Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall: Tour of Canada - November 2-12, 2009


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Actually, I am quite happy with the media's report of the protesting. Because I think both Anglo and Franco Canadians will mostly be disgusted with the behavior. He is the future king(whether one agrees with it or not) at a event where the military is the main focus. People will see that as being disrespectful to the nations forces.
I think the palace is testing waters for when the Queen comes to Canada next year and to see how much time, if at all, she should spend in Quebec.
 
I had a conversation with my friends tonight about Charles and Camilla's visit to Canada. I didn't bring it up...we were talking about whether we were going to go tomorrow to the Remembrance Day ceremony at Ottawa's War Memorial. They told me to get there early because there are usually thousands of people, and the crowds might be bigger "because Charles and Camilla will be there." So, they were very aware of Charles and Camilla's visit, but my friends mostly work for the government, so that's not surprising. Then one of my friends, who grew up in Vancouver, mentioned that Charles had been in Vancouver but "no one cared." At this point I decided to bring up the fact that I followed British royalty. (They thought that was hilarious...what can I say...royalty-watching isn't a popular pastime here! ;)). I asked them whether they thought Canadians were interested in Charles' visit and royalty in general. The unanimous response: if the Queen were visiting, they would be interested. If it were William or Harry, they'd also be interested...but not Charles and Camilla.

One of my friends said she had lost respect for Charles because of his personal life (she didn't mention Diana, she just said his 'personal life') and now she wasn't interested in anything he did. They also felt Charles and Camilla were old and uninteresting, but they felt sorry for Charles because he had to live a lifetime of duty but wouldn't become king until he was old. They thought the crown should bypass Charles and go to William; in fact, one of my friends seemed to think Charles and William had already agreed on this.

Oh, another tidbit...they all knew Kate Middleton's name, and they said they'd heard William was marrying her. I explained that was just a rumour. :)
One of my friends was in Britain this past summer (she actually went to Royal Ascot) and said that everyone she'd talked to supported the monarchy. My friends said they didn't want to get rid of the monarchy either, but that it really didn't affect them either way.

I just thought I'd describe their opinions here because there have been some conversations in this thread about what Canadians think of Charles and Camilla's visit/the monarchy, so this was my informal fact-finding mission. :lol:

If I am close enough at the Remembrance Day ceremony tomorrow, I will post any pictures I manage to take of Charles and Camilla. I have to say though, I endured enough good-natured teasing over this that I'm not going to make myself look any more conspicuous by getting there ridiculously early just for the chance of a few close-up photographs. :lol:
 
Its apathy, its expected. I don't think anyone cares enough to get rid of the monarchy or to be crazy about it. But that's just because there are no big royal events going on right now and Canada is a peaceful, well to do country that doesn't need to focus on the monarchy.
Plus, one of the earlier articles said that Canadians will probably never get rid of the monarchy. They would just wait till Britain did it for them. I think it was a politican who said that and obviously he doesn't understand how his government works. The Crown of Canada is seperate, if the UK were to become a republic, QEII would still be Queen of Canada.
 
Ever hear the saying, Greenbean, "If it bleeds, it leads"? Seems to be the case with the protesters in Quebec.:rolleyes:

I had hoped there wouldn't be any trouble in La Belle Province; but it was just too good an opportunity for some folks to miss, unfortunately.:ermm:

Greenbean said:
So it is unfortunate that the media just glazed over that and focused on the protesters at the Blackwatch armory. And chose to only put the picture of that bloodied protester with the article. I guess that is the media though...
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Yes, and there's a winery in Nova Scotia, too...and that's more northerly than Ontario's "Fruit Basket".


heathshire said:
I am Canadian, and there has never been talks about becoming a republic. We have more important issues to deal with.

It is big news more at a local level (in the cities they are visiting) I am from Calgary, and they aren't coming here, so there has been no coverage, that I have seen.




I gather you have never been in Canada?? We a lots in both Ontario & BC.
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What really irks me is when Canadian broadcasters refer to our Queen as the "Queen of England" or "The British Queen." Or when British publications refer to a Royal visit here as "flying the flag for Britain." :bang:


Princejohnny25 said:
Its apathy, its expected. I don't think anyone cares enough to get rid of the monarchy or to be crazy about it.
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This was an interesting "report", rmay286. It seems fairly consistent with what I hear.
 
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Princejohnny25 said:
Its apathy, its expected. I don't think anyone cares enough to get rid of the monarchy or to be crazy about it. But that's just because there are no big royal events going on right now and Canada is a peaceful, well to do country that doesn't need to focus on the monarchy.
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I don't think even younger Canadians are completely apathetic, actually. I was almost expecting my friends to say, "why do we even still have a monarchy?" or "why are we making such a big fuss over a foreign prince?" but they didn't. My one friend kept saying, "Prince Charles is going to be at the Remembrance Day ceremony!" as though it were a significant event. And right away everyone said, "If it were the Queen, we would turn out and see her." They really respect the Queen, I don't think they're apathetic about her. Charles and Camilla, on the other hand, aren't a big hit, but that could change when Charles is king.

