Princess Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary, Countess of Harewood (HRH The Princess Royal) (born 25 April 1897 in Norfolk, United Kingdom; died 28 March 1965 in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom). Princess Mary was the third child and only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, the younger sister of King Edward VIII and King George VI and the great-aunt of King Charles III. Mary was president of The Girl Guides Association (now known as Girlguiding) from 1920 to 1965. She was colonel-in-chief of The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary’s), the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals and the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. She also represented her niece Queen Elizabeth II on three official tours of Canada in 1955, 1962 and 1964.
Category Archives: Royalty and the Atlantic World
New Canadian Encyclopedia Article: Queen Anne
My new article in the Canadian Encyclopedia is about Queen Anne, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1702 to 1707, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1707 to 1714 (born 6 February 1665; died 1 August 1714 in London, United Kingdom).
Anne’s reign was dominated by the War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne’s War), which resulted in France ceding the Hudson Bay watershed, Acadia (New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) and Newfoundland to Great Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht. In 1710, Anne received Indigenous leaders known as the Four Kings of Canada, setting precedents for the modern relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Crown. The death of Anne’s last surviving child, William, resulted in the passage of the 1701 of Act of Settlement, which determines the royal line of succession in the United Kingdom, Canada and the other 13 Commonwealth realms to the present day.
Click here to read my article in the Canadian Encyclopedia about Queen Anne
New Canadian Encyclopedia Article: King Louis XIV
My latest article in the Historica Canada Canadian Encyclopedia is about King Louis XIV and his role in the development of New France. Click here to read my article about King Louis XIV.
King Louis XIV, king of France (born 5 September 1638 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France; died 1 September 1715 in Versailles, France). Louis XIV was the longest-reigning monarch in European and Canadian history, serving as the king of France for 72 years (from 1643 to 1715) — nearly two years longer than the 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1663, Louis XIV assumed direct control of New France as a Crown Colony, sponsoring increased immigration, regulating the fur trade and creating a stronger French military presence in the region. Despite these efforts, Louis XIV’s military and diplomatic endeavours — including repeated wars with the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), as well as the War of the Spanish Succession and the Treaty of Utrecht — shifted the balance of power in North America. This created the eventual conditions for the British conquest of New France with the support of the Iroquois during the Seven Years’ War of 1756–63.
CBC News Interview: Royal diplomacy hits the world stage on 2 fronts — Charles in France and William in New York
I discussed the state visit to France by King Charles III and Queen Camilla as well as Prince William’s visit to New York with Janet Davison at CBC News. I also discussed the recent podcast episode about the royal family’s rugby patronages, featuring William and Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales and Princess Anne.
Washington Post Interview: Realms eyeing a split from the monarchy are mostly ignoring coronation
I discussed the relationship between the monarchy and the Commonwealth realms in an interview with Amanda Coletta at the Washington Post.
The Gazette Article: The Evolution of the Commonwealth During the Reign of Queen Elizabeth II
New Book Chapter: Royal Tours of Canada in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth II
A Resilient Crown: Canada’s Monarchy at the Platinum Jubilee, edited by D. Michael Jackson and Christopher McCreery (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2022) is now available for purchase. This book of essays about the Crown in Canada over the past seventy years includes a chapter that I wrote about Royal Tours of Canada in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
Click here to purchase A Resilient Crown: Canada’s Monarchy at the Platinum Jubilee
New Canadian Encyclopedia Article: 10 Places in Canada Named After Royalty
My new article in the Canadian Encyclopedia is about 10 of the many places in Canada named after royalty. Click here to read 10 Places in Canada Named After Royalty in the Canadian Encyclopedia.
New Canadian Encyclopedia Article: Royals Who Lived in Canada
In my latest articles in the Canadian Encyclopedia, I discussed members of the royal family who made their home in Canada for months or years from Queen Victoria’s father, the Duke of Kent and Strathearn in the 1790s to Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2020.
Click here to read “Royals Who Lived in Canada” in the Canadian Encyclopedia
North Americana Podcast Interview: The 1939 Royal Tour of Canada and the USA
I discussed King George VI’s and Queen Elizabeth’s 1939 tour of Canada and the United States with Liz Beatty for latest episode of the North Americana podcast: “How a King, a President, a Railway Empire and a Hotdog Helped Save the Free World.”
Click here to listen to “How a King, a President, a Railway Empire and a Hotdog Helped Save the Free World” on the North Americana website. (My quotes are in the last third of the program).