Monarchy in Nova Scotia

The roots of the present Crown in Nova Scotia lie in Jacques Cartier's claim, in 1534, of Chaleur Bay for King Francis I; though, the area was not officially settled until King Henry IV established a colony there in 1604, administered by the governor of Acadia in the capital of Port-Royal, so named for the King. Only slightly later, King James VI and I laid claim to areas overlapping with Acadia, in what is today Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and part of Maine, and brought it within the Scottish Crown's dominion, calling the region Nova Scotia (or "new Scotland").[15][16] James' son, Charles I, issued the Charter of New Scotland, which created the baronets of Nova Scotia, many of which continue to exist today.

The Coming of the Loyalists by Henry Sandham, showing a romanticised view of the Loyalists' arrival in Nova Scotia

Over the course of the 17th century, the French Crown lost, via war and treaties, its Maritimes territories to the British sovereign, Acadia being gradually taken until it fully became British territory through the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and the name Nova Scotia was applied to the whole region. But, this placement of French people under a British sovereign did not transpire without problems; French colonialists in Acadia were asked by British officials, uneasy about where the Acadians' loyalties lay, to reaffirm their allegiance to King George III. The Acadians refused, not as any slight to the King, but, more to remain Catholic, and were subsequently deported from the area in what became known as the Great Upheaval.

During and following the American Revolution, some 35,000 to 40,000 United Empire Loyalists, as well as about 3,500 Black Loyalists, fled from the Thirteen Colonies and then the United States to Nova Scotia, refugees from the violence directed against them during the war.[17] So many arrived that New Brunswick was split out of Nova Scotia as a separate colony.

Not all who settled in the colony were immediately made to feel comfortable, however, as many of the already resident families were aligned with the United States and its republican cause; Colonel Thomas Dundas wrote from Saint John in 1786, "[the Loyalists] have experienced every possible injury from the old inhabitants of Nova Scotia, who are even more disaffected towards the British government than any of the new states ever were. This makes me much doubt their remaining long dependent."[18]

Prince William Henry (later King William IV), between 1790 and 1795

Amelia, Viscountess Falkland, Prince William Henry's illegitimate daughter and wife of Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia the Viscount Falkland

Prince William Henry (later King William IV) arrived at the Royal Naval Dockyards in Halifax in late 1786,[19] on board his firgate, HMS Pegasus. Although he received a royal reception, it was later made clear the Prince would be granted no further special treatment other than already accorded to an officer of his rank in the Royal Navy. Of Halifax, the Prince said, "a very gay and lively place full of women and those of the most obliging kind." It was in this period of William's life that he began his own long history of inappropriate liaisons.[19] Further, although he was strict about rules and protocol, himself, he was also known to occasionally break them and, as punishment for taking his ship from the Caribbean back to Halifax without orders to do so, he was commanded to spend the winter of 1787 to 1788 at Quebec City. Instead, William disobeyed again and sailed to Britain, infuriating the admiralty and the King. The Prince was forced to remain in the harbour at Portsmouth to await return to Halifax the next year. That return became all the more urgent when it was discovered William had begun an affair in Portsmouth, prompting the King to say, "what? William playing the fool again? Send him off to America and forbit the return of the ship to Plymouth."[20]

Prince William Henry returned to Nova Scotia in July 1788, this time aboard HMS Andromeda, and remained there for another year.[20] Back in the United Kingdom, he met Dorothea Jordan, a woman he could not legally marry, but, nonetheless, with whom William carried on a decades-long relationship, fathering, with her, 10 children, all of which bore the name FitzClarence, meaning "son of Clarence", stemming from William's title, Duke of Clarence. Two of the Prince's illegitimate daughters lived in Halifax, one, Mary, in 1830 and the other, Amelia, from 1840 to 1846, while her husband, the Viscount Falkland, served as Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.[21] Upon his accession as King William IV in 1830, he sent a portrait of himself to the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, recalling his earlier life in the colonial capital.[20]

Prince Edward in 1799, with the Star of the Garter, voted to him by the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in 1798

Halifax Town Clock, designed and built by Prince Edward

A son of King George III, Prince Edward, was sent in 1794 to take command of Nova Scotia. While he travelled extensively around the colony,[22] he lived in Halifax, based at the headquarters of the Royal Navy's North American Station; though, Lieutenant Governor Sir John Wentworth and Lady Francis Wentworth provided their country residence for the use of Edward and his French-Canadian mistress, Julie St. Laurent, where they hosted various dignitaries, including Louis-Phillippe of Orléans (the future Louis Philippe I, King of the French). The Prince extensively renovated the estate, including designing and overseeing the construction of Prince's Lodge (or the Music Room). He also oversaw the reconstruction of Fort George[23] and the officer's quarters at Fort Anne[22] and designed and had built the Halifax Town Clock and St George's Church (also known as the Round Church).[n 1] The King and Edward's brother, Prince Frederick, were highly supportive of the latter project, the King providing a £200 donation.[26] Additionally, Edward prompted the construction of numerous roads, made improvements to the Grand Parade,[27] and devised a semapore telegraph system between Halifax and Fredericton, New Brunswick.[28]

