 In June 1939 , Elizabeth and her husband toured Canada from coast to coast and back , and visited the United States , spending time with President Roosevelt at the White House and his Hudson Valley estate . U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt said that Elizabeth was " perfect as a Queen , gracious , informed , saying the right thing & kind but a little self @-@ consciously regal " . The tour was designed to bolster trans @-@ Atlantic support in the event of war , and to affirm Canada 's status as an independent kingdom sharing with Britain the same person as monarch . According to an often @-@ told story , during one of the earliest of the royal couple 's repeated encounters with the crowds , a Boer War veteran asked Elizabeth , " Are you Scots or are you English ? " She replied , " I am a Canadian ! " Their reception by the Canadian and U.S. public was extremely enthusiastic , and largely dissipated any residual feeling that George and Elizabeth were a lesser substitute for Edward . Elizabeth told Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King , " that tour made us " , and she returned to Canada frequently both on official tours and privately . 
