Queen Elizabeth II in Canada: May 2005

[mandyy]

More photos from today

[Humera]

and more.....

[mandyy]

And more pics

[mandyy]

Just a few more

[sara1981]

i got articles from Kansas newspaper check it out!

Queen Elizabeth II braves chilling rain to greet tens of thousands on Canada's Victoria Day

The Associated Press Queen Elizabeth II greets the crowd as she leaves St. Mary's and St. George Anglican Church following a church service Sunday, May 22, 2005 in Jasper, Alberta, Canada with Whistler Mountain in the background. (AP Photo/Paul Chiasson)
EDMONTON, Alberta — Queen Elizabeth II, smiling and carrying her own umbrella in a chilly rain, greeted tens of thousands of well-wishers Monday at the Commonwealth Stadium in Alberta for the western province's centennial celebrations.

The queen cut the first slice of a massive cake made to look like the Alberta legislature building while a military band played "Happy Birthday."

The queen is the head of state in Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth of former colonies and was making her 22nd visit, along with her husband Prince Philip. Her nine-day visit began last Tuesday in neighboring Saskatchewan, another prairie province marking its 100th anniversary of joining the Canadian Confederation.

Monday was Victoria Day in Canada, a national holiday honoring the birthday of the queen's great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip watched a cultural presentation of First Nation dancers and several renowned Canadian performers, including the country singer Ian Tyson.

Organizers struggling with the rain had their job further complicated when one of the four huge guns to be used for the planned 21-gun salute was involved in a traffic accident on its way to the stadium. The field artillery piece was being towed, with the barrel facing backward, by a truck through Edmonton when it was rear-ended by another military vehicle in the convoy.

One person was slightly injured when the barrel went right through the windshield of the second vehicle, police said. The military used the three remaining guns to carry out the salute.

[Humera]

and here are the corgi dogs. The Queen spent several minutes talking to the owners, petting the animals and also asked all of their names

[Humera]

and finally, the Queen says goodbye to the Premier and his wife and leaves the legislature

[Humera]

Prince Philip, meanwhile, was in norther Alberta touring the oil sands among other things.
These pictures are from Fort McMurray.

[Humera]

The Prince also attended a reception with some business executives

[A.C.C.]

Thanks again for all of the great pictures. I am glad to see all of the very large crowds coming out for The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

[sara1981]

here articles about HM Queen and Prince Philip's trips at Canada check it out for story!


Queen dons waterproofs for soggy birthday party
By Caroline Davies in Edmonton
(Filed: 25/05/2005)

In pictures: The Queen in Canada

It rained, again. The birthday girl was late, the cake soggy, the celebrations curtailed and the guests left in droves before the end.

Poor Alberta. No place could have tried harder for the Queen. But the elements reduced the province's extravaganza, a year in the planning, to a washout.

The Queen and Prince Philip join the people of Alberta in celebrating the province's centenaryHaving survived a deluge in Regina, Saskatchewan, the Queen again unpacked her beige waterproof cape, unfurled another transparent umbrella (black trim rather than pink - just how many did she bring?) and struck out for the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, the provincial capital, for another dousing.

This was the Victoria Day public holiday, named after the Queen's great-great-grandmother, on which Canadians celebrate her official birthday. It was also the day chosen for "one of the largest parties in our history" to mark 100 years of Alberta's membership of the Confederation.

The Queen did her best, despite her aircraft arriving 15 minutes late. She wore a fur hat at a jaunty angle and matching cuffs, presumably chosen to honour the city's origins as a fur-trading post.

But that did not deter Alberta's premier, Ralph Klein, from trying his best to dislodge it. Leaning in as the Queen cut a sodden vanilla and buttercream cake in the shape of Alberta's legislative building, an errant spoke of his battered umbrella stabbed the fur brim, narrowly missing her eye.

The Queen had arrived with Canada's minister of public safety and emergency preparedness in tow, only to discover Edmonton's preparedness for rain rather lacking.

The wet stage was too slippery for the planned dance spectaculars. Only the valiant White Buffalo Dancers and Drummers made a fist of it, with just one moccasin-shod foot giving way and sending its owner sprawling in a flurry of bedraggled feathers.

In a modest triumph, the traditional 21-gun salute was fired, but from only three field artillery pieces, the fourth having been damaged in a traffic accident while being towed to the stadium.

Only 20,000 Edmontonians of the 50,000 who had free tickets turned out to huddle on the exposed stadium seats.

Among the guests of honour, war veterans sat on polythene-draped seats, protected by plastic see-through ponchos handed out by organisers. First Nation leaders sat alongside them, buckskin and damp feathers protruding from rainwear.

Indeed, as the Queen and Prince Philip walked through a welcoming avenue of plastic-clad well-wishers, they might have been forgiven for believing the rain poncho to be Alberta's traditional attire.

After their arrival many of the crowd bailed out, with barely 5,000 there at the end.

This was the second of the tour's three set-piece events to be ruined by rain. Calgary will stage the third inside, and will delight in Edmonton's misfortune. Its people still smart over losing the vote to be the province's capital a century ago.

Before the Queen could retire, Edmonton had one more treat in store. At a banquet, where she was served bison tenderloin, Mr Klein announced that Highway Two, the 420-mile Edmonton to Calgary corridor, would be renamed "The Queen Elizabeth Highway".

Not only, he boasted, would it be the only highway in Canada named for Her Majesty, but it would be Canada's "longest highway named after a member of the Royal Family".

"This just goes to show that we don't do things by half measure in Alberta!" Mr Klein crowed.

"Happy Birthday, Ma'am. Happy Birthday, Alberta."

Publishers wishing to reproduce photographs on this page should phone 44 (0) 207 538 7505 or e-mail syndication@telegraph.co.uk

[Humera]

various random pictures of the Queen and Prince Philip from today

[Humera]

I dont get why tonight's state dinner wasnt broadcast on tv. Its too bad because the Queen was in her formal regalia.
Still I managed to get a few screen caps from the news highlights.

[Ephram]

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