The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – Government Records and Private Archives

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister of Canada Lester B. Pearson in the minirail at Expo 67. Source

As mentioned in previous articles, the collection at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) contains a vast amount of information regarding Queen Elizabeth II. In this last article on The Queen, we present a selection of textual materials held by LAC. While few of them have been digitized, the descriptions are all accessible online so you can discover the contents.

Government Records

• The fonds for the Canadian Corporation for the 1967 World Exhibition contains documents about The Queen’s visit to Expo 67. In fact, you may view a digitized program booklet titled “Queen in Canada” outlining the program for the royal visit to Expo ’67.
• The fonds for Canadian National, then a Crown corporation, contains information about the various cars for the Royal Train, responsible for transporting the royal family during their official visits to Canada, as well as onboard services, and itineraries for each visit and for the official ceremonies. (Especially volumes 13130, 13143, 14503, 14879 and 14880)
• The fonds for the St. Lawrence Seaway contains photographs from the opening ceremonies of the seaway in 1959 with Queen Elizabeth II, President Eisenhower and Prime Minister Diefenbaker. (Especially volume 175)
•  The fonds for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The RCMP was responsible for the security of the royal family during their visits to Canada.
• The fonds for the Department of External Affairs includes information pertaining to the logistics of all royal visits.

Private Archives

• The Louis St. Laurent fonds contains documents about the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, 1952–1953.
• The Lester B. Pearson fonds contains documents about the royal visits as well as correspondence with The Queen, 1964–1967.
• The fonds for the musician Alexander Brott contains sheet music titled Royal Tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, 1953 and 1978. (Especially volume 119, files 4 and 5)
• The Georges P. Vanier fonds contains several documents about the royal visits and the Coronation of Elizabeth II.
• The Roland Michener fonds contains documents on the various royal visits during the 1960s and 1970s.
• The Jules Léger fonds contains documents on the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977.

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