TORONTO -- The Duke of Edinburgh visited Toronto 20 times in seven decades, drawing countless crowds at every ceremony and inauguration.
“You have just experienced the world’s most experienced plaque-unveiler at work!” Prince Philip joked at the 40th anniversary of University of Toronto’s Massey College in 2002.
The Duke’s first trip to Toronto was in 1951 alongside his new wife, then-Princess Elizabeth’s inaugural visit to Canada. Other early visits included tours of Toronto City Hall, Leaside High School, and Upper Canada College.
“Prince Philip’s connection to Toronto was a deep and heartfelt one,” Mayor John Tory said in a statement Friday. “Prince Philip's patronages with a Toronto connection are many.”
The Duke’s last visit to Toronto was in 2013, for the Presentation of Colours to the Royal Canadian Regiment at Queen’s Park.
Then-Lieutenant Governor David Onley recalled Friday that Prince Philip had joked with the soldiers about the artillery being aimed at the media bay.
“He just leaned forward and said ‘Is this thing loaded?’ ‘They said ‘Oh no, sir, just blanks.’ And he said ‘Well that is a pity, isn’t it.’”
“When [the Prince] was speaking to someone, he speaks to that person, he listens to that person, his eyes are on that person,” Colonel (retired) Joe Aitchison, who met the Prince eight times, told CTV News Toronto Friday.
“That’s a gift, especially I think, for someone who is so used to moving in the halls of power.”
In the 1960s and 1970s, His Royal Highness was a guest at the Green Meadows estate in North York as a friend of the McDougald family. The home is now owned by the Feeley family.
“When I’d have new friends come over, they’d read the plaque and say ‘Oh I’m touching the bannister that the Royal family touched, I’m sleeping in the room where they slept!’” Robyn Feeley told CTV News Toronto.
Prince Philip founded the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, a program that encourages youth to develop their highest potential. On numerous occasions he made the trip to Canada to present the awards to young people in Toronto.
The Duke of Edinburgh was himself recognized for his service on his last trip to Toronto in 2013, when he was awarded the highest rank of the Order of Canada.
