page_title: History of monarchy in Canada
section_title: Post World War II Canada and the 1950s
hierarchical_section_title: History of monarchy in Canada / Post World War II Canada and the 1950s
caption_attribution_description: Title / Titre&#160;: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at the opening of parliament / La Reine Élizabeth II et le prince Philip à l'ouverture du parlement Creator(s) / Créateur(s)&#160;: Gerald Thomas Richardson Date(s)&#160;: October 14, 1957 /14 octobre 1957 Reference No. / Numéro de référence&#160;: MIKAN 4293184, 4317765 collectionscanada.gc.ca/ourl/res.php?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;... collectionscanada.gc.ca/ourl/res.php?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;... Location / Lieu&#160;: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Credit / Mention de source&#160;: Library and Archives Canada, e010949331 / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, e010949331
context_page_description: The history of monarchy in Canada stretches from pre-colonial times through to the present day. Canada's monarchical status began with the establishment of the French colony of New France in the name of King Francis I in 1534; although a previous claim was made by England in the name of King Henry VII in 1497 when John Cabot made landfall in what is thought to be modern day Newfoundland or Nova Scotia. Through both these lineages, the present Canadian monarchy can trace itself back to the Anglo-Saxon period and ultimately to the kings of the Angles and the early Scottish kings. Kings and queens reigning over Canada have included the monarchs of France, those of the United Kingdom, and those of Canada. Canadian historian Father Jacques Monet said of Canada's Crown: "[it is] one of an approximate half-dozen that have survived through uninterrupted inheritance from beginnings that are older than our Canadian institution itself."
  Canada's first European monarchs instigated, funded, and supported the exploration and settlement of the country. Throughout the 18th century, via war and treaties, the Canadian colonies of France were ceded to King George III.
context_section_description: Princess Elizabeth in 1947 married the Duke of Edinburgh in a ceremony that attracted the attention of Canadians hungry for good news after the dark years of the war; the King-in-Council presented the newlyweds with a canoe. The Princess, now also Duchess of Edinburgh, came with her husband to Canada in late 1951, where, amongst other activities throughout the country, she attended her first hockey game at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, and partook in a square dance at Rideau Hall. Elizabeth also crossed into the United States to pay an official visit to President Harry S. Truman, who greeted her as a "Canadian Princess" at the reception she hosted at the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C. The King's health was by that time failing, and so his daughter and heir to the throne carried with her to Canada a draft accession declaration in case her father died while she was in his Canadian realm.
  The King, who had suffered for some time with lung cancer, eventually failed to recover fully from a pneumonectomy and died in his sleep on 6 February 1952, at Sandringham House, while Princess Elizabeth was in Kenya. The monarch's passing was communicated via cable between the late King's Private Secretary, Alan Lascelles, and Thibaudeau Rinfret, who was acting as Administrator between the departure of Governor General the Earl of Tunis and the swearing-in of Tunis' replacement, Vincent Massey, who was in London at the time; the telegram read: "Profoundly regret to state that His Majesty King George the Sixth passed away peacefully in his sleep early this morning." Rinfret immediately issued on the same day a proclamation of the King's death and the accession of Elizabeth II as Canada's queen, making Canada the first place in which this was done; her proclamation of accession for the United Kingdom was not read out until the following day, after which the new monarch met with her British Privy Council for the first time, with Massey in attendance.
  Wearing a gown by Norman Hartnell that was, along with the floral emblems of the other countries of the Commonwealth, embroidered with Canada's maple leaf in green silk and gold bullion thread veined with crystal, the Queen was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, in a ceremony that included, like the Queen's dress, Canadian symbols and participants. The prime ministers and leading citizens of Canada were present in the abbey amongst representatives of other Commonwealth and foreign states, and the ceremony was also, at the Queen's request, broadcast around the world on television; three times as the event carried on, Royal Air Force Canberra jet bombers flew film footage of the coronation to Canada for play on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, making the first ever non-stop flights between the United Kingdom and the Canadian mainland. Guests at the ceremony, television viewers, and radio listeners heard Elizabeth swear a revised Coronation Oath, wherein she reaffirmed her dedication expressed earlier in South Africa and swore to "govern the Peoples of... Canada... according to their respective laws and customs." The separate mention of Canada mirrored the granting of Royal Assent, the day previous, to the Royal Style and Titles Act, which gave Elizabeth a distinctly Canadian title.
  During a tour of Canada in 1957, the Queen made her first live appearance on Canadian television, appointed her husband to her Canadian Privy Council at a meeting of which she chaired, and on 14 October opened the first session of the 23rd parliament; some 50,000 people descended on Parliament Hill to witness the arrival of the monarch, though, due to the financial austerity of the times, the pageantry was muted in comparison to what would be seen at a similar event in the United Kingdom. Elizabeth and her husband, accompanied by Canadian prime minister John Diefenbaker, as the Queen's senior minister in attendance, also, on behalf of Canada, paid a state visit to the United States, attending the 350th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia and meeting with President Dwight D. Eisenhow
caption: Queen Elizabeth II wearing her coronation gown, with Prince Philip during the opening of the 23rd Canadian Parliament, October 1957.
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