Royals in Canada Trivia Quiz

Answer: William IV

Prince William, Duke of Clarence, (1765-1837) third son of George III, went to sea as midshipman at the age of 13. By 1786 he had already done service in the West Indies and in New York during the American War of Independence. William spent a few months over that year in Nova Scotia, Quebec and in Newfoundland (a place he thought 'desolate'), where he served as a magistrate. It is rumoured that he met a girl and fathered a child in Newfoundland, not unsurprising considering the number of little FitzClarences back home. William became king in 1830 and was succeeded by his niece, Victoria.

Halifax was only about 50 years old when the Duke of Clarence visited, but was one of the most powerful British naval bases in the world. It had served as a British base against the French during the Seven Years' War and then was of immense strategic importance during the American War of Independence. Since the time of William IV, a number of royals have served in Canada while on active duty in the army or navy, including the Duke of Connaught (1870), George VI, Charles Prince of Wales, his son Prince Harry and especially, Prince Andrew. The Duke of Kent attended school in Kingston in 1977, and has a network of Canadian friends and private interests that bring him to Canada at least once a year.

Answer: Prince Edward Island

Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767-1820) spent a lot of his life at sea. He travelled extensively through Upper and Lower Canada and the Maritimes and his conviction that the Canadian colonies would do better as a union would be cited later by Lord Durham in his report. While in Halifax, Edward oversaw extensive reconstruction of the Citadel fortifications and began plans for what would be the Clock Tower. The charming rotunda at 'Prince's Lodge' in Halifax, his residence during his stay, still stands.

Prince Edward Island was claimed as a French colony by Jacques Cartier in 1534, called 'Île Saint-Jean'. After the British were ceded it in the Treaty of Paris (1763) it became 'St. John's Island'. The name 'Prince Edward Island' was adopted in 1798, apparently to avoid confusion with St. John in New Brunswick and St. John's in Newfoundland.

Answer: A visit to a newly-completed civic building

At the age of 19, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, took the first official royal tour of British North America. He travelled by train and steamship from Newfoundland all the way to Windsor and then into the United States incognito as 'Baron Renfrew' for political reasons, which fooled nobody. Over the Canadian leg of his tour he opened the Victoria Bridge in Montreal and laid the cornerstone of the Houses of Parliament in Ottawa. He also watched Blondin walk over Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Not the fat, tired-looking old roué he would become later as Edward VII, in 1860 'Bertie' was a good-looking charmer of 19 who had himself a wonderful time for the four months of his tour.

'The town of Brockville was lit up to perfection and contained arches and decorations too numerous to mention'. Royal tours were a lot folksier in the old days. Today royals generally fly from major city to major city and if you want a closer look you are expected to travel there by car or just stay home and watch them on TV. In the old days royalty travelled along the rail lines or the rivers, making stops at one little town after another. And every town fair busted itself to make royalty welcome.

Although people still illuminate large public structures today, in a pre-neon world, lighting up the night was an integral part of any celebration and royal tours called for massive amounts of light. For small towns this meant bonfires, gaslight lamps, fairy lights and Chinese lanterns strung over the streets and on the rooftops. In bigger places, illuminations could be amazing. In 1901 in Québec City, a marine parade of 50 ships lit with electric lights and shooting off fireworks sailed down the St. Lawrence River to honour the future King George V and Queen Mary. The most recent illuminations specifically mounted for a royal tour that I could find were in Australia in 1954.

Although they go back thousands of years, triumphal arches to celebrate a royal visit became a must in the 19th century. Some were massive stone things like the Arc de Triomphe or the Bombay Gate, but most were temporary structures gaily decorated and made of wood or metal. They were often sponsored by local businesses and industries and the arch would then bear a symbol of the sponsor, as well as a mesage of greeting. On his carriage trip from Coburg to Toronto, Prince Albert travelled under 16 triumphal arches alone. They seem to have disappeared from Canadian royal celebrations after Princess Elizabeth's 1951 tour and that's a shame!

