Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's visit to B.C. in 1983 celebrated two important provincial milestones: the start of the construction of Canada Place for the upcoming Vancouver Expo in 1986 and the completion of the restoration work throughout the Parliament Buildings. The Queen entered the Upper Rotunda through the Ceremonial Entrance and unveiled a plaque now displayed in the security area on the main floor. As a gift, the Queen received a three volume set of the Journals from the colonial legislatures of Vancouver Island and British Columbia (1851 to 1871), and in return, presented B.C. with plants from the collections at Kew Gardens in England.
In fact, flowers were a theme throughout the visit: Queen Elizabeth II received a gift of Lewis J. Clark's book Wildflowers of B.C. from the University of Victoria and attended the opening of the newly restored Craigflower School - the oldest school in Western Canada. Furthermore, the Queen shed much of the 230 person security staff that had accompanied her in the United States at the start of her trip and received "an endless supply of spring flowers into her hands" from B.C. children, the sum of which made the Royal Yacht Britannia "look like a floating flower shop." The Britannia then sailed up to Nanaimo, where it was greeted with a flotilla of homemade bathtub boats, one of its strangest naval escorts.
