There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway.
Duncan Rasor, who served as a royal guard to Queen Elizabeth II in 1999, says the grandeur surrounding the late monarch's funeral and commemorative events leading up to it are necessary for the United Kingdom to move forward.
"The pageantry, which I think many people may see as frivolous, but actually I think it is also a very important part of our nation and … a part of our healing," Rasor told CTV News on Wednesday.
"The Queen, as the monarch, represents the traditions and heritage of the nation," he added.
Speaking in London ahead of the coffin procession to Westminster Hall, Rasor said he served as a captain in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, a regiment in the British Army now part of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
"Her Majesty -- her late Majesty -- was the colonel-in-chief of the Argylls," he said.
Rasor explained that every year when the Royal Family would go to Balmoral Castle in Scotland, a guard would be provided by one of the Scottish regiments.
"In 1999, the Argylls were selected and I was one of the four officers that went on to be part of her guard," he said.
"I was there in the event that anything went wrong, we would have jumped in. And then obviously to provide some ceremonial support for anything that’s going on up there at the time," he added.
Rasor said it was "an extraordinary privilege" to spend time with the Royal Family during this period.
The Royal Family's annual summer getaway to Balmoral was used as "down time" for the Queen and other members to enjoy some rest and recuperation.
But despite the fact that the Royal Family was supposed to be relaxing, Rasor said he was struck by how the Queen was "constantly working."
"Everything that she, that I saw her doing for me was effectively work. So she was an incredibly hard working individual -- always on, as it were," he said. "And that was what I took away from the time I got to spend with her."
Rasor said he came in person to watch the coffin procession out of civil and individual duty.
"Both as an ex-Argyll, I want to pay my respects to our colonel-in-chief, and personally, because of the time that I was able to spend with her and the respect that I have for her," he said.
He said there's a lot of emotions in the U.K. leading up to the state funeral.
"There's a lot of people sharing stories, there's a lot of people kind of celebrating the life of Her Majesty," Rasor said, adding that there is also a sombre tone in the air.
Rasor said the Queen's servitude and experience isn't something that can be replicated, but hopes King Charles III's reign will offer stability to a nation that has faced recent uncertainty with Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and issues around cost of living.
"The Queen as an individual was someone with more experience than we would ever be able to replace," he said. "And I think particularly at this time, as King Charles is stepping in, that's more important than ever. He's providing continuity."
The Queen's lying in state continues until Monday morning, when the coffin will be moved to Westminster Abbey for a state funeral following 10 days of national mourning for Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway.
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife’s edge.
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
The owner of three Calgary dogs that got loose and mauled a woman to death in 2022 has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within one year and banned from owning any animal for 15 years.
Some Ontarians are expressing frustration after they said that they were removed from their family doctor’s patient list for visiting a walk-in clinic in a process being called “de-rostering.”
Residents in Ottawa’s Elmridge Gardens complex are dealing with a rat infestation that just won’t go away. Now, after doing everything they can to try to fix the issue, they are pleading with the city to step in and help.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.