In 1979 the vessel was officially retired. Her inaugural voyage under the new ownership carried Premier Dave Barrett of British Columbia, Governor Dan Evans of Washington, and 1,000 other passengers. The vessel’s typical schedule had a morning departure from Seattle and a late afternoon return to Seattle. The Crown-owned British Columbia Steamship Company (1975) Limited was created to restore the daily passenger and automobile service between Victoria and Seattle to feed Victoria’s tourist industry. A $500,000 renovation was undertaken on the vessel at Burrard Dry Dock, which included repainting the vessel white with stylized Union Jacks on the two funnels and the stern, converting the second car deck to a lounge for 200 passengers, refurbishing the dining salon, and modernizing other passenger amenities to current standards of comfort. The following year the government of British Columbia purchased the vessel, the Victoria terminal, and 8.7 acres (3.5 ha) of Victoria’s Inner Harbour for $2.47 million. In 1974 Canadian Pacific Steamships halted passenger service entirely. She could accommodate 2,000 passengers and up to 60 vehicles on her car deck. The ship included special features found on the more grand ocean liners, including a grand staircase, ballroom, formal dining room, cocktail lounge, spacious and comfortable lounges, wide promenade decks, and private staterooms. After the 1950s only day service was offered by this vessel. The harbour-to-harbour overnight service offered by the Maggie was not competitive with the much shorter and more frequent sailings being operated by BC Ferries on their shorter route. Service was restricted to the Victoria to Seattle route after the new BC Ferry Corporation began providing service between Greater Victoria and Vancouver in 1960. The second Maggie, along with sister ship TEV Princess Patricia II, was built with turbo-electric propulsion in Scotland as a replacement for her predecessor to serve the Triangle Route. News of the sinking was withheld from the public until 22 January 1945. On 17 August 1942, while en route in a convoy from Port Said, Egypt to Cyprus with 125 crewmen and 998 British soldiers on board, Princess Marguerite was hit by two torpedoes fired by the German submarine U-83, sinking the vessel with a loss of between 50 and 60 soldiers and crewmembers. After being refitted in Esquimalt, she sailed to Hawaii, Australia, the Dutch East Indies, and across the Indian Ocean en route to the Mediterranean, where she served as a troopship. In September 1941, the British Admiralty requisitioned Princess Marguerite for use in the Second World War. In 1939 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth sailed from Vancouver to Victoria on board the Maggie. She was a class of vessel the CPR called "miniature luxury liners." On 25 March 1925, Princess Marguerite departed Scotland on her maiden voyage to Victoria British Columbia and for the next 16 years sailed the Triangle Route between Victoria, Vancouver, and Seattle. The first Maggie was constructed at Clydebank near Glasgow, Scotland in 1924 for the CPR's British Columbia Coast Service. These were named after Marguerite Kathleen Shaughnessy, who was not a princess but was the daughter of Baron Thomas Shaughnessy, then chairman of the board of CPSS's parent, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). The first two were part of the CPR " Princess fleet," which was composed of ships having names which began with the title "Princess".
The vessels were owned and operated by a series of companies, primarily Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CPSS) and British Columbia Steamships Corporation. Known locally as "the Maggie", they saw the longest service of any vessel that carried passengers and freight between Victoria, Vancouver, and Seattle. Princess Marguerite, Princess Marguerite II, and Princess Marguerite III was a series of Canadian coastal passenger vessels that operated along the west coast of British Columbia and into Puget Sound in Washington state almost continuously from 1925 to 1999. Fairfield Shipbuilders and Engineers Company Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland