Prince Charles to come face to face with 'woolly doppelganger' on royal tour
Prince Charles to come face to face with 'woolly doppelganger' on royal tour
Prince Charles to come face to face with 'woolly doppelganger' on royal tour
The Prince of Wales is set to be greeted by a sheepish figure when he arrives in Canada on May 17: his own "woolly doppelganger."
Prince Charles will lock eyes with a life-size, hand-needle-felted bust of his own visage as he meets with Canadian wool enthusiasts in St. John's, N.L., at one of the first stops on his three-day cross-country tour alongside wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.
But that's not even the "piece de resistance" of the prince's woolly welcome, said Matthew Rowe, CEO of the Campaign for Wool in Canada. The non-profit industry association will also present its royal patron with a wool sculpture of his mother, the Queen.
"He's going to come face to face with his woolly doppelganger," Rowe said. "What we'll be unveiling for the first time at that event will be a second bust, this time of Her Majesty, in honour of the Platinum Jubilee. So he'll meet his woolly mother as well."
Franco-Manitoban fibre artist Rosemarie Peloquin said she had many conversations with the royal busts over the hundreds of hours she spent making each of them, poking and pulling wool with a barbed needle to felt the fine details of their faces.
Now, Peloquin is preparing to speak to the real-life prince Tuesday as she introduces him to his woolen double.
"You spend so much time in the studio with him that I feel like I've gotten to know him, really, in the making," Peloquin said by phone from St-Pierre-Jolys, Man. "I can't wait to meet him and to see him looking at himself."
The sculpture of the prince stands 56 centimetres tall, and aside from a wooden base, is made completely of homegrown wool -- from the wrinkles on his forehead, to his red, white and blue tie.
Peloquin said she conducts extensive research on her subjects so she can render not only their appearance, but their "essence." She homed in on what she saw as some of the prince's defining features, including his "kind eyes" and his ability to connect with others.
"He's very interested in people, and that's why I made him leaning forward and listening," she said. "I hope that that brings us together in a conversation about wool and about art, and about people and the world."
Peloquin said wool felt like a fitting material to capture both the Queen's strength as a monarch, and a her warmth as a mother and grandmother.
The artist adorned the bust with the Queen's signature pearls and a maple leaf brooch. But Peloquin said the sovereign's personality shines through this stately veneer. The piece shows her smiling with a "twinkle in her eye," and the long curly wool that Peloquin used gave her iconic coif slightly more volume.
"I feel that that's not only the the essence of the sheep coming through, but also of her," she said. "There's that kind of fun aspect of her that's there, and we might not see it and she might not show it in public all the time, but it's there."
Peloquin said she'll be disappointed to part ways with the Queen after escorting her on the plane to St. John's in side-by-side seats. But even as she says goodbye to her creation, Peloquin is excited for the fabric Queen to greet the public.
"Half of the artwork is that reaction that other people have to it," said Peloquin. "You have to put your baby out in the world and smile and be proud."
Founded in 2010, the Campaign for Wool was launched in Canada in 2014 during Prince Charles and Camilla's visit to Pictou, N.S.
Rowe said the prince's support came at a nadir for the national wool industry as the forces of fast fashion depleted demand for the age-old textile.
In 1941, Canada sold more than 10 million pounds of wool, Statistics Canada data suggest. By 2006, sales had plummeted to roughly 2.8 million pounds.
Rowe said the campaign commissioned Peloquin's busts in recognition of all the prince has done to bolster a fibre that has been "interwoven in the history of Canada" since French settlers brought the first sheep to the country in the mid-17th century.
"(The campaign) sort of -- pardon the pun -- knit together the global wool industry," said Rowe. "It's a great opportunity to kind of check in to show what we've been able to accomplish for Canadian wool."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2022.
An emergency resolution before the Assembly of First Nations annual meeting to reaffirm the suspension of National Chief RoseAnne Archibald has failed in Vancouver.
