Remembering the future Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Niagara Falls in 1951

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Published September 8, 2022 at 2:44 pm

With Prince Phillip directly behind her, Princess Elizabeth (who would be Queen in four months) peers over the railing towards the Horseshoe Falls during an October 1951 visit. (All photos from Region of Peel archives.)

When Princess Elizabeth and her husband Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, stopped to visit Niagara Falls during a cross-Canada tour in the fall of 1951, it wasn’t just another whistle-stop.

Having heard of the ‘majesty’ of the falls, the soon-to-be queen made a special request to include a visit at Niagara Falls, a sight she had heard of but never seen.

Then just 25-years-old, she wouldn’t become Queen Elizabeth II until her father, King George VI, died in February 1952. However, she was standing in for him on the tour as he had become too ill to travel by the time she landed in Niagara Falls on October 14, 1951.

According the the Niagara Falls Public Library archives, the pair arrived by train on a “beautiful, sunny fall day” and were prompted greeted by His Worship Mayor Earnest Hawkins and his wife Mrs Elsie Hawkins.

The Lincoln and Welland Regiment mounted an honour guard while war veterans had been invited to attend, forming up behind the two regiments.

“At the official welcome ceremony, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke shook hands with 68 dignitaries and guests,” says the archives. “Gifts of silverware from the McGlashan Clarke Silverware Company were presented to the couple, and a Royal Doulton figurine was gifted by the Parks Commission.”

The Royal Doulton figurine apparently had “Made in England” stamped on the bottom, causing Prince Phillip to quip, “It was made in England and now we’re taking it back.”

Live scenes of the Princess and Prince standing falls-side were shot by TV crews from the top of the General Brock Hotel, the same hotel Marilyn Monroe would stay two years later while filming the movie “Niagara”.

According to the archives, when she stood at the railing of the Horseshoe Falls, Princess Elizabeth described the view as “magnificent” and “tremendous.”

It was estimated a crowd of 150,000 people in Niagara Falls “cheered the royals throughout their visit” before they boarded the royal train to continue their tour across Canada.

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