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UrbanToronto has partnered with Heritage Toronto to capture a moment in Toronto's past. On a weekly basis, we will both be highlighting a historic photo of the city's people, places and events, and will be telling the stories behind them.
Many thanks to both Gary Switzer of MOD Developements and Maya Bilbao for putting together the photos and research. This week's photo:
QUEEN'S VISIT. During the summer of 2010, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visited Canada for a 9 day tour that included a visit to Toronto. 51 years earlier, the Queen came to Toronto as part of an historic 45 day tour of Canada, in 1959. The Queen has visited Canada on more than 20 occasions, but by 1959, the Queen had only passed through Toronto on a few occasions, first when she was a Princess.
In 1959, the Queen was just 33, mother of then two children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne. The fashionable young Queen and her Prince arrived in Gander, Newfoundland on June 18th, 1959. During their extensive tour, the royal couple visited all provinces, several of the Great Lakes, as well as the United States. Having seen several cities already, the Queen and Prince Philip arrived in Toronto via the Royal Yacht Britannia on Monday, June 29th 1959. Inside Toronto harbour, the royal couple were welcomed with a 21 gun salute, ceremoniously decorated lake and ocean liners, and the thundering cheers of sailors.
During their 2 day tour of Toronto, the couple had a busy schedule of events including a ceremony at City Hall (today's Old City Hall), dinner at Royal York Hotel, visit to O'Keefe Centre (today the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts), and a visit to the 100th running of the Queen's Plate. Here, the Queen and Prince Philip are seen waving to crowds as they travel along Bay Street. The royal couple departed Toronto's Malton airport on Tuesday, June 30th 1959 for their next stop: Ottawa. Eventually the tour wrapped up in Halifax, and the Queen and Prince Philip left the country on August 1st, 1959.
Sources: Canadian Heritage, Canadian Royal Heritage Trust and Toronto Star Newspaper, Friday June 19, 2010, Monday June 29th and Tuesday June 30th
