The falls will go purple to celebrate the upcoming royal wedding.
The Niagara Falls Illumination Board will light up Niagara Falls in a royal shade of purple for 30 minutes from 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 19, in honour of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The illumination of Niagara Falls in commemoration of a royal visit, wedding or birth has long been part of the history of Niagara.
In recent years, Niagara Falls has been illuminated in honour of events such as the 90th birthday of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, as well as to commemorate the royal births of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and most recently, the newest member of the royal family, Prince Louis.
According to the book, Ontario’s Niagara Parks 100 Years, written by the late George A. Seibel (former historian for The Niagara Parks Commission), the first planned lighting of Niagara Falls took place in the summer of 1860, in honour of the visit of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII).
As Seibel recorded in his text, on September 14, 1860 at 10 p.m., the lights were lit, with the Prince of Wales watching.
Covering this special event, Nicholas A. Woods, special correspondent from The Times of London reported: “The first view which the Prince got of the cataract was on the evening of his arrival, when he saw them as no man has ever seen them before, and as they will probably never be seen again. He saw the Falls of Niagara illuminated.”