King Charles’ visit an opportunity for Canadian government to use Crown to assert sovereignty: Richard Berthelsen

CTV News royal commentator Richard Berthelsen discusses the royals' visit to Canada House and what to expect when King Charles delivers the throne speech.

CTV News royal commentator Richard Berthelsen has served four governors general and lieutenant governors, and has helped organize royal visits since 1978.

When the King and Queen touch down in Canada next week, it will mark 55 years since His Majesty first visited Canada, at age 21. Then, as now, the King is travelling to Ottawa, the nation’s capital, where he landed on his first visit as Prince of Wales; and now, his first as King of Canada.

Canada has changed a great deal in this time, but so has the King, as he grew into his role, married, had two sons, divorced, and remarried. Through the years and with extensive tours and initiatives in Canada, his relationship has evolved. As he has visited and revisited all Canadian provinces and territories, he comes to the throne with a deep understanding of the country.

As King, his role has changed from heir apparent to sovereign and he will now undertake constitutionally significant events in Canada like his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

On the first visit in 1970, the then Prince Charles went on from Ottawa to join his parents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip and sister Princess Anne, on an extensive visit to the Northwest Territories as well as Manitoba. The province was marking its centenary, and the territory was marking 100 years since legal authority transferred from the Hudson’s Bay Company to Canada, an anniversary which has resonance today.

This first trip was also an opportunity for Prince Charles and Princess Anne to enjoy an introduction to royal duties, as it was their first year of official visits outside the U.K. The prince was not allowed to fly on the same aircraft as the Queen for safety reasons, so he often had his own tour program, as was to be the case here – visiting Canada separately from his parents for most his life.

Then, as now, the visit was an opportunity for the Canadian government to use the Crown to assert our sovereignty in the north as the Northwest Passage was increasingly being transited by ships of other nations.

The extensive travel in the North was followed by several trips by the King in future years. In 1975 he undertook a dive under the Arctic ice near Resolute Bay, drove a snowmobile and went on a dogsledding trip. The King remained in Canada for more than a month after this northern trip, serving with the Royal Navy calling on ports in Saint John, Halifax, and Montreal.

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In 1979 he officially opened the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife. The King returned to NWT with Queen Camilla in 2022, and Nunavut in 2017, having visited the Yukon Territory in 2001.

In 1976, the King was again in Canada for the Summer Olympics in Montreal, at which time the entire Royal Family watched Princess Anne competing in equestrian events.

During a visit to Alberta in 1977 which included attending the Calgary Stampede, the King attended the centennial of the signing of Treaty 7 by Chief Crowfoot of the Blackfoot peoples. At that time, he was honoured with a Kainai ceremonial title and the name “Red Crow.”

The prince suggested a memorial to ensure that “Blackfoot Crossing” would always be remembered, which came to be.

In addition to the North and visits to the Prairies, many of the King’s early tours (1979, 1980, 1982) were also in support of Lester B Pearson College of the Pacific, part of the United World Colleges (UWC) program. These schools provide the International Baccalaureate program and a Climate Action Leadership Diploma. As president of the UWC for many years, he led the rapid growth of the movement, until it encompassed nine schools around the globe.

Tours with Diana

Following his marriage to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, the couple carried out three of the most successful Royal Tours in Canadian history, covering the Atlantic provinces in 1983 for the bicentennial of the arrival of the first Empire Loyalists in Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland for the 400th anniversary of the island becoming an English colony.

In Alberta, the prince opened the World University Games on Canada Day, also Diana’s birthday.

The couple returned in 1986 to open Expo 86 in Vancouver and travel in British Columbia.

In 1991, the Prince and Princess of Wales toured Ontario, with their two sons, Princes William and Harry visiting Toronto, Sudbury and Niagara Falls, as well as Kingston where the King received an honorary degree from Queen’s University as it marked its sesquicentennial.

The King returned to Ontario, Manitoba, and New Brunswick with a much quieter tour in 1996, following his separation from the princess.

