| What makes it historical? |
Following his success designing the Parliamentary Buildings of British Columbia, architect Francis Rattenbury submitted his designs for another grand building in the heart of Victoria! Funded by the Canadian Pacific Railway as a terminus hotel for passengers riding the rails, the Empress took four years to build, opening its doors in 1908! It then had two wings added on between 1909 and 1914!
True to its name, the Empress has played host to traveling royalty. Of monumental social importance was the 1919 visit of Edward, Prince of Wales, who danced until morning in the Crystal Ballroom and left such an impression that women’s obituaries decades later still tell the tale of that night! King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited here in 1939, the first time reigning British royalty had visited British Columbia! There were additional visits by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip in 2002, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla in 2009, and the Emperor and Empress of Japan in 2010!
While the hotel continued to thrive, despite a demolition debate in 1965, things didn’t fare so well for its creator. He had very public affair and dumped his wife and children, which cost him a bunch of clients. He lost his commissions with the Canadian Pacific Railway and went to work for their competition, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. He designed lots of buildings for them, but none of them got built after the company president sank on the Titanic! Mr. Rattenbury moved to England where his new wife’s new lover bludgeoned him to death with a croquet mallet! |
