Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in history, died Thursday afternoon at the age of 96, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
She was in her Scottish residence, Balmoral Castle, alongside several members of the Royal Family, including Charles who is next in line to ascend to the throne. The Royal Family made the announcement in a Twitter post Thursday.
Earlier Thursday, the Royal Family rushed to be with Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral Castle after doctors said they were concerned about the health of the 96-year-old monarch, who remained under medical supervision.
The Queen, Britain’s longest-reigning sovereign and the world’s oldest monarch, has been suffering from what Buckingham Palace has called “episodic mobility problems” since the end of last year.
“Truthfully, the Queen was the only monarch most of the population has known since she was on the throne for so long,” said Dwight MacAulay, Manitoba’s former chief of protocol, who organized the Queen’s final two visits to the province.
“Certainly if you took a look at the general population (in) Canada and Manitoba, most of the population is 70 and under.
“So she’s really been the only Queen or monarch that we’ve known as our head of state.”
Over the course of her life, the Queen set foot in Manitoba on six different occasions, and each time Manitobans came out in droves.
“No one was a bigger draw of the Royal Family than the Queen,” said MacAulay, who organized her visits alongside her husband Prince Philip in 2002 and 2010, and assisted with organizing Her Majesty’s solo visit to the province in 1984.
“She was an absolute rock star when she came here.”
Here’s a look back on Queen Elizabeth’s six visits to Manitoba:
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1951
Princess Elizabeth made her first official visit to Manitoba with her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Two years later, she became Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 25, following the death of her father, King George VI.
1959
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip make a second visit to the province – her first visit to Manitoba as Queen. This trip was part of a 45-day national tour.
1970
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visit Manitoba along with their two eldest children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne, to mark Manitoba’s 100th anniversary.
The trip took them to Churchill, Thompson, Gillam, Flin Flon, Norway House, Swan River, The Pas, Dauphin, Clear Lake, Brandon, Portage la Prairie, Oakville, Winnipeg, Carman, Beausejour and Lower Fort Garry.
The Royal Family even visited the Bailey family farm near Carberry during that trip.
“They wanted to spend an afternoon on the farm and do some horseback riding, and they chose this farm near Carberry, (and) they had a great time, apparently, on the farm,” MacAulay said.
On the 2010 trip, MacAulay was able to facilitate another meeting between the Queen and the Bailey family.
“In 2010, I received a call from Mr. Bailey’s son about the possibility of his dad, who was very elderly at the time, meeting the Queen because he was the host to the Royal Family at the time when they visited his farm,” MacAulay said.
“The son brought him into Winnipeg and we had him meet the Queen at Government House, a chance to remind the Queen that he was the gentleman who hosted them at the farm, and she remembered it too, she remembered being at that farm.”
1984
Her Majesty came to Manitoba on a solo trip, visiting Winnipeg, Dauphin, Brandon and Dugald.
2002
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip returned to Manitoba to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. The Royals attended a large event at the Manitoba Legislative Building to unveil the newly refinished Golden Boy statue.
Tens of thousands of Manitobans came out to catch a glimpse of Her Majesty.
“It was absolutely electric when she was walking around,” MacAulay recalled.
“She was always charming, always made a point of showing interest in whoever she talked to. I know she also loved talking to veterans and people who were disabled.”
The trip wasn’t all smooth sailing, however. The Queen and Prince Philip took a water taxi across the Red River from The Forks to St. Boniface along with then-premier Gary Doer, and her boat stalled not once, but twice.
“I’m sure the colour drained out of my face quite quickly when that happened,” MacAulay said.
“The taxi I was in, we literally had to tow the Queen’s water taxi across the river. If nothing, it was memorable, because she actually mentioned this to me at a future visit.
“I had a chance to meet with her at a reception at Windsor Castle as it turns out, and told her I was from Winnipeg and she said, ‘oh yes, i remember. It was quite cold that day.'”
2010
Queen Elizabeth II made her sixth a final visit to Manitoba, along with Prince Philip, in 2010.
The Queen unveiled a cornerstone at the site of the soon-to-be Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The stone had been taken from the fields near Windsor Castle where the Magna Carta was signed.
MacAulay says the Queen will have left an imprint on many Manitobans.
“As you look back on her life, certainly a life well lived, I think we have to stop for a moment and it’s a sad time obviously, but as you reflect back at how lucky we were to have her as our head of state,” MacAulay said.
“(The Queen) was a person who was just the embodiment of class and dignity and grace.
“We were very fortunate to have her as our head of state, I really believe that.”
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