Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II, and her husband Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, visited Toronto in 1951. An unidentified St. John Ambulance volunteer made this scrapbook about the Royal Visit.
St. John Ambulance provided first aid services at several venues of the Royal Visit. The personnel from Homewood Ambulance Division 159 are listed on a page called “Record of Public Duty”. Back then, St. John Ambulance had paramilitary-style ranks such as private, corporal, sergeant, and honourary sergeant. It is also interesting to see that the Record of Public Duty refers to Princess Elizabeth as the Duchess of Edinburgh; history books rarely refer to her by that title.
The scrapbook also contains compliments and thanks to St. John Ambulance from the St. John Ontario Council, the Mayor of Toronto, and the Chief Constable of the Toronto Police.
