License Plates from the Royal Visits to British Columbia

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1939 Royal Visit
In 1939, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Bowes-Lyonhad toured Canada on the eve of war in Europe.  Their trip was intended to shore up Canadian loyalty to the imperial cause, and one of the stops was to the City of Vancouver. 

To mark the event, the Government of Canada commissioned four vehicles, being two Buick model 90s, a Lincoln Model K and a Chrysler Imperial.  As the Royals traveled across the country, the cars were transported to the next destination so that there would always be one waiting at the railway station when the King and Queen arrived.  During the Vancouver leg of the trip, and as can be see in the photos below from the City of Vancouver Archives, the vehicle was not required to display a license plate on the front or back bumper. 
The Lincoln was used to transport the Royals and appears to have performed the lion's share of the chauffeuring duties in Vancouver and has resided in Ontario ever since, while the Lincoln Model K has stayed in BC and, at last report, was on display at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in Squamish. As a nice touch - and apparently reflective of its owners connections - the Buick displays as its validly registered licence plate Antique No. 1939!
The Lincoln Model K - which is easily distinguishable from the other model by its front grill - has subsequently been used twice to transport Royals visiting the province. Once in 1986 when Prince Charles and Princess Diana came to Vancouver to open the 1986 World Exposition (Expo 86):
As the vehicle was participating in the Vintage International Antique Auto Show being staged at BC Place Stadium during Expo, it did display one of the souvenir licence plates - No. 191 - on the back of the vehicle (Click Here to read more about these plates). According to the guidebook published in relation to the Antique Auto Show, the owner of the vehicle at that time was Vern Bethel of Vancouver.
The other time that the Lincoln Model K has been used to carry Royalty was when the Queen and Prince Phillip came to Victoria to open and close the 15th Commonwealth Games in August of 1994 (see further down this page for more information on this visit):

1951 Royal Visit
Twelve years later, and with the war concluded, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were sent on a tour of Canada in the fall of 1951 essentially to thank Canadians for the military support they had provided the “mother country.”
A coast-to-coast tour of the country, the Princess and Duke would arrive in Vancouver on October 20th where, amongst other things, she would plant an oak sapling at Queen Elizabeth Park (named for her mother).
Although the tour would principally be conducted by rail, for short distances within cities such as Vancouver and Victoria, automobiles would be utilized.
As the story goes, a GM dealership in Toronto had been asked to prepare six cars to “dignitary standards of class and security” to be used as part of the tour, two of which would stay in the Toronto area, while the others would be shared between the Maritime and Western Provinces.
At the conclusion of the royal visit, the cars were to be sent back to the General Motors plant in Detroit, however, the owner of the dealership, a Mr. McDougall, envisioned the day he would be giving his daughter away in marriage and secretly kept a black convertible Cadillac that had been used by the Princess – as well as the special license plates that accompanied it.
In 1989, the plate would be acquired by local collector Pierre Delacote who happened to work with the grandson of Mr. McDougall at the Teahouse Restaurant in Stanley Park.  While the convertible Cadillac was long gone, the family had kept the special license plate as a souvenir for almost forty years.
As can be seen in the picture above, there are scratches to the paint at the side and bottom of the plate.  As the tour took place in the period just prior to the standardization of license plate dimensions in North America, the royal license plate measures 12” by 6.5” instead of the emerging standard of 12” by 6” and, therefore, did not fit the bolt holes on the car.
Subsequently, a photo was found showing one of the cars chauffeuring the Princess and Duke at a rally in Toronto with little white clips at the side and bottom of the plate to hold it in place.
Less than four months after this tout, Princess Elizabeth would become Queen in February of 1952, following the death of her father, King George VI.

1987 Royal Visit - Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)
What the heck is the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting you may be asking?
Well my friends, that was my first response too, and after some investigating it would seem that the CHOGM is a biennial summit involving the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations and generally involves an appearance from Her Most Excellent Majesty, the Queen (as head of the Commonwealth). For those history buffs out there, it might sound more familiar as the old Imperial Conferences that were held during the first half of the 20th century.

Canada has hosted two CHOGM's with the first being in Ottawa under Pierre Trudeau's Prime Ministership in 1973, and the second meeting in Vancouver under Brian Mulroney's Prime Ministership in 1987.
In recognition of Her Most Excellent Majesty, the Queen, and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh visit to British Columbia to open the 1987 CHOGM, the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles, Keith Jackman, authorised the issuance of "special number plates" (deemed to be in accordance with Section 11(3) of the Motor Vehicle Act).
These plates were only to be used on vehicles forming part of the official motorcade and that were already licensed and insured in BC. The Superintendent also required that the regular license plates; Certificate of Vehicle Registration; Certificate of Insurance and Vehicle Licence; and a copy of a letter signed by the Superintendent setting out the validity of the plates be carried in each vehicle displaying them.
According to Ernie MacAulay, twenty (20) pairs of plates were requested, numbered "ROYAL 1" to "ROYAL 20" and utilising the Ham Radio base.
Originally the Motor Vehicle Branch approved the issue with the serial numbers in the same blue as the regular passenger plates allegedly because it would be too difficult to produce them with red serial numbers. However, Astrographics Limited had already confirmed to Ernie MacAuley that they could readily produce the "ROYAL" plates with distinctive red serial numbers using the same colour seen on the Prorated plates issued in 1986 (and again in 1988). Based upon this, the MVB reversed itself and consented to the use of the red serial numbers.