Although in 1954 the Queen and Prince Philip visited the 'Indian Days' festival at Nanaimo B. C., large-scale displays of Native American exotica are understandably not a big feature of royal tours these days. But in the last century and before, they were a given. In 1860 Prince Albert, dressed in full regalia, swept down the St. Clare river and into Sarnia at the head of a fleet of canoes. He was then entertained by a performance and a speech, where he, the 'big brother', was asked to give greetings to the 'great mother' back in England. This kind of thing doesn't happen much anymore.

Answer: Alberta

Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, Marchioness of Lorne and Duchess of Argyll (1848-1939) spent five years in Canada with her husband the Marquis of Lorne, who was Governor-General from 1878-1883. Princess Louise was Queen Victoria's 6th child, a talented artist, sculptor and dancer, as well as being an advocate of education for women. As Canada wasn't the burgeoning hotbed of intellectual endeavor that it is today and she was, overall, a little bored.

The west was being opened up by the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the future provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were designated districts of the Northwest Territories in 1882. Although they wanted to call the more westerly district 'Louise', the princess favoured her third name, Alberta, as it also honoured her father's memory. The lake that bears her first name is beautiful Lake Louise, in Banff National Park. Both Alberta and Saskatchewan became full provinces in 1905.

Princess Louise maintained a Canadian connection in her art. She designed the Boer War Memorial to fallen Canadian soldiers in St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and the statue of young Victoria at the top of the stairs of the Royal Victoria College (part of McGill campus) is also her work.

Answer: Canadian Pacific (CPR)

The future King George V and Queen Mary undertook this bone-shaking tour in order to accept an invitation from New Zealand, to help celebrate Confederation in Australia, and to smooth things over in South Africa. The trip across Canada was a resounding success, complete with hundreds of triumphal arches, a bridge opening (the Alexandra, over the Ottawa River) and meets-and-greets with Boer war vets. Although the trip was gruelling, the Duke and Duchess travelled on a train with three private cars and all the luxuries of home (if 'home' means walnut panelliing, blue and gold appointments and a faux-Watteau ceiling in the dining room, that is).

"There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run..." but the first prime minister of Canada, Sir John A. MacDonald and Montréal financier Sir Hugh Allan had a plan. "They looked to the future and what did they see? They saw an iron road running from the sea to the sea... " and the last spike of the coast-to-coast Canadian Pacific Railway was driven in 1885. It grew not only with the toil of thousands of navvies, but also by purchasing smaller, older lines. One of these was The QMO&O, a short line that ran through Quebec, purchased in 1882.

In 1881 the GTR was the largest railway company in North America, with tracks all over Eastern Canada and northern United States as far west as Chicago. Overstepping themselves in the quest to open a western line, the company went through years of financial trouble. They were finally bought out by the Canadian government in 1919 and reorganized as the CNR.

For a look at this mega-tour, check 'The Web of Empire: A Diary of the Imperial Tour of Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York' (1908). It's online.

So now let's listen to Gordon Lightfoot's 'Canadian Railroad Trilogy' one more time...

Answer: Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

When Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn was appointed Governor General of Canada in 1911, he was no stranger to the country. An army man, he had served a year in Montreal with the Rifle Brigade back in 1869-70 and had fought the Fenians. Through to the 1890s on numerous visits, he toured extensively throughout the Maritimes, Québec and Ontario and was made a Chief of the Six Nations, a signal honour.

When he arrived in Canada as governor general in 1911, he brought with him his wife Louise Margaret and their youngest daughter, Patricia. Louise Margaret (Luise Margarete) was a daughter of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia and as the governor general's consort, she is the only non-British royal ever to have held an official position in Canada.

Despite the family's (at the time) unfortunate ethnic associations, Canadians loved them. The Duke and Duchess threw themselves into war work with a will, along with their daughter, the immensely popular Princess Patricia. Notably, Patricia gave her name to the newly-raised Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. The 'Patricias' rank among the most distinguished regiments in the Canadian Army, both as fighters and as peacekeepers all the way from the Somme to Afghanistan.

Celebrating their 150th anniversary in 2012, the Royal Regiment of Canada's proud history stretches back to the days when it was a small regiment of volunteer militia out of Toronto. The 'Royals' have seen service in the Fenian raids, the Northwest Rebellion, the two world wars and Afghanistan. Their colonel-in-chief at the 150th celebration? HRH the Prince of Wales.

