Governor General took some hours to decide whether or not to accept her Prime Minister's advice to prorogue parliament to avoid a vote of non-confidence. The prerogative powers have also been used numerous times in the provinces.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The royal prerogative further extends to foreign affairs, including the ratification of treaties, alliances, international agreements, and declarations of war, the accreditation of Canadian high commissioners and ambassadors and receipt of similar diplomats from foreign states, and the issuance of Canadian passports, which remain the sovereign's property. It also includes the creation of dynastic and national honours, though only the latter are established on official ministerial advice.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: All laws in Canada are the monarch's and the sovereign is one of the three components of the Parliament of Canada—formally called the "King-in-Parliament"—but the monarch and viceroy do not participate in the legislative process save for royal assent, which is necessary for a bill to be enacted as law. Either figure or a delegate may perform this task and the constitution allows the viceroy the option of deferring assent to the sovereign. The governor general is further responsible for summoning the House of Commons, while either the viceroy or monarch can prorogue and dissolve the legislature, after which the governor general usually calls for a general election. The new parliamentary session is marked by either the monarch, governor general, or some other representative reading the Speech from the Throne. Members of Parliament must recite the Oath of Allegiance before they may take their seat. Further, the official opposition is traditionally dubbed as "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition", illustrating that, while its members are opposed to the incumbent government, they remain loyal to the sovereign (as personification of the state and its authority).


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The monarch does not have the prerogative to impose and collect new taxes without the authorization of an Act of Parliament. The consent of the Crown must, however, be obtained before either of the houses of Parliament may even debate a bill affecting the sovereign's prerogatives or interests and no act of Parliament binds the King or his rights unless the act states that it does.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The sovereign is responsible for rendering justice for all his subjects and is thus traditionally deemed the "fount of justice" and his position in the Canadian courts formally dubbed the "King on the Bench". The Arms of His Majesty in Right of Canada are traditionally displayed in Canadian courtrooms, as is a portrait of the sovereign.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The monarch does not personally rule in judicial cases; this function of the royal prerogative is instead performed in trust and in the King's name by officers of His Majesty's court. Common law holds the notion that the sovereign "can do no wrong": the monarch cannot be prosecuted in his own courts—judged by himself—for criminal offences. Civil lawsuits against the Crown in its public capacity (that is, lawsuits against the King-in-Council) are permitted, but lawsuits against the monarch personally are not cognizable. In international cases, as a sovereign and under established principles of international law, the King of Canada is not subject to suit in foreign courts without his express consent. Within the royal prerogative is also the granting of immunity from prosecution, mercy, and pardoning offences against the Crown. Since 1878, the prerogative of pardon has always been exercised upon the recommendation of ministers.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Members of the royal family have been present in Canada since the late 18th century, their reasons including participating in military manoeuvres, serving as the federal viceroy, or undertaking official royal tours. A prominent feature of the latter are numerous royal walkabouts, the tradition of which was initiated in 1939 by Queen Elizabeth when she was in Ottawa and broke from the royal party to speak directly to gathered veterans. Usually important milestones, anniversaries, or celebrations of Canadian culture will warrant the presence of the monarch, while other royals will be asked to participate in lesser occasions. A household to assist and tend to the monarch forms part of the royal party.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: "Official duties" involve the sovereign representing the Canadian state at home or abroad, or her relations as members of the royal family participating in government organized ceremonies either in Canada or elsewhere; sometimes these individuals are employed in asserting Canada's sovereignty over its territories. The advice of the Canadian Cabinet is the impetus for royal participation in any Canadian event, though, at present, the Chief of Protocol and his staff in the Department of Canadian Heritage are, as part of the State Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Program, responsible for orchestrating any official events in or for Canada that involve the royal family.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Conversely, "unofficial duties" are performed by royal family members on behalf of Canadian organizations of which they may be patrons, through their attendance at charity events, visiting with members of the Canadian Forces as colonel-in-chief, or marking certain key anniversaries. The invitation and expenses associated with these undertakings are usually borne by the associated organization. In 2005 members of the royal family were present at a total of 76 Canadian engagements, as well as several more through 2006 and 2007.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Apart from Canada, the King and other members of the royal family regularly perform public duties in the other fourteen Commonwealth realms in which the King is head of state. This situation, however, can mean the monarch and/or members of the royal family will be promoting one nation and not another; a situation that has been met with criticism.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: The main symbol of the monarchy is the sovereign himself, described as "the personal expression of the Crown in Canada," and his image is thus used to signify Canadian sovereignty and government authority—his image, for instance, appearing on currency, and his portrait in government buildings. The sovereign is further both mentioned in and the subject of songs, loyal toasts, and salutes. A royal cypher, appearing on buildings and official seals, or a crown, seen on provincial and national coats of arms, as well as police force and Canadian Forces regimental and maritime badges and rank insignia, is also used to illustrate the monarchy as the locus of authority, the latter without referring to any specific monarch.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Since the days of King Louis XIV, the monarch is the fount of all honours in Canada and the orders, decorations, and medals form "an integral element of the Crown." Hence, the insignia and medallions for these awards bear a crown, cypher, and/or portrait of the monarch. Similarly, the country's heraldic authority was created by the Queen and, operating under the authority of the governor general, grants new coats of arms, flags, and badges in Canada. Use of the royal crown in such symbols is a gift from the monarch showing royal support and/or association, and requires her approval before being added.


title: Monarchy of Canada

text: Members of the royal family also act as ceremonial colonels-in-chief, commodores-in-chief, captains-general, air commodores-in-chief, generals, and admirals of various elements of the Canadian Forces, reflecting the Crown's relationship with the country's military through participation in events both at home and abroad. The monarch also serves as the Commissioner-in-Chief, Prince Charles as Honorary Commissioner, and Prince Edward as Honorary Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.