Naming of Queen Elizabeth Theatre was kept secret
Monarch wanted to announce the name during a royal tour stop in Vancouver
It’s no secret Canada has long had an interesting relationship with the Royal Family. Some have questioned the necessity of remaining tied to the monarchy, while others are happy to pledge their allegiance to the Queen.
In July 1959, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited Canada in what was the most ambitious royal tour ever planned at the time. Organizers were adamant the trip be dubbed a royal tour and not a royal visit, to further cement the idea that the Queen was not just a visiting dignitary, but that she was the Queen of Canada.
She was 33 years old then, and just six years into her reign. Unbeknownst to those co-ordinating the trip, she was pregnant with her third child at the time of the tour, a fact she hid before later announcing the news when she returned to London.
The trip would take the Queen and Prince Philip through every province and territory, with stops at four of the Great Lakes, and a bit of the United States, over the course of 45 days.
On July 15, 1959, the Queen stopped in Vancouver for a oneday visit. Earlier that month, Vancouver’s newest performing arts civic theatre had just opened following a $9-million construction; the Queen attended to officially christen the building the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
At the time, the QE, as it is often known, was one of the largest softseat theatres in the country.
Photos from the Queen’s appearance at the theatre are familiar. A crowd appears to have parted ways to allow for the Queen to move through, no barricades necessary. She is dressed in an evening gown, a fur stole draped around her shoulders, a theatre program in cocktail-gloved hands.
The photo, taken by Vancouver Sun photographer Brian Kent, captures the Queen in the middle of speaking to her companion.
It wasn’t quite that simple, however. Leading up to the Queen’s visit and the theatre’s opening, there had been some secrecy over what to name the venue. Archived news clippings said Ottawa officials were “atwitter” over the decision.
Reporter Tom Gould, then stationed at The Vancouver Sun’s Ottawa bureau, appeared to have run into some challenges when trying to track down what officials had decided to name the theatre.
“Grown men run and hide when you raise the subject, and veteran civil servants in Ottawa lock their doors and have their secretaries bar the way to their inner offices,” he wrote in an article on May 9, 1959.
“The mayor wants to name the auditorium after the Queen. It’s as simple as that. Weeks ago, a formal request was made, and, it can safely be assumed, finally reached Her Majesty.
“After days of outrunning the runaround, The Sun has discovered just what the holdup is. The Queen has agreed to the use of her name for the auditorium, but she wants to name it personally when she is in Vancouver. No one, apparently, has had the courage to explain to her that the people involved have to prepare programs, tickets and advertising for the auditorium opening.”
There had also been a poll conducted leading up to the theatre’s opening that asked B.C. residents how they felt about another civic landmark being named after the Queen. A majority of those within major cities agreed it was a good choice, while most of those living outside of cities and in rural areas felt there had already been too many things named after the Queen.
But the grand opening came and went, the Queen bestowed her blessing upon the theatre’s new name and later gifted the city and the theatre with a pair of signed photographs to mark the occasion.
In a letter following the visit, the Queen’s secretary wrote that the Queen and Prince Philip had been “deeply impressed” by the new building and the brief musical program that had been put on.
“They only wish that it had been possible to stay longer and to hear more of the program,” the letter reads.