The Princess of Wales' Own Regiment also began life as a militia regiment, this time in Kingston, Ontario, in 1863. Princess Alexandra gave her name to the regiment and today they are a primary reserve regiment of the Canadian army. Their distinguished history includes service in the Boer War, both world wars and many peacekeeping missions.

The Black Watch began as another volunteer regiment. Raised in Montréal in 1862 by Scottish chieftans, the Royal Highland Regiment became one of the best-known and most respected Canadian Regiments, not only for their service and valour, but for their tartan. Now I will tell you a story. Many years ago I used to walk to work every day past the Black Watch armory building. One Sunday morning early I was walking down the hill and passed a group of officers on the street, standing talking to a little lady all in pastels with an amazing hat. She turned and looked at me and smiled and she was Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, patron of the regiment. That was a special moment.

Answer: Fly across Canada

Of course he didn't fly, but he did everything else.

These days Edward VIII is usually remembered as a martini-swilling Fascist nicompoop, but we forget that he was also an infatigable traveller in the Empire's cause and a prince who insisted on being at the front as often as possible all the way through the war, often with Canadian troops. His 1919 tour of Canada was a whistle-stop success and it was on that tour that he started wading into the crowds of soldiers who met him everywhere ('Put 'er there, Ed'). It is also clear from newsreels his chain smoking was not limited to private occasions.

It was also on this tour that he bought a ranch in the foothills of the Rockies he named the 'EP' (Edward, Prince). As he later wrote, he was "overwhelmed by an irresistible longing to immerse myself, if only momentarily, in the simple life of the western prairies." The EP was a working ranch, raising cattle and sheep. Edward (and later, Edward and Wallis) visited it privately on numerous occasions, right up through the 1960's, when he finally sold out. Today the ranch is listed as an Alberta Heritage Site and most of its archives are held by the Glenbow Museum in Calgary.

Answer: The Canadian National Exhibition

The Canadian National Exhibition (the "Ex") is a massive annual fair, the largest in Canada, situated on grounds called 'Exhibition Place' off Princes' Boulevard. These include theatres, a stadium, parkland and a midway. The fair has existed in various incarnations since 1852, and took the name 'Canadian National' in 1879. Royals have visited Exhibition Place pretty regularly throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, as it is a wonderful place to hold a rally. For example, on his 1919 tour, Prince Edward hosted a victory celebration for soldiers at the stadium.

Accompanying him on this tour were his brother and sister-in-law, the Duke and Duchess of York. With charming, handsome Edward in the forefront, no one paid much attention to them. This was possibly a mistake.

Founded in 1978, according to "Variety", The Toronto International Film Festival is "...second only to Cannes ". It takes place annually in September and lasts 11 days. 'Festival Caravan' is an annual citywide cultural festival organized by the many ethnic organizations in multicultural Toronto and first held in the early 1970s. Ontario Place is a huge waterfront recreation complex constructed on three islands. It is situated next to Exhibition Place in Toronto.

Answer: Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

It was 1939, and the first trip to Canada by a reigning monarch was probably one of the most successful royal tour to date. George VI and Queen Elizabeth travelled cross country by train opening things and being incredibly gracious. They were successful in erasing the idea of the king as a poor substitute for Edward VIII in the hearts of Canadians, who had really loved that man. Prime Minister Mackenzie King accompanied them on every leg of the tour, even down into the United States to meet Roosevelt, to emphasis the 'Canadian' nature of the tour and the balance of Canadian and British power. The tour succeeded in creating widespread enthusiasm for the war effort and boosting the popularity of the royal family immeasurably.

For the 1939 tour, a chocolate brown Buick McLaughlin with rose plush upholstery was commissioned to ferry round the king and queen during city visits. It ended up in Vancouver and the 'Royal Buick' would carry Prince Charles and Princess Diana when they opened Expo 86 in Vancouver, and Prince Philip and Prince Edward when they opened the 15th Commonwealth Games in Victoria.