After falling from his horse in late 1798, the Prince returned to the United Kingdom, where his father created him Duke of Kent and Strathearn and appointed Commander-in-Chief of British forces in North America.[29] He voyaged back to Nova Scotia in mid-1799 and remained there for another year, before sailing back, once more, to Britain.

In the War of 1812, the United States endeavoured to conquer the Canadas;[35] all the American parties involved assumed their troops would be greeted as liberators.[36] During the conflict, Alexander Cochrane, the Commander-in-Chief, North American Station, issued a proclamation on 2 April 1814, which stated:

Whereas it has been represented to me that many persons now resident in the United States have expressed a desire to withdraw therefrom with a view to entering into His Majesty's service, or of being received as free settlers into some of His Majesty's colonies. This is therefore to give notice that all persons who may be disposed to migrate from the United States, will, with their families, be received on board of His Majesty's ships or vessels of war, or at the military posts that may be established upon or near the coast of the United States, when they will have their choice of either entering into His Majesty's sea or land forces, or of being sent as free settlers to the British possessions in North America or the West Indies, where they will meet with due encouragement.[37]

The SS Royal William, named for King William IV, on the St. Lawrence River, 1834

The RMS Britannia, 1840

The RMS Queen Mary 2, named for Queen Mary, at Sydney, Nova Scotia, 2016

Prince Albert Edward (later King Edward VII) in 1860

Prince Alfred (later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) in 1860

In total, about 4,000 escaped slaves and their families,[38] known as the Black Refugees, were transported out of the United States by the Royal Navy during and after the war.[39][38] About half settled in Nova Scotia and approximately 400 in New Brunswick.[40]

Samuel Cunard, a born-Haligonian, led a group of Halifax investors to combine with a Quebec business in 1831 to build the pioneering ocean steamship, the SS Royal William, named for the new king, William IV, and built at Cap-Blanc, Lower Canada.[41] It was launched on 27 April 1831, by Louisa, the Lady Alymer, wife of the Governor General of British North America, the Lord Aylmer, and was the largest passenger ship in the world at the time and became the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean almost entirely by steam power.[42] Cunard went on to found the Cunard Line, starting with the RMS Britannia, and the company would eventually launch the RMS Queen Mary (1936), RMS Queen Elizabeth (1940), RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (1969), RMS Queen Mary 2 (2004), MS Queen Victoria (2007), MS Queen Elizabeth (2010), and MS Queen Anne (2024).

Queen Victoria's eldest son and heir, Prince Albert Edward (later King Edward VII) for four months toured the Maritimes and Province of Canada in 1860.[43] Arriving at Halifax from St. John's, Newfoundland, on 2 August, he visited the various buildings his grandfather designed and/or had erected, including Prince Edward's country home, Prince's Lodge.[44] The Prince undertook a fishing trip and camped overnight at Boutilier farm, near Bowser Station.[45] From the colonial capital, the royal party travelled by train to Windsor and Hantsport, where they boarded HMS Styx to cross the Bay of Fundy to Saint John, New Brunswick.[46]

Albert Edward was followed by his younger brother, Prince Alfred, who embarked on a five week tour of the same areas in 1861.[47] The Prince visited the Tangier gold mines in Nova Scotia,[48][49] Prince Alfred Arch, marking where Alfred stepped ashore on 19 October, still standing in the town today.[50]

Prince Edward (centre) inspects and gives medals to veterans of the First World War, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 17 August 1919

For the bicentennial in 1983 of the arrival of the first Empire Loyalists in Nova Scotia, Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, attended the celebrations.[51]

In 2022, Nova Scotia instituted a provincial Platinum Jubilee medal to mark the Elizabeth II's seventy years on the Canadian throne; the first time in Canada's history that a royal occasion was commemorated on provincial medals.[52]

To merk the 175th anniversary of responsible government in the province, King Charles III sent a message on 2 February 2023, noting that, during his tour of Nova Scotia in 2014, he was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada in the same room at Government House in Halifax where Lieutenant Governor John Harvey swore in the first democratically accountable cabinet in Canada's history. The King stated, "at that time, I was struck by the historic setting and its profound significance in the history of Canada and the Commonwealth."[53]