The Canadian Coronation Contingent were members from the Canadian military and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who were assembled for the sole purpose of participating in the coronation ceremonies of the Canadian monarch in London, United Kingdom. Five Coronation Contingents have been mounted: in 1902, 1911, 1937, 1953, and 2023.
The Canadian military contingent for the coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Pellatt of the 2nd Regiment Queen's Own Rifles of Canada [1] and consisted of some 600, including veterans of the Battle of Paardeberg. The group arrived at Liverpool on 20 June 1902 and were given an "immense reception" by the local people. [2] They camped with other Dominion and colonial troops at Alexandra Palace, in north London. [3]
On 24 June it was announced that the King was ill and that the coronation would be postponed indefinitely. The colonial troops were inspected by the Prince of Wales, later to be King George V, before the Canadian contingent left London on 3 July for the journey home via Liverpool. A second, smaller contingent was sent for the rescheduled coronation on 9 August 1902. [4]
The Canadian contingent for the coronation of George V and Mary was a force of 708, of which 53 were officers. [5] The Contingent mustered at Lévis, Quebec, on 23 May 1911, sailing for England on 2 June and arriving at Liverpool on 9 June. The contingent was based at the Duke of York's Royal Military School where they were inspected by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts. On Coronation Day, 22 June, eight officers and forty men were part of the procession, while the remainder of the Canadian Contingent lined the route. The next day, two mounted guards participated in the King’s Procession. The contingent sailed from Liverpool on 2 July, returning to Quebec City on 9 July. [4]
For the coronation of George VI and Elizabeth, Canada sent a contingent of 351 representing the Navy, Air Force and Royal Canadian Mounted Police who each provided about 30 men, with the Army providing the balance. [6]
The contingent gathered at Lansdowne Park at Ottawa and sailed from Montreal on 28 April, arriving at Southampton on 7 May. They were initially based at Pirbright Camp for training, before moving to the Olympia London exhibition hall. During their stay in London, they provided the King's Guard at Buckingham Palace and St James Palace. Following the coronation, they were presented with the King George VI Coronation Medal at Wellington Barracks, before leaving from Southampton on 26 May. [4]
For the coronation of Elizabeth II, Canada sent the largest contingent of any Commonwealth realm; 180 men marched in the procession, while 320 lined the route in the area near Canada House. In total, there were some 700 active members of the Canadian military involved. [7] Many of the Canadian troops were based with NATO in Germany; but, horses were sent direct from Canada for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police contingent, who rode with the Canadian Army, while four others formed an escort for the Prime Minister of Canada, Louis St. Laurent, and his wife. [8]
Canada’s high commissioner, Norman Robertson, had a ceremonial role, handing the Canadian standard to the Barons of the Cinque Ports in the nave of the abbey, before taking his seat.
A Canadian Coronation Contingent took part in the procession for the coronation of Charles III and Camilla on 6 May 2023. Canada's delegation, which was housed at Army Training Centre Pirbright, [9] was the largest in the Commonwealth division of 408 military personnel. [10] Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Mike Mendyka of the Royal Canadian Regiment, it included 45 members from the Canadian Armed Forces: 16 from the Canadian Army, 11 from the Royal Canadian Navy, 11 from the Royal Canadian Air Force, six from the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, and a naval cadet from the Royal Military College of Canada. [14] At least one CAF member marched alongside the coach carrying the King and Queen to Buckingham Palace. [15]
The coronation contingent also included five riders from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Musical Ride, [16] who accompanied the Household Cavalry to form part of the King's escort in the post-coronation procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace. [17] Each RCMP officer rode horses gifted by the RCMP to Elizabeth II and Charles III. [16]
Trooping the Colour is a ceremonial event performed every year on Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom, by regiments of Household Division, to celebrate the official birthday of the British sovereign. It is also known as the Sovereign's Birthday Parade. Similar events are held in other countries of the Commonwealth. In the UK, it is, with the State Opening of Parliament, one of the biggest events of the ceremonial calendar, and watched by millions on TV and on the streets of London.
Guard mounting, changing the guard, or the changing of the guard, is a formal ceremony in which sentries performing ceremonial guard duties at important institutions are relieved by a new batch of sentries. The ceremonies are often elaborate and precisely choreographed. They originated with peacetime and battlefield military drills introduced to enhance unit cohesion and effectiveness in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery is the artillery personnel branch of the Canadian Army.
The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the primary reserve. The RCR is ranked 1st in the order of precedence amongst Canadian Army infantry regiments, but in a quirk of the rules of seniority, its 4th battalion is 9th.
The King's Guard are sentry postings at Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace, organised by the British Army's Household Division. The Household Division also mounts sentry postings at Horse Guards, known as the King's Life Guard.
Major General Sir George Arthur French, was an Irish soldier who served as an officer in the British Army, as the first Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, from October 1873 to July 1876, and as Commandant of the colonial military forces in Queensland (1883–91) and New South Wales (1896–1902)
Major-General Victor Arthur Seymour Williams was a Canadian general in the First World War and later the Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police. In June 1916 he was seriously wounded and captured by the Germans. He was one of the highest ranked Canadians ever made a prisoner of war.
The relationship between the Canadian Crown and the Canadian Armed Forces is both constitutional and ceremonial, with the King of Canada being the commander-in-chief of the Canadian Forces and he and other members of the Canadian royal family holding honorary positions in various branches and regiments, embodying the historical relationship of the Crown with its armed forces. This construct stems from Canada's system of constitutional monarchy and through its 500 years of monarchical history, the relationship symbolically represented through royal symbols, such as crowns on military badges and insignia, coats of arms, royal portraits, and the grant of the royal prefix to various military units and institutions. The role of the Canadian sovereign within the Canadian Armed Forces is established within the Canadian constitution, the National Defence Act, and the King's Regulations and Orders (KR&Os) for the Canadian Forces.
James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten-Windsor, Earl of Wessex, is the younger child and son of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh. He is the youngest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the youngest nephew of King Charles III. At the time of his birth, he was 8th in line to the British throne. As of 2023, he is 15th.
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The coronation of George VI and his wife, Elizabeth, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Emperor and Empress consort of India took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on Wednesday 12 May 1937. George VI ascended the throne upon the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, on 11 December 1936, three days before his 41st birthday. Edward's coronation had been planned for 12 May and it was decided to continue with his brother and sister-in-law's coronation on the same date.
The coronation of Edward VII and his wife, Alexandra, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 9 August 1902. Originally scheduled for 26 June of that year, the ceremony had been postponed at very short notice, because the King had been taken ill with an abdominal abscess that required immediate surgery. In contrast to the coronation of Queen Victoria, Edward's predecessor, some 64 years earlier, Edward and Alexandra's coronation had been carefully planned as a spectacle reflecting the influence and culture of the British Empire, then at the height of its power, but also as a meaningful religious occasion.
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