Queen Elizabeth II was no stranger to Quebec, having visited the province several times during her years of service.
Those who met her over the years say she left a strong impression.
The queen died Thursday at the age of 96 after serving more than 70 years, the longest of any British monarch.
Bruce Bolton is one of very few Montrealers who can boast about having met the queen not just once, but multiple times.
He remembers her fondly.
“My experiences with the queen date back to Expo 67,” the retired military officer told Global News.
The queen attended the Expo 67 world’s fair in Montreal for the country’s centennial. Bolton was a 16-year-old student working at the military museum on Île Sainte-Hélène.
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“We were a guard of honour and she inspected us,” he recalled. “She inspected the front row and I happened to be in the front row.”
The next time the monarch came to Montreal was for the 1976 Olympics in which Princess Anne competed as part of Britain’s equestrian team.
Bolton met her again during that visit while still working at the military museum.
“We formed a guard of honour at the Hélène de Champlain restaurant on Île Sainte-Hélène where (Prince) Philip and her went for lunch,” he said.
Bolton also met the queen as an adult but what he says struck him about meeting her as a child was her kindness.
“She obviously liked talking to young people and she was encouraging,” he said.
When he met her much more recently in Scotland, he had the same impression.
“I call her ‘Grandmother Elizabeth,'” he said, smiling. “She was acting like a grandmother.”
He stressed that the queen continued to impress him throughout her reign and isn’t surprised that people of his generation are mourning her loss so deeply.
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