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SYDNEY, N.S. — Emma Francis will forever cherish the up-close and personal moment she shared with Queen Elizabeth II during the late monarch’s last visit to Cape Breton.
The former Sydney Mines resident was just seven-years-old when she was selected to present the Queen with a bouquet of flowers at an ecumenical service at Centre-200 during the 1994 royal visit.
Now 35, Francis resides in Moncton, N.B. She said meeting the Queen was an incredible experience that she’ll never forget.
“I remember that I was missing my two front teeth and that I had just one line to say and that was ‘good evening, Your Majesty, welcome to Cape Breton’, it was a line I had practiced for like two weeks,” recalled Francis, who wore a highland dance outfit while presenting the Queen with flowers.
“It was lovely to be able to give her flowers. It’s a very fond memory that I’ll keep forever. I do remember that she was very sweet. I don’t really remember if she actually said anything but her smile was absolutely beautiful.”
Francis isn’t exactly sure just how she came to the one chosen to meet the Queen, but she does remember it having to do with her former church minister Karen Ralph who was involved with the royal visit’s Centre 200 event.
ROYAL VISITS
1951 – Then Princess Elizabeth, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visits every Canadian province making Nova Scotia stops in Springhill, Truro, Sydney and Halifax
1959 – Queen Elizabeth makes a cross-Canada tour which includes a stop in Sydney where she delighted crowds of admirers during her downtown Sydney visit at the Isle Royale Hotel.
1994 – The Queen visits Sydney, where she attended an ecumenical service at Centre 200, and went on a tour at the Fortress of Louisbourg during an August tour that saw her attend the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, B.C.
“I believe it came up that they wanted to have a child give flowers to the Queen and I was the right age and I had the right outfit so I think that’s why I came to be selected for it,” said Francis, whose mother Paula played the organ at the service.
Like many others, she was saddened but not surprised by the Queen’s passing.
“She was 96 so it wasn’t a shock,” she said.
“She just kept going and going over all those years and didn’t let tragic events set her back. She just kept going all the time. She was remarkable.”
Mayann Francis
Mayann Francis, no relation to the aforementioned Emma Francis, served as Nova Scotia’s Lieutenant Governor from 2006 to 2012. She was born and raised in Sydney’s Whitney Pier community, which was then one of the most ethnically-diverse neighbourhoods in Canada.
During her tenure as the Queen’s viceregal representative in Nova Scotia, she enjoyed two meetings with Queen Elizabeth II.
Now 76, Francis said she may even have made eye contact with the monarch while the latter was on a 1951 visit to Canada when she was known as Princess Elizabeth. She claims that the princess leaned toward her while passing by in a motorcade and waved directly at her.
Francis then officially met the Queen in 2006 in England after being appointed Lieutenant Governor and again in 2010 during the late monarch’s last visit to Nova Scotia.
“I would say that Her Majesty was someone who was quite open and accepting of diversity of differences in colour, differences in gender,” said Francis, who resides in Halifax and was the first Black woman, and second woman, to serve as Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.
“She was just one of those people that was respectful at all levels when you talk about equality. And, for me, being from Whitney Pier, it was absolutely moving to meet her because I came from a place that was multicultural long before that word even existed.”
Manning MacDonald
Longtime Sydney politician Manning MacDonald recalls hosting the Queen and Prince Philip in 1994. MacDonald, who served as Sydney’s mayor from 1978 to 1993, had just started what would be a 20-year run as an MLA representing the riding of Cape Breton South.
“Over my 35 years in office, I met a lot of interesting and famous people but Queen Elizabeth will always top the list,” he said.
“I had a great chat with her and when I introduced my wife Ann to her she looked at Ann and said ‘I have a sister named Anne’, she was very gracious. When you were talking with her it was if she was talking to you alone. She was very easy to speak with. She made me very comfortable.
“And that was important because you never knew what to expect when royalty comes calling. We had to make sure that everything was secure and that all the little details were taken care of before they came.”
Joe Burke
Joe Burke was just 16 years old when he lied about his age so he could join the Canadian army in the Second World War. At the time, the native of Christmas Island had no idea his journey overseas would involve a chance meeting with a then-teenage Princess Elizabeth.
By nothing more than sheer luck, Burke was one of several soldiers stationed at Aldershot in England that were chosen to go for a tour at the nearby Windsor Castle. While on the tour, Burke and some buddies were sat at a table when they were joined by Princess Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret. Then the party was also joined by the Queen Mother and Queen Mother Mary, the latter of who poured tea for the group.
“I’ll never forget that – the two girls came in and said “hello, Canada’,” said Burke, who at 98 is one of the last surviving members of the Cape Breton Highlanders who served in the Second World War.
“I remember telling them I was from a place called Christmas Island and they thought that was great, that it meant presents all year round. At the time, of course, I had no idea that she would go on to be Queen for more than 70 years. I’m sad to hear the news.”
During that same 1942 visit to Windsor Castle, Burke also caught a glimpse of then King George VI who was napping on the other side of a stone fence on the castle grounds.
Dr. Larry Gaum
A day prior to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, former Sydney resident Dr. Larry Gaum was basking in the limelight of having some of the photographs he took of the monarch on her 1959 visit to Cape Breton published in the Cape Breton Post and its SaltWire Network affiliates.
Gaum, a 78-year-old retired oral surgeon now living in Toronto, made his way to the Isle Royale Hotel armed with a brand new Kodak Signet 35 camera when he was 15. He snapped off a roll of Kodachrome slides that remained hidden away in a box until just a few weeks ago.
The photos show Queen Elizabeth II and husband Prince Philip in front of the hotel and in a motorcade that made its way along the streets of Sydney. Gaum also took crowd pictures and a few shots of a marching band.
“I can’t believe she passed away just when my old photos made the light of day,” said Gaum.
“I can’t say I was surprised as she was 96. But I am saddened by her death. It brings back, not just to me but to everyone, that we are mortal.
“She was classy right up to the end. If you watched her meet the new British Prime Minister, it looked like it took all of her strength to perform her last royal duty. She had moxy. She performed her duties right up to the end.”
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