The Crown of Canada is seperate, if the UK were to become a republic, QEII would still be Queen of Canada.
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Really? I didn't know that.

By the way, I grew up in Canada's fruit basket. It doesn't just have wineries, it has wineries every few miles. :lol: Nova Scotia's winery is news to me, though.
 
Well since I'm part of the younger generation of Canadians (I'm 18) I'll weigh in on this. None of my friends care for the monarch but they don't want to abolish it either they just don't care either way. My parents don't care much either they'd rather have their monarch back ( We're Greek my parents are still bitter over us not having a King) I though ended up differently which I honestly still to this day don't understand how that happened. I watched Concert for Diana and from that day on I was hooked. Now I'll be quite honest when I first began to learn info about our monarch I didn't fancy Charles or Camilla (for obvious reasons) but as time went on I started to see who they truly were and didn't dwell on the past. I really don't know if people who are against Charles and Camilla particularly are against them because of what happened in the past or they are against them because they think they're boring and not relevant.
 
Skydragon said:
Protests greet Royal visitors
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It seems the Crown is responsible for "cultural genocide" within French-speaking Quebec. Or something.
This group is very unhappy and has taken to the streets about their culture's imminent demise at the hands of the Crown (with bloodied sword no less) --> Genocide culturel
I don't understand the "RIP" in the banner. Are they claiming the French language and Quebec culture are about to be snuffed out? :ermm:
 
Anti-monarchy protesters tried to disrupt a visit by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall to Quebec on Tuesday, as they continued their 11-day tour of Canada.
Prince Charles was scheduled to participate in a ceremony at a Montreal regiment, to present new colours to the officers

BBC NEWS | Americas | Quebec protests at Prince's visit


Anti-monarchy protesters yesterday hijacked the Prince of Wales' Canadian tour and clashed with riot police in a night of violence.
An extreme group of Quebec nationalists staged a sit-in street protest last night after fighting broke out with officers sent to clear them away.
One man was left bleeding from the head and another was dragged from the crowd and arrested in the worst violence seen during a royal protest in many years.

Charles and Camilla's Canadian tour marred by bloody anti-monarchist riot | Mail Online

:previous: I couldn't care less as to whether they demonstrate or not, but the should be hung for pelting the armed forces personnel and according to Canadian papers, ordinary people there to welcome Charles and Camilla.:bang:

Across Canada and around the world, people were attending remembrance ceremonies Wednesday to remember those who have fallen serving in their armed forces. The day marks the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War, which ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.


CBC News - Canada - Canadians gather to honour those who died while serving

On this solemn day when the nation pauses to remember its fallen, the Prince of Wales will spend a few special hours with the families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Arriving at the base this afternoon for a two-visit, Prince Charles, accompanied by Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will meet in private with bereaved families who have lost a loved one in Afghanistan.



Excitement growing - The Daily Observer - Ontario, CA
 
The Remembrance Services are know going on. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall received a round of applause on arrival. Both the Prince and Governer-General are in uniform. Which is interesting, as the GG has not worn a uniform in a very long time but I do think its appropriate. This GG has done a good job of putting the focus on the military. The Duchess is wearing her Maple Leaf brooch again. Its a sunny gorgeous day for this sombre event.
 
Beautiful articles, it's horrible what those men did to interrupt a service of remembrance just to protest. Charles looked rather handsome in that outfit, he is a perfect ambassador for the monarchy. :)
 
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"Cultural genocide"? I don't think that they know their history.:eek: Note #133 in this excerpt from the British North America Act.
</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; CHARSET=utf-8"/> <link rel="schema.dc" href="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" /> <link rel="schema.dcterms" href="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" /> <meta name="dc.title" content="Department of

I hardly think that Quebec culture and language are about to be snuffed out. Quebec law is distinct from the rest of Canada and is more like French law. They also have their own pension system, which is separate from the Canada Pension.

New Brunswick is officially bilingual and about 50% French-speaking. It's hard to get a government job if a person doesn't speak French, unless a person lives in a highly Anglo area.

I respect my French-speaking compatriots, except for these extremists.


Warren said:
It seems the Crown is responsible for "cultural genocide" within French-speaking Quebec. Or something.
This group is very unhappy and has taken to the streets about their culture's imminent demise at the hands of the Crown (with bloodied sword no less) --> Genocide culturel
I don't understand the "RIP" in the banner. Are they claiming the French language and Quebec culture are about to be snuffed out? :ermm:
Click to expand...
 
I watched the ceremony from Ottawa this morning and was very impressed. The one thing that surprised me is that once the ceremony had begun, the tv commentator, CBC's Peter Mansbridge, said that they would be silent. That's very different then the "talking heads" we have in the States.
 
wbenson said:
I think the last Governor General to wear a uniform on any occasion was Ray Hnatyshyn (somewhere I saw a picture of him as GG wearing a CF Air Command uniform). Mme Jean also wore a naval uniform when she presented the Queen's Colour to Maritime Command and when she visited Afghanistan.

