Queen Elizabeth II marked her 89th birthday last week. What better way for a loyal subject to celebrate than with a stop at the Surrey Museum, hosting A Queen and Her Country?
On tour from the Canadian Museum of History, it’s on display to May 16, and looks at her Majesty’s first 60 years as Canada’s head of state.
Born on April 21, 1926, her reign began with the death of King George VI on Feb. 6, 1952. Her coronation took place on June 2, 1953. Elizabeth II’s first visit to Canada was in October 1954. She opened parliament and delivered the speech from the throne, the first of 23 visits here.
She was the first monarch to visit the arctic, and made an official visit to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in 2002. That year, Her Majesty dropped the puck at a Vancouver Canucks hockey game, a moment captured by Canadian Press photographer Chuck Stoody.
Reporter reader Mike Czepak was at the game. “Bring her back for game 5 and perhaps maybe even dress her and put on the Blue Line or up front with the Sedins,” he wrote on our Facebook page. Alas, she stayed home and the Canucks are out of the playoffs.
– Cloverdale Reporter