Answer: The Netherlands

Princess Margriet's mother, Princess Juliana, lived in Ottawa for the duration of the Second World War, while her father Prince Bernhard and her grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina, stayed on in London to organize the Dutch government in exile. For the occasion, the maternity ward was declared an international zone, so that the princess wouldn't have dual citizenship, which would have knocked her out of the line of succession.

From 1942-45 her family resided at Stornoway, since 1950 the official residence of the head of the Opposition. After Juliana returned to the Netherlands in 1945, she sent a thank-you gift to Ottawa of thousands of tulips to be sent once a year in perpetuity. This lovely gift became the basis of the amazing million-bloom Ottawa Tulip Festival, held each year since 1953.

While Princess Juliana was toughing it out in Stornoway, another royal was having a pretty unpleasant time in Québec City. Poor ex-Empress Zita of Austria made the city her base from 1940-50, while her younger daughters attended the Ursuline convent school there. Empress Zita, after 1918 tossed around Europe, fled to Canada in the face of the Nazis. The family lived in (relative) poverty while the empress and her sons travelled around trying to raise money.

And finally, yet another royal crossed Canada on the CPR in 1953 on his way to the coronation of Elizabeth II - future emperor Prince Akhito of Japan. His son, Prince Takamado, graduated in Law at Queen's University in Kingston, in 1981.

Answer: Security

It was another royal 'first' tour. The royal couple arrived in Canada by plane rather than by ship for the first time. Rather than relying on Pathé newsreels, television coverage was extensive and there was a dispute about international radio broadcast rights. The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) was initially supposed to send a daily radio broadcast of the tour to Britain through the BBC. Just before the tour, the BBC reneged, stating that Britons "will expect a British commentator to tell them the story in a British voice." A full-length documentary film in colour was also produced to commemorate the event.

More disturbing was the in-your-face coverage of security measures. At the height of the Cold War everyone was on the lookout for 'Reds' and 'kooks'. How many security officers were posted at each event, how far away from the royal couple people were to stand and how much time the RCMP spent bomb sweeping was daily fare in the media. Security had always been a problem on royal tours; in 1860 there was a massive effort taken to keep Orange and Green Irish off Prince Albert's parade routes, and on the 1901 tour the police checked railroad tracks for bombs before each leg of the journey. But in those days, that kind of information didn't make the papers.

The 5-week tour went without a hitch, although for the first time, traffic logistics had to be taken into consideration when the royal motorcade drove through major cities. And the weather in Toronto being rainy, Prince Philip suggested putting a plastic hood on the royal car so he and the princess could be seen en route. The film ('Royal Journey') is available online on the NFB website. There you can see an 'almost last'. In 1951, even in 30-degree heat, wearing your mink wrap was a must when meeting royals.

Answer: Police attacked anti-monarchist protesters

On October 10, 1964, police armed with truncheons waded into a group of 'independantiste' protesters outside the parliament buildings in Québec City, hence 'Truncheon Saturday'. The queen was inside, giving a speech. Not only was the speech given in French (with a short summary in English), but it was also a pointed reminder that French is an international language of great importance and traditionally a language of civilization. There was also an unspoken assumption that anyone who didn't want to learn it was stupid.

Unfortunately, no one seems to remember this speech (which you can hear on the Radio-Canada website). What October 10th has become, in the annals of Québécois history, is the 'Samedi de la matraque'. The violence, in retrospect, has become the fault of Queen Elizabeth.

Since that time royal visits to Québec have been met with the occasional death threat, at least one kidnap plot and multiple minor to major protests. However Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip have rarely backed down from a visit to Québec and their family as well. As the spokesman for Prince William explained, the royal family "consider [the demonstrations] as all part of the rich fabric of Canada." This is "royalspeak" for "whatever".

