Saturday, July 03, 2010

The Royal Tour of Canada 2010 - Day Three

Day Three of the Queen and Prince Philip's royal tour marked their arrival in our nations capital - Ottawa, Ontario.
OTTAWA, ON - JUNE 30: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh meets children as he visits the Canadian Museum of Nature on June 30, 2010 in Ottawa, Canada. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh are on an eight day tour of Canada starting in Halifax and finishing in Toronto. The trip is to celebrate the centenary of the Canadian Navy and to mark Canada Day. On July 6th The royal couple will make their way to New York where the Queen will address the UN and visit Ground Zero. (Photo by Chris Jackson-Pool/Getty Images) It must have seemed like a regular day at the office, what with all of the plaques, windows and statues she unveiled. The first unveiling took place during a visit to the Canadian Museum of Nature where she unveiled a plaque dedicating The Queen's Lantern. This glass addition replaces the original tower of the Victoria Memorial Museum Building, built in 1910 to house this natural history museum, a 100 year-old building, designated a national historic site. The Lantern is dedicated to The Queen and her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, after whom the building was named.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Canada's Heritage Minister James Moore unveil a statue of Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa June 30, 2010.   REUTERS/Blair Gable   (CANADA - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) After a short walkabout the couple arrived at the National Arts Centre to unveil a life-sized bronze statue of the late-jazz- legend Oscar Peterson, who played for the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh during the 2002 Golden Jubilee celebrations in Toronto.

Her visit to Rideau Hall marks the second tree-planting of the tour. Rideau Hall is the official residence of the Governor General of Canada and the tree that the Queen planted, her fifth at Rideau Hall, is one of 120 trees planted by members of the Royal Family, heads of state and other dignitaries. A bronze plaque at the base of each tree indicates the name and title of the person who planted it and the species and date.

The last unveiling takes after her audience with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She unveils the design for the Diamond Jubilee Window for the Senate of Canada, the upper chamber of the Parliament of Canada.  The Window will commemorate Her Majesty’s 60 years of service as Queen, to be celebrated in 2012, and that of Queen Victoria’s, celebrated in 1897.

The Queen also unveiled a design for a carving of The Queen for the Senate Foyer. This image of The Queen will be installed alongside the other five of Canada’s sovereigns (Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII and George VI) who have reigned since Confederation.

© Marilyn Braun 2010

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