Editing Monarchy of Canada (section)

===From colonies to independence===
{{Multiple image|total_width=330|align=right|image1=François Ier Louvre.jpg|alt1=|caption1=King [[Francis I of France]] established colonies in [[Acadia]] and [[Canada (New France)|Canada]] in 1534.|image2=Queen Victoria, c.1870. (7936242480).jpg|alt2=|caption2=[[Queen Victoria]] in 1870, three years after her royal assent to the ''[[Constitution Act, 1867|British North America Act, 1867]]'', creating the [[Canadian federalism|Canadian federation]]}}

The Canadian monarchy can trace its ancestral lineage back to the [[king of the Angles|kings of the Angles]] and the early [[List of Scottish monarchs|Scottish kings]] and through the centuries since the claims of King [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] in 1497 and King [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] in 1534; both being [[consanguinity|blood relative]]s of the current Canadian monarch. Former Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]] said of the Crown that it "links us all together with the majestic past that takes us back to the [[House of Tudor|Tudors]], the [[House of Plantagenet|Plantagenets]], [[Magna Carta]], ''[[habeas corpus]]'', [[Petition of Right|petition of rights]], and English [[common law]]."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=1168 |last=Harper |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Harper |title=Prime Minister Harper introduces Australian counterpart to Parliament |publisher=Queen's Printer for Canada |access-date=12 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329125220/http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=1168 |archive-date=29 March 2010}}</ref> Though the first French and British colonizers of Canada interpreted the hereditary nature of some indigenous North American chieftainships as a form of monarchy,{{Refn|<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/4Chiefs.html |last=Odrowaz-Sypniewska |first=Margaret |title=The Four Indian Kings |publisher=The Courtly Lives of Kings, Peerage, Saints, Knights, and the Commoners |access-date=24 May 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ferguson |first=Will |author-link=Will Ferguson |title=The Lost Kingdom |journal=Maclean's |publisher=Rogers Communications |location=Toronto |date=27 October 2003 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/switchboard/article.jsp?content=20031027_68038_68038 |issn=0024-9262 |access-date=23 December 2006}}{{Dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{Cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|2002|p=8}}</ref>}} it is generally accepted that Canada has been a territory of a monarch or a monarchy in its own right only since the establishment of the French [[Canada (New France)|colony of Canada]] in the early 16th century;<ref name=MacLeod6/> according to historian [[Jacques Monet]], the Canadian Crown is one of the few that have survived through uninterrupted succession since before its inception.<ref name=Monet/>

After the Canadian colonies of France were, via war and treaties, ceded to the British Crown, and the population was greatly expanded by [[United Empire Loyalists|those loyal to George III]] fleeing north from persecution during and following the [[American Revolution]], [[British North America]] was in 1867 [[Confederation of Canada|confederated]] by [[Queen Victoria]] to form Canada as a kingdom in its own right.{{Refn|<ref name=DCHCrown/><ref name=Buck1/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca/heritage/CorporateSeal/heraldry.htm |title=Heritage Saint John > Canadian Heraldry |publisher=Heritage Resources of Saint John and New Brunswick Community College |access-date=3 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617120638/http://www.saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca/heritage/CorporateSeal/heraldry.htm |archive-date=17 June 2011}}</ref>}} By the end of the First World War, the increased fortitude of [[Canadian nationalism]] inspired the country's leaders to push for greater independence from the King in his British Council, resulting in the creation of the uniquely Canadian monarchy through the [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster]], which was granted royal assent in 1931.<ref name=MacLeod9/><ref>{{Citation |last=Phillips |first=Stephen |title=Republicanism in Canada in the reign of Elizabeth II: the dog that didn't bark |journal=Canadian Monarchist News |volume=Summer 2004 |issue=22 |page=19 |publisher=Monarchist League of Canada |location=Toronto |date=2004 |url=http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2004/Sum04PDFRepublicanism.pdf |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090708032249/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/2004/Sum04PDFRepublicanism.pdf |archive-date=8 July 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date=24 May 2009}}</ref> Only five years later, Canada had three successive kings in the space of one year, with the death of [[George V]], the [[Edward VIII abdication crisis|accession and abdication]] of [[Edward VIII]], and his replacement by [[George VI]].

From 1786 through to the 1930s, members of the royal family toured Canada, including [[William IV|Prince William]] (later King William IV); [[Prince Edward, Duke of Kent]]; [[Edward VII|Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales]] (later King Edward VII); [[Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn]]; [[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne]], and [[Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll|Princess Louise]]; [[Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany|Prince Leopold]]; [[Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein|Princess Marie-Louise]]; Prince George, Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V), and [[Mary of Teck|Princess Victoria]] (later Queen Mary); [[Prince Arthur of Connaught|Prince Arthur]] (son of the Duke of Connaught); [[Princess Patricia of Connaught|Princess Patricia]]; Prince Albert (later King George VI); Prince Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII); [[Prince George, Duke of Kent]]; and [[Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester]].<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/past-royal-tours/royal-visits-1786-1951.html |author=Government of Canada |title=Royal Visits from 1786 to 1951 |date=11 August 2017 |publisher=King's Printer for Canada |access-date=6 February 2023}}</ref>