Two young emergency room doctors, raised and trained in Montreal, are leaving their jobs after only two years to move back to Toronto – and they say the Quebec health-care model and Bill 96 are to blame.
The Crown is seeking to revoke bail for Tamara Lich, a leader of the 'Freedom Convoy,' after she appeared alongside a fellow organizer in an alleged breach of her conditions.
The man charged Tuesday with seven counts of murder for opening fire at an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago legally bought five weapons, including two high-powered rifles, despite authorities being called to his home twice in 2019 for threats of violence and suicide, police said.
The Bank of Canada's strategy of rapidly increasing its key interest rate in an effort to tackle skyrocketing inflation will likely trigger a recession, says a new study released Tuesday from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Canada became the first country to ratify Finland and Sweden's accession protocols to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday.
The father of the Edmonton girl who was missing for nine days said he was getting ready to post another update on Facebook last Saturday when police knocked on his door.
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has released further details about what will and won’t be allowed under its revised dress code expected to be enforced starting this fall.
As the pandemic keeps people indoors, children and youth are turning to video games at an alarming rate. Sometimes with grave consequences. W5 investigates how much is too much?
An Ontario man shares his horrifying story of murder as W5 investigates the widespread under-reporting of serious side-effects from prescription drugs.
Families across the country tell W5 they were falsely accused of child abuse after bringing their sick or injured child to the hospital. Some parents are calling for mandatory medical second opinions when it comes to cases flagged in hospitals.
Former Deputy Leader of the Conservatives Lisa Raitt shares the pain behind her husband's devastating diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer's and the story of their enduring love, in a candid and revealing interview with CTV W5.
W5 investigates disturbing allegations against a pediatric dentist in Nova Scotia whose treatment of children over five decades is now an alleged crime.
CTV W5's latest investigation: For a year, Dr. Brooks Fallis ran the Critical Care unit at a Brampton Hospital. He openly criticized Premier Ford’s COVID-19 response and was warned by his bosses there could be consequences.
For the past two years, a number of doctors across Canada have advocated for their patients and questioned the role of politics in the handling of COVID-19. To explore the issues, W5 convened a group of seven physicians from across the country.
A U.S. basketball commentator has found himself in the hot seat over comments he made about Toronto and its relationship with Black athletes amid rumours one of the best in the game could be headed north of the border.
As flight delays and lost luggage bring chaos to summer travel plans, Air Canada is advising travellers on how much time they should leave between connecting flights.
Sharon Lloyd has been waiting 22 days for her baggage to arrive after being lost on a direct flight form Ottawa to Toronto. Gatineau, Qc.. Jul. 5, 2022. (Tyler Fleming / CTV News).
Ottawa Public Health is reporting six new COVID-19 deaths in the city in the last week, bringing the city’s death toll from the pandemic to 825 residents.
As police try to track down the man believed to have paved a Puslinch woman’s driveway without her permission, another person has come forward claiming to be the victim of a similar alleged fraud.
A string of serious collisions over the last few days has Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) sending a heightened warning to drivers to not let their guards down during the summer months.
There were no ambulances available to respond to emergencies in Guelph for a short period on Monday, as paramedics waited outside the hospital to offload patients.
The London Children’s Museum is a step closer to building a new state-of-the-art facility on Kellogg Lane. It’s one of ten community projects in London to receive $3.7 million in federal funding, announced Tuesday.
A young man who cuts the grass at Fergie Jenkins Field — and plays baseball at a Tennessee university — could potentially be on the roster when a new inter-county baseball league franchise makes its debut in Chatham, Ont.
Two young emergency room doctors, raised and trained in Montreal, are leaving their jobs after only two years to move back to Toronto – and they say the Quebec health-care model and Bill 96 are to blame.
At least three sleepaway camps in Quebec have temporarily shut down because of COVID-19 outbreaks, according to the province's camps association (ACQ).