It's also interesting to see that the Prince was given military rank in Canada.
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Your right, but I think Ray actually had a military background. I didn't know about Mme Jean wearing it before. For all the controversy she has caused I really like her and how she has made the GG position a prominent and visible one. She takes her role as Commander-in-Chief seriously, if she just showed a bit more respect to the monarchy, she would be perfect. I cant wait till her term is over however, I'm hoping then she will reveal why she choose to prorogue parliament last year.
The ceremony this morning was truley beautiful. I cant wait till the dinner photos tonight.

I was looking for what time the dinner started, I didn't find the time but I realized the GG changed the main photo on her website to a great on of her and the Prince. http://www.gg.ca/
 
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kristens said:
I watched the ceremony from Ottawa this morning and was very impressed. The one thing that surprised me is that once the ceremony had begun, the tv commentator, CBC's Peter Mansbridge, said that they would be silent. That's very different then the "talking heads" we have in the States.
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I was at the ceremony and was very impressed by it. It's an amazing feeling to stand on Parliament Hill surrounded by thousands of other people in near-complete silence. For an hour the downtown of the city completely came to a halt, and you could almost sense the emotion in the air as the speakers paid their tributes to the fallen soldiers.

I think people were pleased that Charles was there--someone beside me was saying they were impressed that he was wearing a Canadian military uniform. Some people waved as his car drove off right after the ceremony. I think that was the closest I came to an actual glimpse of him. I might have seen the back of his head through the car window, for about .005 seconds. :lol:
 
Any pix of the back of the head? Tee hee!
 
Sorry, no.:sad::lol:

(I did fumble in my bag for my camera, which was mysteriously hidden, a couple of times during the ceremony, but then I realized I was missing whatever I wanted to take a picture of, so I just gave up and let my memory be my camera. ;))
 
A Forces charity will receive a donation of 250,000 Canadian dollars (£150,000) from the Government after Charles and Camilla made a request to the nation's Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The Prince and Duchess asked that any presents they would receive as part of the traditional exchange of gifts at the end of a royal tour be replaced by a charitable contribution to a military organisation.

Prince of Wales ends Canadian tour - Telegraph
 
Prince Charles visited CFB Petawawa on Remembrance Day to meet soldiers and their families, including members of the Royal Canadian Regiment, of which he is colonel-in-chief. Here is the text of a brief question-and-answer session with the prince:

Prince Charles says we owe veterans 'enormous debt of gratitude' | National News | Coast Reporter, Sunshine Coast, BC

Lorne Leonhard remembered the firm grip of Prince Charles' hand, even if it was difficult to recall the precise words the royal visitor said as he paused at his wheelchair

Emotion and reflection in salute to fallen heroes - thestar.com

Prince Charles is in the final moments of his Canadian visit.He's just planted an oak sapling at Rideau Hall to commemorate his 11-day tour.

The Canadian Press: Prince Charles and Camilla head home after 11-day visit to Canada

Prince Charles applauded B.C. on its leadership in fighting climate change before a feast fit for royalty at last night's reception and dinner at Government House

Prince hails B.C. lead on climate change

There can be some glamour in covering politics on Parliament Hill. And then there's the everyday stuff.

The Politics of Cheese - Inside Politics

When Janice Thomson emigrated from Scotland as an eight-year-old, she brought with her a slim, much-cherished book with photos taken of Prince Charles and his sister Princess Anne while they were in the care of the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth being on her coronation tour with Prince Philip

Nobody went away disappointed, guest at royal visit says - Niagara Advance - Ontario, CA

It was a scene fit for a prince. The fearsome, dark clouds hovering over Niagara-on-the-Lake last Thursday, pelting the region with bursts of heavy rain and loads of hail, lifted just in time for the arrival of the person the crowd of 300 had come to see.

Royalty well-received in NOTL - Niagara Advance - Ontario, CA

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have ended their tour of Canada with a tree planting ceremony at the home of the Queen's representative.
The prince and duchess planted a red oak at the governor general's official residence in Ottawa.

BBC NEWS | UK | Royal couple end Canadian visit

Osipi said:
I was thinking over where would be the appropriate place to post this kind of a comment and I suppose this is the relevent place to do so about Charles and Camilla's visit to Canada.

All I can say is that with reading the various links and the comments made here in TRF, the "oneness" of Charles and Camilla really stood out for me during this visit. Its shown the world how close they are. e.g "I need to turn to my wife to find out what day it is" kind of thing.. The at-ease-ment way Camilla had of greeting one of our own TRF'ers.. the caring the both of them had by wishing a gift made to the Forces rather than the customary exchange of gifts... the projection of thought that not just 100 days.. but a 100 months for our planet. Their focus was on rememberance and it was done with much honor and grace.

THIS shows me a couple that I respect. I think the UK has a good thing in their future King and Queen.
Just my 2 cents worth. :wave:
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And that is a beautiful post and one I completely agree with.
 
Thank you for your kind remark, kristens.:flowers:

I've often said that Remembrance Day is something that we Canadians do very well. :)


kristens said:
I watched the ceremony from Ottawa this morning and was very impressed. The one thing that surprised me is that once the ceremony had begun, the tv commentator, CBC's Peter Mansbridge, said that they would be silent. That's very different then the "talking heads" we have in the States.
Click to expand...
 
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