OTTAWA -- By the time the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived in Victoria last Saturday, an army of protocol officials had spent months preparing for those royal shoes to hit the tarmac. The result is a visit crafted to showcase the causes favoured by the royal couple, with an invaluable public relations boost to the organizations and towns selected to host them.

The first few days of the visit to Canada's West Coast by the Prince William and his wife Catherine Middleton included a visit to a health centre dedicated to helping marginalized women, an immigrant welcome centre and the Kitsilano Coast Guard station, which the Liberals reopened after the previous government shut it down in 2013. While the interactions are spontaneous, the itinerary is carefully designed, down to details such as which book is being read to the children in the room (Ian Reid's Sharing our World: Animals of the Native Northwest Coast was read to children at Sheway, the Downtown Eastside Vancouver centre dedicated to helping pregnant women and mothers).

The combination of an energetic young family, happy crowds and unique backdrops make for a compelling visual story told over the course of the visit.

Photos are "where they are most strong," said Lindsay Doyle, a consultant at Summa Strategies who used to work at the department now known as Global Affairs Canada. "Their offices do a good job of conveying different sentiments of why they're here in Canada and what they plan on doing, but images speak a thousand words, and I think they're far more powerful."

"They make formal statements and they greet the crowd, but what you really get out of it is what comes from the camera," added Doyle, a former Liberal staffer.

The planning starts with the Department of Canadian Heritage, which is the lead organization in arranging a royal tour (additional support comes from the Prime Minister's Office and the protocol office at Global Affairs Canada). Heritage works with Kensington Palace, the household responsible for the duke and duchess, a spokeswoman said in an email. They also work with the provinces and territories to be visited - in this case, British Columbia and Yukon.

The royal visitors are open to suggestions, and there's an exchange among all the players organizing the visit, says Margaret Huber, a former chief of protocol and Canadian ambassador.

That said, "there are also themes that they wish to further and their interests that they champion," such as education, environmental protection and vulnerable populations such as the elderly or youth at risk, Huber said. The arts and sports are also important causes for the royals.

"It's very much seen during this visit when they're carrying out an amazing program that we've all been enjoying, and travelling by float plane, kayak, hovercraft, it's been quite amazing," she said.

'Longer-term narrative'

The Kitsilano Coast Guard station was an interesting stop for the tour, given the political discussion over its closure under the Conservatives. The Liberals reopened it within months of being elected.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Michele Austin, a Conservative Party pundit and senior adviser at Summa Strategies, said it stung to see the royal tour stop at the Kitsilano Coast Guard station.

"I hope most people would look at this as an opportunity to demonstrate the Coast Guard's incredible set of skills, but I think we would be naive to assume that the choice ... was just by chance by the Liberal Party," Austin said.

Doyle says post-election, it's likely no longer a political issue, or Heritage would have advised it was a bad idea.

"Ultimately, the duke himself is a first responder, so I think there was a lot of connection there for them," she said.

Indeed, William and Kate spoke with first responders there, discussing the mental health issues encountered by those who deal with trauma as part of their jobs.

"A visit like this does not get into transitory politics or local issues," Huber said. "In crafting a visit, you look for the longer-term narrative, the longer-term values that can be conveyed successfully."

Royals bring publicity 'bang for your buck'

Any organization featured during the tour will receive a tremendous amount of publicity, both in Canada and around the world, said Robert Finch, chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada.

"One side that's often understated, I think, is the publicity that results... It's not free publicity because of course there's a cost associated with it, but when it comes to bang for your buck, you could not buy the publicity and the attention that a royal tour would generate," Finch said.

Royal Tour

It's "huge, huge, huge," he added. "When you think about it, how many Canadians outside of B.C. probably had heard of the Sheway [women's centre]? Probably very few."

Given the interest in the couple's children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, many Canadians are likely hoping to see them accompany William and Kate to their events. The visit is one-year-old Charlotte's first official trip with her parents, although George, who is three, accompanied them to New Zealand.

"It's marvellous that they are willing to take chances, that things don't totally come off, and people appreciate the element of taking chances in what is otherwise a very, very crafted program," Huber said.

"If the child should, say, act out - hey, how many parents among us can't identify with that?"

Underpinning all the other messaging of the trip, Finch said, is the idea of a young family meeting everyday Canadians.

"For instance, they were late by about 40 minutes to the official ceremony. Why? Because they had to take care of the kids, get them to bed. This is a modern tour. It's less stringent in terms of rules. It's sort of that modern monarchy at work."