By contrast, in 1998, the King brought his sons, Princes William and Harry, again to Canada on a working vacation to British Columbia, their first public appearance since Diana’s death.

Quickly, their trip was dubbed “Willsmania” as it was the height of Prince William’s popularity amongst his age cohort. Dramatized in Netflix’s “The Crown,” it was an example of overwhelming media coverage for the young princes, although the trip was organized to satiate the media interest with a few days of engagements in Vancouver in exchange of peace on the slopes.

A more low key trip followed in 2001 which focused on Ottawa, Saskatchewan where he turned the sod for the Prince of Wales Cultural Centre in Assiniboia, and the Yukon as well as a side trip to Toronto to attend a cultural event which brough the Distillery area to prominence prior to its redevelopment.

Following the King’s marriage to Queen Camilla in 2005, the King has returned to Canada five times. Canadians were dismayed by the divorce of Charles and Diana and deeply saddened by her subsequent death, and it has taken more time for Canadians to get to know Queen Camilla, as 2025 marks her sixth visit to Canada a country she has links through her ancestors.

In 2009, Charles and Camilla visited Canada together for the first time as a couple after their 2005 marriage. This visit included Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia. The trip was low key but covered the many areas of interest to the King, including the Armed Forces, local production of food and wine and many environmental concerns.

In recent years, the King, as Prince of Wales, established a charitable organization to focus efforts between visits on an ongoing basis. Modelled on the Prince’s Trust (now The King’s Trust) in the U.K., which was established in 1976, the King’s Trust for Canada was established in 2011, to collaborate with leading Canadian employers, community partners, and educational institutions with a goal of helping 100,000 young people increase their employability. It has also undertaken various other charitable initiatives over the years and formed the backbone for recent visits by the King to Canada as Prince of Wales.

As Queen Elizabeth last visited Canada in 2010, in 2012 the then Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall came to Canada to mark the Diamond Jubilee, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the reign of the late Queen. The couple was well-received following the 2011 royal wedding and subsequent tour of Canada by Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge.

A very modern Royal tour, it included everything from fireworks to street hockey on a military base, visiting social service organizations and a visit to the RCMP training academy. The year 2014 found the Prince and Duchess visiting Nova Scotia, P.E.I., and Manitoba, marking the centennial of the start of the First World War and the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown and Quebec conferences which led to Confederation.

In 2017, the King visited Canada to mark the 150th anniversary of Confederation, along with Queen Camilla, attending Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa. They also visited Prince Edward County in Ontario, meeting farmers and winemakers, always a favourite of the King and Queen. He found a receptive audience and many like minded people in support of local produce.

To mark the Platinum Jubilee in 2022, the King again visited on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II, to attend events in Newfoundland, Ottawa, and the Northwest Territories, many with the theme of reconciliation, befitting the times. The King and Queen participated in a moment of reflection with Indigenous leaders and community members, in the spirit of reconciliation and in Ottawa met with Canadian Ukrainian organizations and the community.

The prince participated in discussions on employment and sustainability with participants of The Prince’s Trust Canada. Finally, in Yellowknife and Dettah, the couple visited a Dene First Nation community and the King held discussions with local chiefs and elders, and met local food producers at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Visiting the centre brought the King full circle from his very first tours of Canada and the itinerary reflected his focus as his time as Prince of Wales ended with the death of Elizabeth II in September of that year.

Royal Visits and Tours have evolved over the last half century. The long tours by rail undertaken by the late Queen and Prince Philip gave way to quicker trips by air more focussed on anniversaries or specific charitable initiatives, and the ongoing work by the King’s Trust. The tour program focuses on support to his interests with many organizations, and a wide variety of causes relating to the environment, rural communities, the built environment, the arts, healthcare, and education.

As the King’s accession to the throne approached, he played a more direct role in representing the Crown in Canada in the last decade of the late Queen’s life. He has built relationships based on his own interests but also on the needs he observed in Canada.

This short visit in 2025 will mark a milestone in his relationship with this country.