2014 Canada $25 75th Ann. First Royal Visit Ultra High Relief Fine Silver

History was made when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited Canada in 1939. It was the first time a reigning monarch had ever traveled to North America, and for a young nation eager to flex its muscles of independence, the royal tour provided the perfect opportunity. Eight years earlier, a number of colonies had gained full sovereignty from British rule under the Statute of Westminster; for Canada, the Royal Tour would breathe life into that legal document in a real and dramatic way.

The royal tour was more than two years in the making; a grand, 29-day voyage across Canada from east to west and back again—almost 14,000 kilometres by rail.The royal train featured the best carriages that Canadian Pacific and the Canadian National Railway hadto offer, with two specially fitted convertible McLaughlin-Buicks on board to tour the royal couple in cities and towns along the way.

The King and Queen arrived in the city of Québec aboard HMY Empress of Australia on May 17, 1939. Huge crowds of adoring well-wishers waited to greet them; a scene that was repeated again and again as the royal train made its way from the city of Québec to Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Port Arthur (Thunder Bay), Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary and Vancouver where the King and Queen where ferried to Victoria escorted by naval ships and air force.

The return trip followed a more northerly route through Jasper and Edmonton. Every village and town greeted the King and Queen with the same enthusiasm that had welcomed them in the city of Québec. At Niagara Falls, the royal train made a detour to the United States before returning to Canada near Montreal. Fromthere, it traveled through Quebec's Eastern Townships, up the St. Lawrence River to St. John and Charlottetown. In Halifax, the King and Queen gave their farewell radio address, but this would not be their final function. After leaving port on June 15^th aboard RMS Empress of Britain, the Royals visited Newfoundland, their final stop in the historic royal tour thatwill forever reign as a turning point in Canada's evolution into a mature and sovereign nation.