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A look at Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family’s visits to Ontario

Queen Elizabeth II walks with Jacob Froese, Lord Mayor of Niagara-on-the-Lake, outside of Shaw Festival Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, on June 28, 1973. The queen died at the age of 96 on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022.
Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library
Queen Elizabeth II walks with Jacob Froese, Lord Mayor of Niagara-on-the-Lake, outside of Shaw Festival Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, on June 28, 1973. The queen died at the age of 96 on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022.

Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family never visited Buffalo or Western New York directly, but there have been forays into nearby parts of Southern Ontario, still a part of the British Commonwealth.

Following the queen’s death at age 96 on Thursday, here’s a list of some of those trips.

June 7, 1939: The first section of the then-under-construction Queen Elizabeth Way in Saint Catharines was dedicated by the queen’s parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, for whom the highway is named and who was later known as the Queen Mother. They also dedicated the Canadian site of the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, a year before construction began.

Later in the day, George VI became the first ruling British monarch to enter the U.S., as his train crossed Suspension Bridge in Niagara Falls at 10:39 p.m., en route through Western New York to Washington, D.C., for a meeting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, less than three months before the start of World War II.

Nov. 7, 1951: Just three months before becoming queen, Elizabeth, princess of Wales, and her husband, Prince Philip, visited Niagara Falls and attended a National Hockey League exhibition in Toronto between the Maple Leafs and the Chicago Blackhawks.

July, 2 1959: Queen Elizabeth visited Hamilton a week after presiding over the dedication of the Saint Lawrence Seaway with President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Quebec.

June 28, 1973: Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited Saint Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake, attending theater dedication ceremonies at the Shaw Festival.

Oct. 26, 1991: Princess Diana of Wales, 30, and her sons Princes William, 9, and Harry, 7, visited Niagara Falls, taking a ride on the Maid of the Mist.

Mark Wozniak, WBFO's local All Things Considered host, has been at WBFO since mid-1978.
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