King Charles and Queen Camilla begin royal visit to Canada

King Charles and Queen Camilla will touch down in Ottawa shortly after lunchtime Monday to start a two-day visit designed to show U.S. President Donald Trump that Canada is not a prospective American territory but a distinct constitutional monarchy with its own identity, culture and history.

The King’s visit, which is happening at Prime Minister Mark Carney’s request, is a chance to assert Canada’s sovereignty by nodding to the country’s longstanding ties to the Crown in the wake of Trump’s 51st-state taunts.

After being greeted by Carney and Indigenous leaders at the airport, Charles and Camilla will tour Ottawa Monday — a city he once called the much-storied capital at the heart of a great nation — and engage with individuals and organizations showcasing Canadian identity and diversity and take part in various activities at the city’s Lansdowne Park, according to their itinerary.

Later, Their Majesties will go to Rideau Hall, the King’s official residence when he is in Canada, to meet with lieutenant governors and territorial commissioners, who represent the Crown in their respective jurisdictions.

Charles will participate in a tree planting ceremony on the grounds of that 19th-century villa surrounded by the viceregal representatives, community and school groups. The King and Queen will then meet with Carney and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon before Camilla is sworn in as a member of the King’s Privy Council for Canada.

The highlight of this royal homecoming will take place on Tuesday when Charles reads the speech from the throne, which lays out the government’s goals and how it plans to achieve them — the first time a monarch has done that in Canada since 1977.

Every new session of Parliament is opened by a throne speech and the House of Commons, and the Senate cannot go ahead with any business until the monarch or their representative, the Governor General, delivers those remarks — a nod to the vital role the Crown plays in Canada’s parliamentary democracy.

Amid talk of U.S. annexation, Carney has repeatedly pointed to Canada’s founding peoples — British, French and Indigenous — to make the case that this country is a fundamentally different place than the republic to the south. Carney, a monarchist, has said Charles’s homecoming is a way to show things are done differently in this country.

The royal visit is a reminder of the bond between Canada and the Crown — one forged over generations, shaped by shared histories and grounded in common values. A bond that, over time, has evolved, just as Canada has, to reflect the strength, diversity, and confidence of our people, Carney said in a statement ahead of Their Majesties’ arrival.

Carney said Charles personally delivering the throne speech is an historic honour that matches the weight of our times. It speaks to our enduring tradition and friendship, to the vitality of our constitutional monarchy and our distinct identity, and to the historic ties that crises only fortify.

Simon, the King’s representative in Canada, said in a statement Monday that Charles’s visit at this pivotal moment in our history is one that holds profound significance.

It reaffirms the enduring constitutional bond that has shaped Canada’s journey into a proud and independent nation. Their visit invites us to reflect on who we are and to celebrate our distinct national identity, she said.

Charles’s Canadian gestures

This is Charles’s first visit to Canada since his coronation in 2023, a trip delayed in part because he has maintained a limited travel schedule since undergoing treatment for cancer.

While he hasn’t been here since assuming the throne, Charles has made a number of Canadian gestures in the three months since the Trump trade war erupted.

Charles has met with both Carney and former prime minister Justin Trudeau for private audiences, wore his Canadian medals during a high-profile military visit, planted a red maple leaf tree on the grounds of Buckingham Palace and granted his personal Canadian liaison and senior protocol officer in Parliament a sword.

In April, Charles addressed the Italian Parliament in Rome and referenced Canada’s Second World War efforts, a rare gesture by the King when speaking outside of Canadian or Commonwealth settings.

Charles has long shown an affinity for the country, having toured Canada on 18 official visits since 1970.

He’s had a number of private working trips here as well, including a stint at the Canadian Forces Base in Gagetown, N.B., where he trained as a military pilot after university.

Every time I come to Canada … a little more of Canada seeps into my bloodstream and from there, straight to my heart, he told a crowd in Newfoundland in 2009.

WATCH | King Charles’s ties to Canada:

King Charles’s deep ties to Canada

Britain’s new monarch King Charles has deep ties to Canada, forging connections with some Canadians through his charitable work and outreach during his many visits to the country.

A ‘truly great country’

During his May 2022 tour to celebrate the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee — his only trip to a Commonwealth realm to mark the occasion — Charles praised Canada as a truly great country populated by outward-looking, big-hearted people.

As I get older, it is particularly heartwarming to see my children coming to know and love this great country, just as the Queen and my late father have, and I and my wife in turn, he told a crowd in St. John’s.

His wife Camilla comes by her affection for Canada naturally. Her great-great-great grandfather was Hamilton’s Sir Allan MacNab, the former premier of the pre-Confederation Province of Canada and builder of the city’s neoclassical mansion Dundurn Castle.

How to watch the royal visit

CBC News chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault, along with royal historian Carolyn Harris, will host live coverage of the first day of the royal visit.

CBC News will analyze the meaning behind every symbolic moment as King Charles makes his mark here. That’s on Monday starting at 12:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. PT, 10:30 a.m. MT, 11:30 a.m. CT, 1:30 p.m. AT, 2 p.m. NT) on CBC TV, CBC News Network and everywhere you stream CBC News: CBC Gem, CBCNews.ca, the CBC News app, YouTube channel and on your smart TV.

On Tuesday CBC News chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton, together with Power & Politics host David Cochrane, will provide special live coverage of the throne speech delivered by King Charles.

CBC News’s coverage begins at 9 a.m. ET (6 a.m. PT, 7 a.m. MT, 8 a.m. CT, 10 a.m. AT, 10:30 a.m. NT) on CBC TV, CBC News Network and everywhere you stream CBC News: CBC Gem, CBCNews.ca, the CBC News app, YouTube channel, and on your smart TV.

CBC Radio also has live coverage of the speech from the throne. Tune in at 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday on CBC Radio, CBC Listen, Sirius and the CBC news app.

This article is republished from RCI.