|
An another article...
The Ottawa Sun - Page 4
It reads:
May 20, 2001
'Vickie' sticks out at fest
By DONNA CASEY -- Ottawa Sun
She was not amused.
Maybe it was the goopy green grease paint slathered on her regal
countenance or the incredulous looks from her casually attired
subjects.
Either way, Queen Victoria was in a snooty, surly mood at the
Canadian Tulip Festival yesterday. Standing on her homemade podium
at the festival's main gates, the high-collared, long-reigning
monarch -- a.k.a. professional mime Michael Carl O'Neil -- tried
to keep a stiff upper lip.
However, being dead for a century has its privileges and that
means
sticking out the quasi-royal tongue at passersby is fair game.
"It kind of appeals to the child in everybody," said
O'Neil of his "moving
statue" shtick. With the strains of Pomp and Circumstance
in the background, the 42-year-old Hamilton actor winked and
sneered at wide-eyed kids as he struck regal poses with staff
in hand. "It's an opportunity to make history more alive,"
said O'Neil, who along
with "Vickie" includes Sir John A. Macdonald and Charlie
Chaplin in his
moving statue repertoire. However, a few poor souls didn't recognize
the dead queen's likeness, prompting O'Neil to tell an inquiring
granny that he was Elvis. The monarch joined other dignitaries
for a ceremony that twinned the Canadian Tulip Festival with
the Spalding Flower Parade in Lincolnshire, Britain's largest
tulip festival. |
|
On to Queen Victoria's Birthday Parade in Toronto, Ontario...
The Toronto Star - Section B1
It reads:
Victoria reigns on her soggy parade
Robert Faulkner
STAFF REPORTER
COLIN McCONNELL/TORONTO STAR
A statuesque Queen Victoria (Michael Carl O'Neil) has a little
fun with the crowd at yesterday's downtown parade. Kids and parents
braved the rain that began falling soon after the march began.
Queen Victoria always liked her palace a cool 13 C.
So, yesterday's weather was made to order for her 182nd birthday,
as
knights, explorers and kung fu artists braved a downpour to honour
the dour monarch who was not easily amused.
``People say that we were not amused,'' a Confederation-era Queen
Victoria said yesterday. ``But we were often amused. It's just
that we were always seen wearing black,'' Victoria, wearing a
black dress, purple sash and white veil, added, speaking in third-person.
|
