--- --- # Niagara Falls Turned Purple on the Day Prince Died by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Apr 22, 2016 8:31 AM UTC by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Apr 22, 2016 8:31 AM UTC Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 90th [birthday](http://time.com/4297754/queen-elizabeth-ii-surprising-facts/) this week, and Niagara Falls turned purple on Thursday as a tribute to the British monarch. > [](https://twitter.com/canoetravel/status/723141766707204101) But there was another reason the color purple was on everyone’s minds. > [](https://twitter.com/robertbegley4/status/723213519802499072) The [death](http://time.com/4303558/prince-dead-paisley-park-57/) of pop icon Prince was seized upon by his fans as an eerie coincidence in their replies to the tweet by Canadian travel site Canoe Travel. Prince was, of course, often known as the Purple One, in part because of one of his most famous songs, “Purple Rain.” > [](https://twitter.com/canoetravel/status/723141766707204101) > [](https://twitter.com/VonKnight/status/723235225422204928) > [](https://twitter.com/ILIWYSRatty/status/723230666645749760) Prince, of course, was royalty in his own right — and not just because of his name. Niagara Falls Turned Purple on the Day Prince Died ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4304493/prince-dead-niagara-falls-purple-queen-elizabeth/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4304493/prince-dead-niagara-falls-purple-queen-elizabeth/"},"headline":"Niagara Falls Turned Purple on the Day Prince Died","datePublished":"2016-04-22T08:31:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:57:38.084Z","description":"It wasn't intentional, just an eerie coincidence","url":"https://time.com/4304493/prince-dead-niagara-falls-purple-queen-elizabeth/","keywords":["Death","celebrities","Music","Queen Elizabeth II","Prince","Birthday"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4304493/prince-dead-niagara-falls-purple-queen-elizabeth/","name":"Niagara Falls Turned Purple on the Day Prince Died"}}]}] ```