In this picture, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth leave the Parliament Buildings after addressing the House of Commons and Senate and giving royal assent to eight bills. The King is in the full dress uniform of a field marshal in the British army. A pudgy and uniformed Mackenzie King stands proudly in the background. Despite his anti-British reputation, King was an ardent anglophile and monarchist. He hoped that the enthusiasm and loyalty shown by Canadians during the royal visit would illustrate to Hitler the solidarity of the British Commonwealth and thus deter him from further aggression. The following passage, taken from a British journalist's report, describes the emotional scene just before the King and Queen left the Parliament Building:
As the King and Queen led the way out of the Chamber a single voice somewhere began to sing "God save the King." In a moment the whole assembly of onlookers in the Confederation Hall had taken up the Anthem, and they went through it twice as the Royal procession was leaving the building. Queen Elizabeth smiled and bowed continuously right and left as she passed along, and men bowed in return. At the conclusion of the Anthem, and just as Their Majesties reached the doorway, all present burst into round upon round of cheering. The King appeared moved, indeed almost overwhelmed, by this demonstration.
