Despite cloudy skies and single-digit temperatures, Prince Charles called it a “special joy” to be back in Canada, as he and the Duchess of Cornwall embarked on the first full day of their whirlwind tour.
The Prince of Wales and his wife, Camilla, are on their third trip to Canada as a couple and their second since 2012. They arrived in Halifax on Sunday night
Well-wishers gathered at the city’s Grand Parade for an official welcoming ceremony that included a 21-gun salute, a youth choir and speeches by Gov.-Gen. David Johnston, Premier Stephen McNeil and Justice Minister and MP for Central Nova Peter MacKay.
“It is, as always, a special joy to be back in Canada again, a place that is very dear to us both,” Prince Charles said.
“This time, to be in Canada’s historic ocean gateway to the Atlantic at the official start of summer,” he added with a smile, acknowledging the Victoria Day holiday.
The Prince of Wales delivered part of his remarks in French, and reminisced about having made an unscheduled stop in the city while serving with the Royal Navy some 42 years ago.
“Miles” of fishing net and rope got caught in the propeller shaft of the ship he was sailing on and had to be brought to port for repairs.
“An American net, of course,” he joked.
“As members of your Canadian Royal Family,” he went on, “we are always made to feel very much at home in Canada and are greatly touched by the warmth of your welcome.”
Johnston said he was particularly pleased to welcome the Royal Couple on Victoria Day, which has been celebrated since 1856, “when Canada was just a province.”
“This holiday is a reminder of the deep and enduring ties between Canadians and the Royal Family,” Johnston noted. “It is a connection that Your Royal Highnesses are committed to strengthening.”
MacKay boasted that Halifax may offer “the finest hospitality in all of Canada, if not the Commonwealth.”
“While the Prince of Wales may find that our city and our province may have changed somewhat since his last visit, I am confident that he will find the genuine warmth and hospitality expressed by the people of Nova Scotia remains as strong as ever,” MacKay said.
In a statement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed his “gratitude to our Royal Family for their service to Canada.”
The Prince and the Duchess laid a wreath at the cenotaph and met locals on a walkabout, before moving on to a meet-and-greet at a resource centre for military families, where they met spouses and children of servicemen and women.
Stacey Robichaud was one of the military spouses chosen to attend the event, and her daughter presented flowers to Camilla before the couple left.
She said Charles and Camilla “were lovely.”
Later, at the Victoria Gardens, Prince Charles planted an oak tree not far from an oak his grandfather, King George VI, planted in 1939. That oak is one of the few large trees in the garden to have survived Hurricane Juan a decade ago, reported CTV’s Todd Battis.
Part of the Prince and Duchess’s visit Monday included a stop at Pier 21 to meet war brides. The port received thousands of immigrants, refugees, war brides and children who fled Britain, and also served as the launching point for the half-million Canadians who served during the Second World War.
The pair is also scheduled to visit Pictou, N.S. and Charlottetown, where they will watch Victoria Day fireworks Monday evening. They are also scheduled to visit Manitoba on their quick, four-day trip.
