Here are some photos of King Charles and Queen Camilla in Ottawa on Monday, which was Memorial Day here in the US. C&C traveled on Monday and then did a handful of quick events and meetings, most of which were organized by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office. Today, Charles will open Canada’s Parliament and deliver a speech mostly written by Carney’s people. The whole purpose of the trip is not only to strengthen Canada’s ties with the Crown, but to “send a message” to Canada’s basement meth lab, the United States. Donald Trump has spent months provoking Canadians and saying outright that Canada should be the US’s 51st state. Well, Buckingham Palace gave Becky English a lengthy briefing on the messages behind Charles’s visit.
Today’s visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla to Ottawa will ‘reinforce the power and the strength of the message’ to Donald Trump that ‘Canada is not for sale’….Not that you would have seen or heard anything other than a polite and interested smile from the King on the matter. As a constitutional monarch he is not permitted to wade in on such issues, of course.
And that has very much placed Buckingham Palace on a diplomatic high-wire in recent months, particularly given the British Government’s desire – no, need – for the King to pour oil on potentially choppy waters between Britain and the US given his genuinely ‘warm’ personal relationship with President Trump. But, royal sources stress to me, Charles has been able to show his support in other, more subtle ways. He has recently opened the doors of his home to two Canadian prime ministers, met a delegation from the Canadian senate and ceremonially handed over a new sword to Canada’s Black Rod. In February (and this is a gesture very much emphasised by those in the know) he sent a Flag Day message to the people of Canada, which was repeated on Buckingham Palace’s social media channels. Put it this way, no such message was released last year.
While this may seem like small beef to some, the significance is not lost on diplomats either side of the Atlantic. But there is no doubt that the King’s arrival in the Canadian capital today – his first as head of state – to undertake the State Opening of Parliament on Tuesday is ramping the messaging up by a decibel or two. He will become only the second monarch – after Queen Elizabeth II – to attend the State Opening and deliver the speech setting out his Government’s legislative agenda.
‘No-one should underestimate the significance of this,’ a well-placed source emphasises. [The king] is, I am assured, ‘hugely’ looking forward to stepping on Canadian soil once again (19 times previously as Prince of Wales). And while his visit may seem short – involving little more than 24 hours in the country – he is packing as much into it as possible, including several ‘public moments’ giving him the ability to meet as many Canadians as possible.
Significantly, I can reveal, he is also considering another trip to the country in the ‘near to mid-future’. There is nothing in the diary yet, but it is something very much on the King’s mind. ‘Yes it’s challenging, less than 36 hours door to door, but although it feels very short and intense, that’s actually the best way to handle it,’ a well-placed source tells me. ‘The King and Queen will hit the ground running, cram in as much as they possibly can, all without even noticing the time difference. And the team will have him back in the UK for his regular scheduled [cancer] treatment as usual. He had planned to go for a far lengthier visit last year but of course his diagnosis scuppered that, and then the Canadian electoral cycle. But this [short visit] does not preclude the possibility of a longer royal tour of Canada in due course. There’s nothing in the diary yet, but it’s being looked at.’
There are a lot of unnamed political and royal operatives gassing up Charles, and I would imagine that this is the cost of doing business with the monarchy. Sure, Charles and Camilla will visit one of their “realms,” but you have to tell everyone that they are literally god’s gift and the most important soft-power diplomats ever. I love how the palace won’t even give a hard confirmation that Charles will ever return to Canada too – “we’re looking at the diary” is palace-speak for “it won’t happen.” It’s funny that the royal who has spent the most time in Canada in the past five years is… Prince Harry.
Photos courtesy of Getty.