The Ambassador Who Came in Person

For centuries, the British Crown communicated with distant colonies through letters, proclamations, and appointed governors. Messages crossed oceans slowly, often arriving months late, sometimes misunderstood, occasionally lost altogether. Colonial subjects knew the monarch's will only through intermediaries — each one faithful, but each one limited by the distance between throne and territory. Then came moments when everything changed. When King George VI visited Canada in 1939, it was the first time a reigning British monarch had ever set foot on North American soil.…