Royal visits bring the Sovereign and her family into direct contact with people from all walks of life across Canada, bring value to the function of the constitutional monarchy. This personal presence vividly reminds Canadians of their heritage and political culture as a parliamentary democracy under the Crown.  It also assists the Canadian Crown in its key role, symbolizing and uniting our citizens above the beyond ethnic backgrounds and partisan politics.

Royal visits lend the prestige of the Royal Family to worthy causes such as health care, education, the arts, the disabled, multicultural groups, and the volunteer sector.  And they attract national and international attention to Saskatchewan's resources, industry, culture and tourism.

For example, in 1989, the Duke and Duchess of York toured the province's northern tourist region, including the historic Indian community of Stanley Mission and a First Nations co-operative sawmill in Meadow Lake; helped publicize the Canada Summer Games in Saskatoon; celebrated Swift Current's 75th anniversary; and visited the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre in Regina.  In 1994 Prince Edward joined a First Nations pow-wow and visited a healing lodge near Fort Qu'Appelle, for which he is the royal patron.

Members of the Royal Family have also visited farms, livestock shows, schools and factories, and have been guests at concerts, plays and variety shows. They have celebrated the anniversaries of municipalities and institutions.  Royal visits thus contribute a rich strand to the texture of community life across Canada.

Visits from members of the Royal Family have been a feature of Canadian life since before Confederation.  However, the first visit to Canada by a reigning monarch was the historic 1939 tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the parents of the present Queen).  With the development of air travel, royal visits have been much more frequent since World War II.  Cross-Canada tours such as that of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh in 1959 have given way to shorter, more specific regional visits, usually initiated and organized by the provinces and coordinated by the federal Secretary of State.

Visits to Saskatchewan include:

• Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip (The Duke of Edinburgh) visited Saskatchewan in 1973 for the centennial of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police;  in 1978 to celebrate a number of local anniversaries; and in 1987 to mark the 75th anniversary of the Legislative Building
• Princess Margaret (The Queen's sister) visited in 1958; and in 1980 during the province's 75th anniversary
• Princess Alexandra (first cousin of The Queen) visited in 1967 during Canada's centennial
• Princess Anne (The Princess Royal), visited Saskatchewan in 1982
• Queen Elizabeth returned to Regina in 1985
• Prince Andrew and his wife Sarah (The Duke and Duchess of York) visited Saskatchewan in 1989
• Prince Charles (The Prince of Wales) arrived in Saskatchewan in April 2001, for his first visit to the province. He was invested as the first honorary member in the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.
• Prince Edward (now The Earl of Wessex) visited the Regina area in 1994, and returned to Saskatchewan in 2003
• Princess Anne visited in June 2004 to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day Landings with her regiment the Royal Regina Rifles
• Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip (The Duke of Edinburgh) visited Regina in May 2005 during Saskatchewan's centennial
• Prince Edward returned to Saskatchewan in June 2006. During his stay he visited the Globe Theatre in Regina and his regiment, the Saskatchewan Dragoons, in Moose Jaw. He was also invested as the second honorary member in the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.
• Princess Anne visited in June 2007 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Royal Regina Rifles
• The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall visited Regina in 2012, to celebrate The Queen's Diamond Jubilee as well as the 100th Anniversary of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building.

Saskatchewan enjoys some direct connections with the Royal Family.  For example, The Queen has granted the title "Royal" to several organizations:

• Royal Regina Golf Club
• Royal Regina Rifles (reserve infantry unit)
• Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Regina 
• Royal United Services Institute, Regina
• Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon

Also, The Prince of Wales (Prince Charles) is Patron of the Regina Symphony Orchestra, The Princess Royal (Princess Anne) is Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Regina Rifles, and The Earl of Wessex (Prince Edward) is Patron of the Globe Theatre, Regina, and Colonel-in-Chief of the Saskatchewan Dragoons in Moose Jaw.

Members of the Royal Family have an ongoing connection with Saskatchewan through scholarships awarded in their name:

• The Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship in Parliamentary Studies (1987)
• The Prince of Wales Scholarship (2001)
• The Prince Edward Drama Scholarship (2003)
• The Queen Elizabeth II Centennial Aboriginal Scholarship (2005)

It is customary to refer to members of the Royal Family by their title rather than their first name (e.g., The Queen rather than Queen Elizabeth).  The principal members of the Royal Family and their titles are listed below, together with the year of their most recent visit to Saskatchewan.

Since the members of the Royal Family visit Canada in their capacity as family of the Queen of Canada, it is not accurate to refer to the "Queen of England" or the "British Royal Family."

Canada is a constitutional monarchy in its own right, separate from the United Kingdom, and The Queen is the Canadian Head of State, represented federally by the Governor General and provincially by the Lieutenant Governors.