For the hundreds of thousands that crowded Ottawa's various landmarks, the chance to catch a glimpse of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge left them with memories they said they'll never forget.
Those waiting in the crowd said the chance to catch a glimpse of royalty made this Canada Day even more special.
"She went by and the way I screamed, she looked at me and I got the best picture," said Joan Sinclair, who came from Saskatchewan with her family.
Daniella Ormerod came over from Britain and was one of the estimated 300,000 people around Parliament Hill for the royal couple's appearance at the annual Canada Day show.
"He waved at me," she said of Prince William. "Well, I think he waved at everyone but he waved at me. . . I don't care what he says, he was waving at me."
"I started crying afterwards, I was just like ‘Oh my God, I just saw them,'" she added.
Along with the memories made in 2011, some weren't coming out for their first royal experience.
"If you dig back in your archives from VE Day in 1945, I was there in the crowd, just a child," said Barbara Vaudry who saw the then-Princess Elizabeth. "Now I'm here seeing their grandchildren."
The royal-spotting continues Friday night at the Canada Day evening show, where the couple is scheduled to arrive at 9:00 p.m. for more music, and the fireworks.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Ellen Mauro
