Victoria commemorates the legacy of Queen Elizabeth II

Surrounded by her family at her summer home in Scotland, Queen Elizabeth II—the longest-serving British monarch in history—died yesterday at the age of 96.

The BC Legislature lowered the Canadian flag to half-mast on Thursday afternoon, and by the evening the building was illuminated in royal blue. In the Hall of Honour, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II along with the flags of Canada and BC were draped in black.

The legislature’s facilities manager Surjit Dhanota told Capital Daily that a book of condolences will be available for the public to sign at the Hall of Honour and Government House. An online book of condolences will also be available.

Queen Elizabeth II was Canada’s official head of state for 70 years, adorning our currency and working with Canada’s Lieutenant-Governors and Governor Generals for several decades. She also effectively ended the role of the British Parliament in Canada’s affairs in 1982 when she signed the proclamation that repatriated the Constitution.

In 2020, approval for the Queen in Canada was highest among British Columbians at 85%, yet that same poll found half of Canadians agreed the country should terminate formal ties to the monarchy after Elizabeth’s reign.

In 2014, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, as well as Couns. Marianne Alto, Ben Isitt, and Jeremy Loveday, declined to pledge allegiance to the Queen in support of the Songhees and Esquimalt nations. “This is their territory, and if there’s anything to emphasize, it’s that,” Helps said. On Thursday, Helps released a statement mourning the death of the monarch. “Her incredible life was defined by her dedication to serving the people,” she wrote.

Last February, a Queen Elizabeth II statue in Beacon Hill Park was beheaded and vandalized. The statue was erected in 1959 to commemorate her visit. But for a city named after a Queen, the monarchy certainly still has its support, and fond connections.

Rick Anthony—a former Victoria and Oak Bay police officer—told Capital Daily his grandfather, a senior RCMP officer, was Elizabeth’s personal security officer during a royal tour in 1951 when she was still a princess. “He had these gold cufflinks he was gifted [from Elizabeth II] and a silver cigarette box from Prince Philip,” he said. “The legend is [Elizabeth] told my grandfather to wear them every day and my Grandma said he did.”

Anthony said his grandfather stayed in touch with Prince Philip until his passing in the mid sixties; the two men even went fishing together in the Northwest Territories during a 1954 visit.

Decades later, in a full circle moment, Anthony was assigned to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip as a VicPD officer for the Royal Security Team during the 1994 Commonwealth Games.

During his service, Anthony brought a photo album of the royals' trip in 1951. “I put it in their limousine with permission,” he said. “And they were thrilled. They were looking at that thing and recalling all the memories of the Royal Tour when they were young.”

Anthony said for many generations of people, “When you think, ‘the Queen’—you think, Elizabeth.”

Gene Fedderly, a member of The Monarchist League of Canada in Victoria, told Capital Daily that the group intends to honour the Queen by gathering to watch her funeral procession. “We knew that this thing was going to happen eventually,” he said. “But it still comes as a little bit of a shock.”

Fedderly said the monarch—and the group's support of it—will never waver. “We want to assure people that, though it's the end of an era, it’s part of the institution of the monarchy,” Fedderly said. “It always continues on.”

Prince Charles will now take his heir to the throne and become Canada’s head of state. He holds honorary military ranks in Canada as Vice-Admiral of the Canadian Navy and Lieutenant-General in Canada’s army and air force.

In 2009, Prince Charles visited the Esquimalt Royal Canadian Navy base and received the salute of the Guard of Honour and a medal for his service. Prince Charles's swearing-in, according to Fedderly, will be the next big thing for the Royal family—and it involves Canadian politicians both current and former. Governor General Mary Simon will proclaim the new King of Canada on the advice of the Privy Council of Canada—made up of current and former federal cabinet ministers. And while the death of the Queen means Prince Charles automatically becomes Canada’s head of state, the Queen’s death has already had some bureaucratic hiccups: recent Canadian citizens sat in Zoom limbo wondering who to swear allegiance to Thursday morning.