In 1939 Canadians welcomed their King and Queen in an almost rapturous manner. Thanks to a new and exciting collection of photographs, this book is able to add a hitherto overlooked dimension to the tour: Canadians. Perhaps the most outstanding feature of the tour is that Canadians in their millions posed for more cameras than at any other time in our history. This book shows the faces of those enthusiastic Canadians, as well as our cities in 1939, the security surrounding the trip and the cameramen, most of them Canadian, who captured the tour in photographs and movies.
In addition, this book also focuses on the King and Queen, especially the Queen. Fleming argues that she was a liberated woman before her time. Not only did she remake her husband, giving him the confidence and rapport necessary to play the role that had been thrust upon him; but she also helped to remake the institution of the monarchy by humanizing it. To do so, the Queen used the camera. Several movies, one of them a talkie', emerged from the tour, in addition to newsreels and thousands of still images. In them, she played the role of the new and accessible Queen. The camera, still or moving, loved her smile and her demeanor.