Guelph will commemorate Britain’s longest-reigning monarchGuelph Mercury GUELPH — On Wednesday, Queen Elizabeth II will become the longest-reigning Monarch in Britain's history, surpassing that of Queen Victoria, who ruled for 63 years, seven months, two days, 16 hours and 23 minutes. And at Wednesday night's Guelph city council Public Services Committee meeting, the milestone will be formally noted. Colleen Clack, general manager of culture, tourism and community investment, said the city was contacted by the Monarchist League of Canada and asked to mark the occasion. "When we saw the date was Sept. 9 and then saw that was a Public Services Committee meeting, we thought that might be a good opportunity to mark the event," Clack said. Clack will make a brief presentation, including photos from the Guelph Civic Museum's archives of Queen Elizabeth's visit to Guelph in 1959 and Angela Monkholuse will perform God Save the Queen. Photos show the Queen arriving in Guelph by train, a brief meeting outside city hall with the then-mayor David Hastings, and then the Queen in a motorcade driving through the crowd-lined streets of downtown Guelph with RCMP officers on motorcycles leading the way. Her visit was brief —about 30 minutes — and she was back on the train heading to her next stop. Clack said they had a similar presentation for the Queen's Jubilee. "There are lots of people in Guelph for whom the monarchy and the Queen makes a difference. This is the right thing to do," she said.
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