Monarchy in Newfoundland and Labrador

The coat of arms granted to David Kirke by Sir John Borough, Garter Principal King of Arms, by command of King Charles I in 1637

By commission under the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed the island of Newfoundland on 5 August 1583. By the mid-1660s, however, the French Crown had also laid claim to nearly half of the same area. Disputes over the island were ended as the French kings ceded Terre Neuve to the British Crown via the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and later the Treaty of Paris in 1763, in-between which, in 1729, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary was established.

David Kirke, an adventurer, privateer, and friend of King Charles I, was installed by the King as proprietary governor in 1638, also granting Kirke a coat of arms, which, in a twist of fate, are today the arms of King Charles III in Right of Newfoundland and Labrador.[14] The year prior, Kirke and his partners had also been given, by way of a royal charter from Charles, co-proprietorship of the entire island.[14]

When the English Civil War between the king and parliament in England ended in 1651 with Charles I's execution, Kirke lost the protection of the Crown and Newfoundland was taken by the Commonwealth of England, headed by Oliver Cromwell. Kirke died in prison in 1654, awaiting trial over his title to the lands around Ferryland.[15] John Treworgie thereafter served as governor of Newfoundland until the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660.[16] The Lord Baltimore was granted the Avalon Peninsula by royal patent from King Charles II, but never took up residence. Lady Kirke, the wife of David's brother, Sir Lewis Kirke, petitioned the King to make David's son, George Kirke, the governor of Newfoundland; an arrangement that had been suggested by Newfoundlanders. But, Charles demurred from appointing a resident governor.[15]

Prince William Henry c. 1790

HMS Pegasus in St. John's harbour, under the command of Prince William Henry

As an officer in the Royal Navy, in command of HMS Pegasus, Prince William Henry (later King William IV) was the first member of the royal family to visit the Newfoundland Colony, arriving on 10 April 1786.[17] His first impressions of the land were not positive: he stated of St John's, "truly deplorable [...] a most dreadful, inhospitable, and barren country"; though, he later changed his opinion after meeting the local women, commenting on the region's "inexhaustible supply of women of the most obliging kind."[18]

While in Newfoundland, William found himself involved in civil affairs, in addition to naval ones, as there were no permanent civil authorities on the island and the Prince was the senior naval officer in the colony.[19] As such, the Prince broke up a riot in Placentia, presided over a court, and commissioned the construction of St. Luke's Anglican Church in Newtown,[20] toward which he contributed his own money, as well as a silver communion set, consisting of a chalice, paten, plate, and flagon, all of which are still in the church's possession.[19] On 21 August 1786, he celebrated his 21st birthday on his ship in the waters off Newfoundland.[21] William wrote to his father, King George III,

"During the last fortnight of our stay at Placentia, I read divine service in the courthouse for an example to the magistrates to perform that duty every Sunday 'til the arrival of the missionary from England. I twice led prayers and my congregation consisted of all the Protestants and many of the Catholicks [sic]."[19]

The arrival of Prince Albert Edward in St. John's harbour, aboard HMS Hero, July 1860

Thirty-five years after the colony's status was elevated to that of a province of the Crown, Queen Victoria's eldest son and the grand-nephew of King William IV, Prince Albert Edward (the future King Edward VII) arrived at Newfoundland on 24 July 1860, aboard HMS Hero, receiving the standard welcome from Governor Alexander Bannerman, in the form of an official address,[22] followed by a reply from the Prince. In the evening, there was a formal ball held in Albert Edward's honour.[22] While on the island, the Prince took in the St. John's Regatta and was gifted a Newfoundland dog, on behalf of Newfoundlanders.[22][23]

In 1907, Newfoundland was made by King Edward VII, on the advice of his imperial Privy Council in London, into a Dominion of the British Empire. Following two referendums in 1948, the island joined Canadian Confederation the next year, making it the only province to do so by authority of the Canadian monarch.

A 1947 Newfoundland stamp with the image of Princess Elizabeth

Since Confederation, there have been a number of royal visits to the province. Some notable visits have included Princess Mary, Princess Royal, marking in 1964 the 50th anniversary of the departure of the first contingent of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment from St. John's to the battlefields of the First World War; Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, along with his wife Diana, Princess of Wales, visiting Newfoundland in 1983 to mark the 400th anniversary of the island becoming an English, and later British, colony;[24] and, during her 1997 tour of Canada, Queen Elizabeth II, along with her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, travelling to Bonavista to see the arrival of the Matthew, as part of the re-enactment of John Cabot's arrival on the island 500 years before.