The royal garb of Victoria's "Queen Elizabeth" is hung up.
For the past 38 years, Carolyn Sadowska has portrayed the monarch in many advertisements, conferences, parades, and celebrations. After enrolling in an improv comedy class in the evening, she began performing as the monarch shortly afterward.
Following the monarch's death, a woman in Victoria, who has performed as the Queen for the past 38 years, plans to hang up her tiara and royal garments for good.
"I always knew this day would come," said Carolyn Enid Sadowska last week as she packed up memorabilia, costumes, and props.
Soon after enrolling in an improv comedy class in the evening, Sadowska began performing as the Queen at various events (including commercials, conferences, parades, and countless parties).
She needed new personas to incorporate into her act and settled on the Queen.
She received her big break after a businessman named Jim Pattison saw her perform on the main stage at Expo 86 and purchased her first tiara, which she had fashioned out of cardboard, wire, and lace.
As a result of him introducing her to his party's guests, she was offered a role as hostess for the remainder of the exposition.
Sadowska has stated that the sole purpose of the character is to bring joy to the audience through laughter. Her portrayal of the Queen was neither stuffy nor regal. She based it on her perception of the Queen as "everything that was wonderful in the world," someone who also happens to be humorous.
This opportunity was a blessing in my life. Because "when we laugh, we laugh together," to quote Sadowska, I consider it a wonderful privilege to have been able to make other people happy through humor. After having a good time with me, I get the impression that the audience members often feel more connected to the real Queen.
Since Sadowska gave up trying to keep track of how many times she had acted as the Queen, we might assume that the figure was relatively high. She has appeared in advertisements, entertained conventioneers, given keynote speeches, and even stood in for the real Queen during a dress rehearsal of a scheduled visit during her time in Victoria.
During one particularly memorable assignment, she rode a "beautiful" sled into a ballroom in Whistler. On another occasion, a 40-piece Beefeater band heralded her arrival with a horse-drawn carriage.
Often, she was expected to engage with the crowd rather than observe it actively.
She would tailor her comedy routine to the event when providing information about the attendees in advance or conducting her web research.
During a presentation to a group of ENT doctors, she revealed that the "Queen" had a lifelong interest in the field and practiced it on the side. Then she showed off an experimental method she'd devised. But unfortunately, the volunteer got brained during the skit.
Sometimes things wouldn't work out the way they were supposed to. She once spoke to a gathering of urologists, having thought she would be entertaining a group of neurologists.
At another event, she had to make people laugh and break the ice. She came to find that her audience was composed entirely of Japanese people who spoke no English.
Sadowska, who has lived in Victoria since 1985, has observed that "most people are prepared to suspend reality for around 30 minutes," which gives them enough time to accept the charade and play along.
She spends her day acting like other people. She has also portrayed Victoria, Alexandra, and the young Elizabeth I in addition to Elizabeth II. The most frequently requested royal voice was that of Queen Elizabeth II.
She has performed alongside other impersonators before. She worked alongside Winnie Cooper, who played Diana until her untimely death in 1997. The actress Karen Brelsford, who plays Catherine, the present Princess of Wales, is someone she has collaborated with more lately.
She never met the Queen, but she met the genuine Lady Brabourne, the second Countess Mountbatten, during a Calgary Stampede event.
When it came to advertising, she filmed a spot for Coca-Cola in Barcelona meant for the Japanese market while pretending to be set in London, right down to the red double-decker bus in the background.
She was invited to perform on a Japanese game show performing a song in Japanese even though she can't sing and is entirely unfamiliar with the language.
She voiced characters in not one but two Disney films, as well as two Punjabi language films. The fact that corgis, a favorite of the real Queen, seem to relate to her makes it easier for the screenplay to call for her to communicate with them.
She is entirely comfortable communicating in French because of her upbringing in Quebec.
Sadowska claimed, "I would always have fun with Quebec audiences." "Everyone would be shocked to learn that the 'Queen' was fluent in French."
While she is putting away her cherished memories, she is also resuming her career as an abstract artist, showing her work in area galleries.
She will miss playing the Queen because of the excellent money it brought in for almost four decades. Using the proceeds from her shows, she constructed an art studio in the backyard of her James Bay cottage.
She has already said her final goodbyes to her "royal" family in preparation for her departure to meet the Queen.
Quite a few folks have been made to smile thanks to us. "It doesn't get any better than that," Sadowska said in her farewell letter to Brelsford.
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