Royal patronage an integral part of organization’s nearly 100-year-old history
OTTAWA, Sept. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Royal Canadian Legion is mourning the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
“Our deep feeling of honour and respect for Her Majesty and our memories of her will remain firmly entrenched in our minds and hearts forever,” says Bruce Julian, Dominion President. “We will never forget her generous patronage and what her support has brought to our organization.”
The “Royal” in Royal Canadian Legion came to be in 1961 and was due to Her Majesty’s consent to use this title. The Legion was founded in Winnipeg in 1925 as “The Canadian Legion of the British Empire Services League” and was later incorporated by a special Act of Parliament with its Charter issued in 1926. That Act was amended in 1961 after the Queen consented to the use of the prefix “Royal.”
As a Veteran herself, having served during the Second World War as an army driver and mechanic, the late Queen was a true role model of comportment and grace and will be remembered fondly.
Over the years, members of her family have displayed great reverence for Canada’s Fallen including the Queen’s own son, the King, and the Queen Consort who placed a wreath at the National War Memorial in 2009 and in 2022 during the Queen’s 70th Jubilee. Her Majesty’s daughter, the Princess Royal, Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence also attended the Legion’s National Remembrance Day Ceremony in Ottawa in November 2014.
The late Queen’s own parents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were present for the inauguration of our country’s National War Memorial at the original dedication ceremony in May 1939.
The Legion launched with a mission of supporting and being a strong voice for First World War Veterans. That dedication now extends to our country’s military and RCMP Veterans at home and abroad.
With the succession of the King, the Legion’s ties to the monarchy and the Commonwealth will remain strong and will be embodied by His Majesty’s representative in Canada, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary May Simon, the current viceregal patron of the Legion.
We will Remember Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
About The Royal Canadian Legion
Founded in 1925, the Legion is Canada’s largest Veteran support and community service organization. We are a non-profit organization with a national reach across Canada as well as branches in the U.S. and Europe. With 250,000 members, many of whom volunteer an extraordinary amount of time to their branches, our strength is in our numbers.
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