Look Presentable, Halifax. The Queen is Coming.

Queen Elizabeth II, 84, arrives today for her 22nd official royal visit, a nine-day tour of eastern Canada with stops in five cities. The Queen and her husband, Prince Phillip, will land in Halifax mid-afternoon, where Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General Michaelle Jean will be waiting to greet them at the city’s Garrison Grounds.

The sovereign’s crowded schedule begins in Halifax where she will attend a Mi’kmaq cultural event, rededicate Government House, conduct a fleet review of 22 naval ships in Bedford Basin, unveil a plaque commemorating Canada’s only surviving Second World War corvette, HMCS Sackville, and lunch with Defence Minister Peter MacKay and members of the Canadian Forces.

The tour will continue on to Ottawa for Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill before heading to Winnipeg, where Her Royal Majesty will dedicate a stone from the site where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215 to serve as the cornerstone of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights.

In Toronto on July 4, the royal couple will attend a service at St. James Cathedral and then make their way to Woodbine Racetrack for the 151st running of the Queen’s Plate, North America’s oldest thoroughbred horse race. The following day, they will visit the Waterloo, Ontario facilities of Research In Motion, makers of the BlackBerry.

An official departure ceremony will take place on July 6 at Queen’s Park in Toronto. At the end of her visit, the Queen is scheduled to fly to New York to address the United Nations’ general assembly.

– Evan Rosser