Queen’s Ontario visit switches from tradition to technology
Posted July 5, 2010 4:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, Ont. – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II received a new BlackBerry, Monday, after she toured Research in Motion company headquarters in Waterloo, Ont.
RIM’s co-founder Mike Lazaridis presented her with the BlackBerry, which was complete with digital pictures of children presenting her flowers.
Her Majestry also received a virtual bouquet of flowers from children at Queen Elizabeth Public School in Kitchener.
She wore a white smock over her butter-yellow outfit during her RIM tour, but kept her hat on — a matching yellow hat with multicoloured ribbon and lavender brim.
The Queen and Prince Philip also visited Toronto for a tour of Pinewood Studios — Canada’s largest film and television studio and one of North America’s largest studios, behind Los Angeles and New York — and watched a 3D movie.
The royal couple was greeted by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty for a luncheon with some 700 guests.
Victor was one of the chefs.
“There was stuffed chicken with apricot and leek,” Victor said of the menu.
Former prime ministers and Canadian celebrities lunched with her majesty.
Canadian Auto Workers president Ken Lewenza was there too.
“Surprised at the reaction and the kind of respect she was given and the kind of excitement that was in the room,” Lewenza said.
The couple will attend a dinner Monday night hosted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, his wife and members of the federal government.
The Queen will then give her fourth and final speech of her 22nd Canadian tour via television.
Prince Philip will also be presenting the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, a program that encourages youth to participate in community service, among other areas.
Monday’s schedule takes the Queen, 84, and Prince Philip, 89, from 10 a.m. to about 9 p.m.
So far the royal couple has also visited Halifax, Ottawa and Winnipeg on their nine-day Canadian tour. They head for New York after leaving Toronto Tuesday afternoon.