Prorated plate displaying the red serial

Ham Radio base
Interestingly, while it had been intended that the Queen's vehicle would display the plate "ROYAL 1", this did not occur as Her Majesty's limousine was provided with a gold coat of arms on a red background (a design that would be seen in subsequent trips). It is suspected that, for this reason, the plate shown above ("ROYAL 1") was destroyed by cutting it in half.
At the conclusion of the summit, the Superintendent required that one plate from each pair be returned to his office for distribution to senior provincial personnel and senior personnel who worked on the Royal Visit. The remaining plates were presented to the motorcade drivers.


1994 Royal Visit - Commonwealth Games (Victoria)
With the Queen again scheduled to visit British Columbia from August 15-20, 1994, to open the Commonwealth Games being held in Victoria that year, Ernie MacAuley, Superintendent of the RCMP Security Office for the Royal Visit, queried the Motor Vehicle Branch (MVB) about the possibility of issuing special license plates for the occasion.
A request, dated May 20, 1994, noted that the "ROYAL" series was now being used on personalised plates for a limousine company, so it would now be necessary to use an alternate series. The initial suggestion was for a twenty plate set to be issued from "E II R 2" through "E II R 20" ("E II R" being the latin abbreviation for the Queen Elizabeth II).
MacAuley also recommended "that the Ham Radio blank be used again with the letter painted rid (to complement the background of the Queen's 'coat of arms' plate and to distinguish the series from the regular passenger and commercial vehicle plates). To make the plates even more distinctive, I would suggest that 'Beautiful British Columbia' be replaced with 'XV Commonwealth Games' and 'Victoria, B.C.' be placed in the areas reserved for validation stickers."
Subsequent correspondence of June 23rd provided the MVB with a copy of the badge that had been personally approved by Her Majesty for the Canadian visit (see below).

At left is a copy of the "Visit Badge" approved by the Queen (her signature is visible at top right).
The image at top is a mock-up of the plate, which, apart from the serial, is very much as the issue would appear.
MacAuley also "concluded that it would be more appropriate to use a decal of the Visit Badge rather than attempting to emboss 'E II R' onto a series of plates. Decals were used in Ontario for the Papal Visit in 1984 and for an Economic Summit with very attractive results."
A final correspondence, dated July 28th (18 days before the Visit), indicates a minor change to the plates by changing the serial to an alpha-numeric type (there would be 19 sets):
S3
Issuing Statistics
C1
1 set
F1
2 sets
F2
1 set
F3
2 sets
P1
1 set
P2
1 set
P3
1 set
R1
1 set
R2
2 sets
R3
1 set
R4
1 set
R5
1 set
S1
1 set
S2
2 sets
S3
1 set
Unlike 1987, following the conclusion of the Royal Visit, the MVB required that the special issue plates be returned with an allowance for one plate to be retained by the RCMP for display purposes in "E" Division Headquarters.
Over a year later, on October 30, 1995, a News Release was issued by the Ministry of Transportation an Highways advising that it was "making available for public sale 18 pairs" (I wonder which pair the RCMP elected to display at HQ?) of the Royal Visit plates.
The News Release went on to state that "public sale of the plates will give British Columbians an opportunity to take away a cherished memento from a very special moment in B.C.'s history ... It also enables us [the Ministry] to recover the cost of manufacturing them ... Collectors and the public will be able to purchase the plates through a process of sealed bids. Interested buyers submit their bid forms and sending them to the B.C. Purchasing Commission by the closing date of Jan. 30. The winners will be contacted shortly after."
When the bidding closed, the following amounts were paid for each set of plates:
R1
$255.00
F3
$155.00
C1
 $106.00
F1
$106.00
F1
$106.00
P1
 $106.00
S1
 $106.00
S2
 $102.00
F2
$82.00
P2
$82.00
F3
$55.00
P3
$55.00
R2
$55.00
R2
$55.00
R3
 $55.00
R4
 $55.00
R5
 $55.00
S2
$55.00
S3
$55.00

At left is a prototype of the 1994 Commonwealth Games license plate that was produced by Astrographic. It is one of two known examples (the other being No. 24) where a letter prefixed does not appear in the serial number.

2002 Royal Visit - Golden Jubilee Tour (Canada)
In 2002, the Queen undertook another visit to British Columbia. The following pictures show the license plates that were used on her vehicles in both Victoria (at left) and Vancouver (at right).

2009 Royal Visit to British Columbia - Prince Charles & Duchess of Cornwall

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited Canada from November 2 - 12, 2009. This, the couple's first official visit to Canada together, involved visits to 12 cities including stops in Victoria and Vancouver.
As has occurred in the past, the license plate sporting the gold coat of arms on a red background was used throughout the trip:
Prince Charles & Camilla at Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria, November 8, 2009

2016 Royal Visit to British Columbia - Prince William & Princess Kate

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Canada ... well, really, only British Columbia with a small side tour to the Yukon from September 24 to October 1, 2016.
As usual, we here at BCpl8s.ca followed the tour vicariously through social media and managed to grab a plethora of photos of the official motorcade (is anything else really worth taking photos of when it comes to the Royals?) and, as for past tours, the gold coat of arms on a red background plate was used throughout:
Interestingly, and as can be seen in the photo at left, but much better in the photo at bottom-right, the other vehicles in the official motorcade sported red identifiers on the tops of their roofs. We haven't really seen anything like this since the single letter prefixes used in the series of plates issued for the 1994 Commonwealth Games (see section above). If anyone out there knows anything about these numbers, please drop us a line.
Yes, yes ... we will see you again sometime soon.

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