Two Montreal politicians and an activist group are calling on the Trudeau government to take responsibility for preserving a vast natural area leased and managed for many years by Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) amid controversy over a recently mowed field.
It has been a year and a half since a 33-year-old man disappeared in Winnipeg. Police now believe he was a victim of foul play and say someone out there knows something.
New sub-variants of COVID-19 are in Manitoba, with scientists watching trends warning the mutated version of the Omicron variant called BA.5 is highly transmissible.
The father of the Edmonton girl who was missing for nine days said he was getting ready to post another update on Facebook last Saturday when police knocked on his door.
One week after a failed bank robbery in Greater Victoria that left two suspects dead and six officers injured, the chief of the Saanich police told reporters supports were being made available to all officers as three recover in hospital.
Despite initial discussions being positive, negotiations between the B.C. General Employees’ Union and the Public Services Agency hit an impasse on Monday.
A B.C. lawyer committed "egregious" misconduct that amounted to "a gross abuse of his vulnerable client" that left her "destitute," according to a scathing disciplinary decision issued by a law society tribunal.
Canada became the first country to ratify Finland and Sweden's accession protocols to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday.
An emergency resolution before the Assembly of First Nations annual meeting to reaffirm the suspension of National Chief RoseAnne Archibald has failed in Vancouver.
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has released further details about what will and won’t be allowed under its revised dress code expected to be enforced starting this fall.
A Riverview, N.B., woman has written her MLA and Health Minister Dorothy Shephard in hopes of having her voice heard over wait times to see specialists.
A satellite the size of a microwave oven successfully broke free from its orbit around Earth on Monday and is headed toward the moon, the latest step in NASA's plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface again.
An enormous waterlily in London's Royal Botanic Gardens has been discovered to belong to an entirely new species, after 177 years in the gardens' herbarium.
Twitter on Tuesday challenged the Indian government in court over its recent orders to take down some content on the social media platform, media outlets reported.
Amber Heard's lawyers have asked a judge to throw out the US$10.35 million verdict against her in the defamation case filed by ex-husband Johnny Depp, arguing that the verdict was not supported by the evidence and that one of the jurors may not have been properly vetted by the court.
Movie theatres across the world were flocked with young fans dressed in suits and carrying bananas partaking in the latest TikTok trend to watch the film 'Minions: The Rise of Gru.'
The Bank of Canada's strategy of rapidly increasing its key interest rate in an effort to tackle skyrocketing inflation will likely trigger a recession, says a new study released Tuesday from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Canada's main stock index closed down almost 200 points Tuesday as the price of crude oil plunged and losses mounted in the energy and base metal sectors.
Even though it may seem years away, saving for retirement is a top priority among 26 per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 34, a recent survey from the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan found. However, 79 per cent of respondents in that age group say saving for retirement is prohibitively expensive.
Travellers might not have any control over long lines and cancelled flights, but there are ways to minimize luggage disasters. From tracking devices for your luggage to packing light, here are some tips and tricks for your next trip through the airport.
A vampire-slaying kit once owned by a British aristocrat sparked an international bidding war before selling for six times its estimated price, according to Hansons Auctioneers.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have promoted Hayley Wickenheiser, Ryan Hardy and Darryl Metcalf to assistant general manager and hired Curtis Sanford as a goaltending coach.
Jessica Campbell broke a professional hockey barrier for women as the first female assistant coach in the American Hockey League. The 30-year-old from Rocanville, Sask., was named to the Coachella Valley Firebirds coaching staff Tuesday.
Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has said he supports the cause of environmentalist group Just Stop Oil, but not some of its methods after group members invaded the track during the British Grand Prix.
A Vancouver Island real estate agent has lost his bid to recover a deposit he made on a new Ford Mustang that he intended to offer as a prize in a year-long contest in 2020.
Tesla's sales from April through June fell to their lowest quarterly level since last fall as supply chain issues and pandemic restrictions in China hobbled production of its electric vehicles.
