All four Mirvish theatres in Toronto — the Royal Alexandra, the Princess of Wales, the CAA Ed Mirvish and the CAA — will turn off their marquee lights for the entire day on Monday, September 19th, the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral. This is will be the first time this has ever happened.

In addition, to mark the occasion and to honour the 70-year reign of the Queen, the digital billboards above the marquees of the Princess of Wales and the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatres, which usually display images of the productions playing in them, will be solely devoted to displaying photos of the Queen’s life.

Both the Royal Alexandra (opened 1907) and the Princess of Wales (opened 1993) are Royal theatres, named with the permission of the British Royal Family.

The Royal Alexandra Theatre was named after Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward II. Her husband, the son of Queen Victoria, ascended to the throne in 1901. Prior to that he was Prince of Wales and Alexandra was Princess of Wales.

The Princess of Wales Theatre was named after the title which is given to the wife of the Prince of Wales, and in honour of Diana Spencer who held the title at the time of the theatre’s opening. In the lobby of the theatre is displayed a framed hand-written letter that Diana wrote to Ed Mirvish to acknowledge the naming and to thank the Mirvish family.