Answer: Princess Anne

Montréal was chosen as the site of the 1976 summer Olympic Games primarily because of the enormous success of Expo 67 and because of its relative neutrality in turbulent times. Things got off to a bad start with big union actions, mounting debt and a ridiculous, donut-shaped stadium that wasn't finished on time with a retractable roof that didn't retract. It is affectionately known to Montrealers as "The Big Owe", as it took 30 years to pay off the Olympics that would 'pay for themselves'. Then there was the 26-nation African boycott, the East German 'women' and no Canadian gold ... but who can forget Nadia Comaneci and the look on Greg Joy's face when he nailed that jump?

Although some were nervous about Separatist protests when Queen Elizabeth opened the Games, as usual, things went smoothly. The whole family watched the Princess Royal compete and although she didn't win a medal there, she has won many since. As late as 2006 she won gold and silver at team events at the World Equestrian Games, making her the only royal to have distinguished herself so prominently outside of the family firm. Arguably the hardest-working royal of her generation, she has a special relationship with Canada, where she has visited on many occasions for equestrian events, as a representative of the Olympic committe, to represent her many charities and for the military. The Princess Royal is Colonel-in-Chief of six Canadian regiments, more than any other country outside the UK.

Answer: Princess Diana

At least she didn't remark, as did Prince Philip in Canada in 1976, 'We don't come here for our health. We can think of other ways of enjoying ourselves.'

To be fair, Princess Diana was an untrained amateur, her marriage was already rocky, and later she reported that she was already 'tired and ill', it was hot and the tour was 'boring'. This did not go unnoticed in the British press, which blamed her glum looks on a boring Canadian itinerary. She was also missing her little boy back home.

Princess Diana visited Canada three times. In 1983 she wowed everyone in her Klondike dress. She returned with Prince Charles in 1986 for the opening of Vancouver's World's Fair and finally in 1991 things got off to an ugly start at a reception at Ontario Place, where neither of the royals would even look at the other.

The level of adulation Diana met with was considered unprecedented and was considered a 'new' kind of celebrity-driven popularity for royalty. This was not true. The British royalty, at certain times throughout history has produced (or married) a celebrity. Edward VIII was just as much a celebrity as Diana and for many of the same reasons. He had the romantic good looks and the ineffable style that produced the Prince of Wales collar and the Windsor knot, and he was one of the most photographed men in the world in his day. Prince Albert Edward, back in 1860, was the trend-setter who put Aquascutum on the map. He was met at every Canadian stop by massive crowds - an estimated 10,000 alone greeted his train in Branford, roughly three times the population of the town at the time.

Answer: Visit a fire-ravaged community

Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrived in Canada on their first official tour, a huge success not only because there were TWO beautiful newlyweds to watch, but because the tour seemed a bit more lively than usual. This was a cunning plan, of course. As the most-watched young couple in the world, Kevin McLeod, the Queen's Canadian secretary explained, "We have to be conscious of the fact that through the lens of a camera, yes we'll have the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in the foreground, but what's in the background?" The itinerary was therefore impressively packed with photo ops and after a flight from Charlottetown to Yellowknife (6,460 km) the couple had Day 7 off. However, they decided to forget the jetlag and visit Slave Lake, a community in nearby Alberta that had been devastated by a forest fire only two weeks previously. Mayor Karina Pillay-Kinnee reported, "They were very concerned, very caring. Just wanted to reach out to the people of Slave Lake and we are just so grateful for them for taking the time out of their day off to come touch our community."

Royal tours have always been about something. At first they were meant to 'strengthen the bonds of mutual affection between the Colonies and the Mother Country' and consisted mainly of opening things, public exhibitions and military reviews. Sometimes there was a political agenda, like MacKenzie King serving as Minister in Attendance to King George and Queen Elizabeth in 1939, or poor Prince Charles scuba diving in the Arctic Ocean in 1970 to promote Canadian sovereignty in the region. Sometimes it's about branding, like Will and Kate's tour or the Queen dropping the puck at a Canucks game in 2002 while standing next to Wayne Gretzky.

But more and more often in the 20th century, royal visits, both public and private, have been about service to the community; to promote charities, the arts and sport. And here it's important to mention some of the royals who have helped in Canada but haven't yet shown up in this quiz, including Princess Margaret, The Duke and Duchess of Wessex, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and Princess Alexandra. Let's face it - they've got magic and make a special occasion very special indeed.