Postcard, Banquet honouring the Royal Visit to Montreal, 1939

Postcard, banquet at the Windsor Hotel in honour of the Royal Visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Montreal, May 18, 1939.

This was the first visit of the reigning monarch to Canada. Large crowds greeted the royal couple throughout the cross-country tour. In Montreal, the King and Queen were greeted at the train platform by the Mayor Camillien Houde. Prime Minister Mackenzie King in his diary notes how Houde "could not have done better" and "went out of his way to show all kinds of attention". A year later, the prime minister and mayor would disagree over conscription, with Houde then deemed a threat to his country and interned at Camp Petawawa.

Playing a less prominent role at the banquet was Daniel Andrew Iannuzzi, who was involved in organizing members of Montreal’s Italian Canadian community to greet the Royals. As a result, he was invited to sit at the head table. He too would be interned a year later.

According to family, among those performing that night was Emanuele Cosentino, a known band leader and musician in the Italian Canadian community. He was deemed a potential threat and interned in early 1941.