Royal Visits

Royal visits bring the Sovereign and his family into direct contact with people from all walks of life across Canada and bring value to the function of the constitutional monarchy. This personal presence vividly reminds Canadians of their heritage and political culture as a parliamentary democracy under the Crown. It also assists the Canadian Crown in its key role, symbolizing and uniting our citizens above the beyond ethnic backgrounds and partisan politics.

Royal visits lend the prestige of the Royal Family to worthy causes such as health care, education, the arts, the disabled, multicultural groups, and the volunteer sector. And they attract national and international attention to Saskatchewan's resources, industry, culture and tourism.

For example, in 1989, The Duke and Duchess of York toured the province's northern tourist region, including the historic community of Stanley Mission and a First Nations co-operative sawmill in Meadow Lake; helped publicize the Canada Summer Games in Saskatoon; celebrated Swift Current's 75th anniversary; and visited the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre in Regina. In 1994, Prince Edward joined a First Nations pow-wow and visited a healing lodge near Fort Qu'Appelle, for which he is the royal patron.

Members of the Royal Family have also visited farms, livestock shows, schools and factories, and have been guests at concerts, plays and variety shows. They have celebrated the anniversaries of municipalities and institutions. Royal visits thus contribute a rich strand to the texture of community life across Canada.

Royal Visits to Saskatchewan

Visits from members of the Royal Family have been a feature of Canadian life since before Confederation. However, the first visit to Canada by a reigning monarch was the historic 1939 tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. With the development of air travel, royal visits have been much more frequent since World War II. Cross-Canada tours such as that of Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh in 1959 have given way to shorter, more specific regional visits, usually initiated and organized by the provinces and co-ordinated by the federal government.

Visits to Saskatchewan include:

Saskatchewan's Royal Connections

Saskatchewan enjoys some direct connections with the Royal Family. For example, Queen Elizabeth II granted the title "Royal" to several organizations:

• Royal Regina Golf Club
• Royal Regina Rifles (reserve infantry unit)
• Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Regina
• Royal United Services Institute, Regina
• Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon

Members of the Royal Family have an ongoing connection with Saskatchewan through scholarships awarded in their name:

• The Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship in Parliamentary Studies (1987)
• The Prince of Wales Scholarship (2001)
• The Prince Edward Drama Scholarship (2003)
• The Queen Elizabeth II Centennial Aboriginal Scholarship (2005)
• The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall Fund (2012) (formerly The Prince of Wales Scholarship)
• The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Scholarship (2012)
• Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (Saskatchewan) (2022)

Royal Family Titles

It is customary to refer to members of the Royal Family by their title rather than their first name (e.g., The King rather than King Charles). The principal members of the Royal Family and their titles are listed below, together with the year of their most recent visit to Saskatchewan.

Since the members of the Royal Family visit Canada in their capacity as family of The King of Canada, it is not accurate to refer to the "King of England" or the "British Royal Family."

Canada is a constitutional monarchy in its own right, separate from the United Kingdom, and The King is the Canadian Head of State, represented federally by the Governor General and provincially by the Lieutenant Governors.