Local politicians and public figures are among those paying their respects following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The longest-serving British monarch and Canadian head of state, Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 after 70 years on the throne.
Her eldest son, Charles, has ascended to the throne under the title King Charles III.
“Her love for Canada was profound, and our city experienced that affection first-hand on four separate occasions during Her Majesty’s visits to London,” London, Ont. Mayor Ed Holder said in a tweet following news of the queen’s death.
“For many of us, she has come to represent steadfast service and constancy, particularly during more turbulent and uncertain times.”
Holder added that, as tradition, the Canadian flag outside of London City Hall would be flown at half-mast until sunset on the day of the queen’s funeral.
In addition, a book of condolences will be available in the lobby of city hall for Londoners to sign starting Friday morning. The book will be available to the public until the day of the funeral.
Local MPs have also offered their condolences, with London North Centre MP Peter Fraigksatos stating in a tweet that the queen’s legacy would never be forgotten.
“May she rest In peace. So many Londoners and Canadians cared about her deeply because of her example. A true inspiration,” he said.
In a tweet, London West MP Arielle Kayabaga wrote that, “On behalf of my constituency of London West, I want to extend sincere condolences to the Royal Family, the United Kingdom, and the entirety of the Commonwealth after the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”
London—Fanshawe MP Lindasy Mathyssen said she was saddened to hear of the queen’s passing, and said her condolences were with the Royal Family and those who loved her.
“She was a daughter, a sister, a mother, grandmother and and great-grandmother. She was also a leader and a woman in a position of power who held her duty in the highest regard,” Mathyssen wrote in a tweet.
“Throughout her historic reign, she taught us the true meaning of selfless service and was respected and admired for her sense of duty and commitment to charity,” Premier Doug Ford wrote in a statement.
“On behalf of all Ontarians, I am sending our thoughts and prayers to the entire Royal Family, the people of the United Kingdom and to Her Majesty’s many admirers all over the world.”
London’s connection to Queen Elizabeth II dates back nearly 71 years. The city has been the site of four royal visits involving Her Majesty over the decades.
The first, in Oct. 14, 1951, took place four months before she would ascend the throne after the death of her father, King George VI, on Feb. 6, 1952.
The then-25-year-old Princess Elizabeth visited the city with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, for a short whistle stop as part of a month-long royal tour across Canada — her first visit to the country.
Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip were greeted by a crowd of roughly 20,000 people outside of the Canadian National Railway station on York Street, according to the book London Free Press: From the Vault by Jennifer Grainger.
The queen would visit London three more times, each time joined by Prince Philip, including on July 2 and 3, 1959, June 28, 1973, and June 27, 1997.
During their 1959 visit, part of a larger 45-day tour of the country, the queen and Duke of Edinburgh took part in a ceremony before a large crowd at Western University’s J.W. Little Stadium, the site of what is now Western Alumni Stadium.
According to a Globe and Mail report at the time, the queen accepted a gift from the city during the ceremony. As she did, “she acted almost like a schoolgirl herself as she peeped down the rolled-up document, obviously curious about its contents,” the newspaper reported.
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“It was quickly unrolled for her, revealing that two $1,000 scholarships will be given annually in her name to students at the University of Western Ontario. She also accepted a gift of bronze bookends from the city,” the report by Olive Dickason continues.
Dickason noted that, upon arriving at the city’s train station, the royal couple were greeted by Mayor J. Allan Johnston and Mary Jane Kennedy, great-great-granddaughter of the city’s first mayor, who handed the queen yellow tea roses.
Kennedy, Dickason reported, had handed the queen’s mother similar flowers as a four-year-old when the Queen Mother and King George VI visited the city in 1939 — a royal visit which Johnston had also presided over as mayor.
During the 1959 visit, Prince Philip attended the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) at Wolseley Barracks where he unveiled the RCR Memorial and the presentation of colours to the 1st and 3rd Battalions, of which he was colonel-in-chief, according to the RCR Museum.
An itinerary published by the Globe and Mail at the time of their visit shows the royal couple were scheduled to visit Brantford, Chatham, Kitchener, London, Guelph, Stratford, Sarnia, and Windsor over the course of two days.
WATCH: Londoners wait in the rain for Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip to arrive. (Note: Video contains footage from the day’s other stories.)
Fourteen years later, on a rainy and cloudy June day, tens of thousands of people braved the weather and waited outside of London City Hall to catch a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during their 1973 visit, part of an 11 day tour of Canada.
According to a Toronto Star report at the time, the day saw civic and military ceremonies outside city hall, and a 500-person luncheon at Centennial Hall featuring dishes named for areas of southern Ontario, including “Elgin County roast pheasant, Lambton County new potatoes, (and) Perth County cheese.”
The Globe and Mail’s Martin O’Malley reported that the gathered crowd, “threatened to get out of control as swarms of people ran to the front of the city hall from locations where the royal couple had already passed. Police managed to keep them at a safe distance.”
After the luncheon, the royal couple took a stroll through Victoria Park, where the queen declined the use of an umbrella as a light drizzle began.
“The trees provided some protection, but this sort of weather wouldn’t faze an English girl,” O’Malley wrote. The Victoria Park excursion saw roughly 30,000 people in attendance, he wrote.
