Queen Victoria replaced him. Salisbury remained prime minister for the remainder of Victoria's reign. On 23 September 1896, Victoria surpassed her grandfather George III as the longest-reigning monarch in British history. The Queen requested that any special celebrations be delayed until 1897, to coincide with her Diamond Jubilee, which was made a festival of the British Empire at the suggestion of the Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain. The prime ministers of all the self-governing Dominions were invited to London for the festivities. One reason for including the prime ministers of the Dominions and excluding foreign heads of state was to avoid having to
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal the Grace of God, Queen • Canada"). The reverse features Elizabeth's royal cypher crowned and superimposed upon a diamond shield, behind which is a bed of four maple leaves and a ribbon with the dates 1952 and 2012 to the left and right of the shield and "VIVAT REGINA" (long live the Queen) below, all on a field of diamonds. In the United Kingdom, the medal, more properly known as "The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal", was designed by Timothy Noad, a calligrapher and illuminator. It depicts on the obverse the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of the Queen crowned with a tiara