The visit made headlines when London’s then-mayor, Jane Bigelow, broke with protocol and declined to wear a hat upon greeting the queen.
In an interview with the London Free Press in 2005, Bigelow said the headwear controversy was still a subject of conservation 30 years later. “People still bring it up all the time. I guess I’ll go down in history,” she told the newspaper.
“I don’t think it upset the queen at all. If you look at pictures of that visit, the queen seemed very happy in the presence of our mayor, who was a very, very gracious host for the occasion,” former London Mayor Dianne Haskett told Global News last year in the wake of Bigelow’s death.
“But it was a huge thing for London and the Commonwealth that a mayor would not greet the queen with a hat on.”
Haskett, who served as London’s mayor from 1994 until 2000, welcomed the queen and Duke of Edinburgh herself on what turned out to be their final visit to the city in June 1997.
Speaking with Global News on Thursday, Haskett said she was saddened to hear of the queen’s death, adding, “She was just such a tremendous sovereign and just had such character.”
“Just the way that she showed herself as a leader, so dedicated to the task of serving the people and upholding all the right values,” Haskett said by phone from her home in Washington, D.C.
“The way she worked so hard throughout her entire lifetime to make sure that everyone in the Commonwealth felt that they belonged, it’s a very sad day for us to see that she’s passed.”
Haskett was just a young child when the royal couple made their second visit to the city in 1959, but she says she still remembers the excitement surrounding their arrival.
“Friends of my parents had a home right near Victoria Park and near wherever the parade route was … I believe she and Prince Philip were in an open air car driving through the central part of the city, and we just could not have been more excited,” she said.
Nearly 40 years later, Haskett would be the one welcoming royalty to the Forest City — “a tremendous memory,” she said. “I will always treasure it.”
“I had the privilege of welcoming her to the city on behalf of the people, (and) of having her sign a special guestbook that we only have the highest dignitaries sign,” Haskett said.
“There was just an amazing atmosphere in Victoria Park that day, an atmosphere of anticipation and excitement. And of course, many of the people were talking to one another about ‘do you remember her last visit in 1973? Or in 1959?’ and so forth. The crowd was just thrilled and Her Majesty did not disappoint.”
Something she says she will never forget was the queen’s kindness and graciousness to everyone who turned out to Victoria Park.
“She left a very strong impression on me and on everyone there that day,” she said.
Speaking on London Live with Mike Stubbs on Thursday, former London Police Chief Murray Faulkner said the news of the queen’s death was sad, adding that she was a “marvellous queen.”
He recalled the honour of meeting the queen during her visit in 1997, an opportunity he says was afforded to him by then-chief Julian Fantino.
“I think I might have been a staff sergeant or inspector at the time. Julian said that he and his wife had been asked to attend Victoria Park and meet the queen and whether I and my wife Linda would like to join,” Faulkner said.
Faulkner notes his wife “didn’t seem too keen” on the idea. “She said, ‘You know, your mother would love to go with you.’ So I took my mother down to the park.”
Faulkner remembers that they were advised the queen wouldn’t speak to them, but would stop and nod her head as she walked by.
“The queen is walking towards Fantino and (Liviana Fantino) and my mother and myself, and I looked over at my mother and she was bawling,” Faulkner said.
“I said, ‘Mother, straighten up, the queen is coming!’ And she cried and cried and cried. And I know that that moment stuck with her until she passed away several years ago.”
The queen made 22 trips to Canada during her 70 years on the throne, most recently in 2010.
— with files from The Canadian Press
More statements released in the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth II:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
“She was our Queen for almost half of Canada’s existence. And she had an obvious, deep and abiding love and affection for Canadians. She served us all with strength and wisdom for 70 years as we grew into the diverse, optimistic, responsible, ambitious and extraordinary country we are today. As her twelfth Canadian prime minister, I’m having trouble believing that my last sitdown with her was my last. I will so miss those chats. She was thoughtful, wise, curious, helpful, funny, and so much more. In a complicated world, her steady grace and resolve brought comfort and strength to us all. Canada is in mourning. She was one of my favourite people in the world, and I will miss her so.”
Gov. Gen. Mary Simon:
“For many of us, we have only ever known one Queen. When I was growing up, my grandmother revered The Queen, as did so many in the Arctic. She would tell us stories about Her Majesty, about her role and her commitment. Her Majesty’s warm welcome when we spent time with her earlier this year was a profound moment in our lives and a memory we will cherish forever.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh:
“Queen Elizabeth II lived a life of history and duty. She was also a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. My thoughts today are for her family who have lost a pillar of strength in their lives.”
Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen:
“As Queen of Canada, she was not only a witness to our historical evolutions as a modern, confident, and self-assured nation — she was an active participant. She was with us to open the St. Lawrence Seaway. She presided over our centennial celebrities. Later, she even opened the Olympic Games in Montreal. Many will say today that her passing marks the end of an era, but truly, Her Majesty presided over two eras in Canada’s national life.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford:
“On this sad day, I join everyone across our province, country and the world in commemorating the remarkable life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of Canada. Throughout her historic reign, she taught us the true meaning of selfless service, and was respected and admired for her sense of duty and commitment to charity … Long live the King!”
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