DEVELOPING Latest updates on the major wildfires currently burning in Canada
Thousands of Canadians have been displaced as fires burn in Alberta, B.C. and Manitoba. Here are the latest updates.
The Balmoral tartan is a multiple windowpane of greys and blacks with streaks of red and white criss-crossing through it. Compared to the dazzling greens and blues and bright Stuart reds of other tartans, the Balmoral is rather stark and dull.
The story behind it, however, is far more interesting.
In 1848, Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert leased a property in Scotland. More than a property, this was a grand rural estate of grouse moors and woodlands, hilly climbs and productive farmland. Balmoral Castle.
By the time they bought it four years later, Albert had already designed the namesake tartan, inspired by the rough-hewn granite of the Aberdeen countryside. The only people allowed to wear it were members of the royal family, and with one exception, the sovereign’s piper.
Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle at 3:10 p.m. on Sept. 8, 2022. Just days earlier she had been photographed wearing a Balmoral tartan skirt. Her son wore a kilt at her lying in state.
The late Queen loved Scotland and Scotland appeared to love her back. She was almost universally popular in a way that her son may never be. And for the King, that’s a huge disadvantage as he struggles to keep the monarchy relevant, and the United Kingdom together.
Supporters of Scottish independence see this as a moment of great opportunity, though based more on hope than a seismic and traceable shift in public opinion.
A young man drinking a beer outside the King’s Wark pub in Edinburgh offered an assessment of the new king, using just a dozen or so words to sum him up.
“I think with Queen Elizabeth, you had ties to like your grandparents and things like that. They loved Queen Elizabeth. I don't think he's got the same kind of charm. Yeah.”
Charm? But he does wear tartan and people in Scotland notice that and appreciate what it means. Ian Sim, inside the King’s Wark tending to the bar, says it could help the King in Scotland.
“I think he does as much as he can. You know, he certainly wears a kilt,” he says. “It shows love of the country and stuff like that.”
Alan MacDonald, with his pretty view of the River Tay from his office, lectures in history at the University of Dundee.
“You know, when he was Prince of Wales, he always wore the kilt when he was in Scotland. It will be interesting to see what he does as king.”
The professor sees evidence of creeping disenchantment with the monarchy, even under Queen Elizabeth II, but no sudden explosion of support for republicanism.
“Even the places in the United Kingdom where the monarchy is least popular,” he says, “it is still the favourite option.”
King Charles I was beheaded. King Charles II was forced into exile for a decade before the monarchy was restored. And what of King Charles III?
“It's always going to be problematic and tricky to make a stamp, to make a mark, when you're in your 70s when you get the gig,” MacDonald says. “All you can do is be yourself, I suppose, which sounds really trite, but I don't think there is the opportunity to be the same sort of monarch his mother was.”
Perhaps the most famous stalwart of Scotland’s independence movement is Alex Salmond, who brought the country to the brink of separation in 2014. He’s been up and down politically, struggling now to regain a measure of influence, but as committed as ever to the cause of his life.
“Charles's love of Scotland is genuine,” he told me, looking towards the North Sea in the fishing town of Johnshaven. Minutes before that, he was clutching a big, blue lobster in his right hand.
“I have nothing against Charles personally. I think he's pursued many great causes. I just think in the 21st century, if you're starting a new state, you should start it from Democratic principles.”
Salmond’s vision of independence is a country that still retains the monarchy as head of state, much like Canada. That differs from the current Scottish leader, Hamza Yusuf, who’s an avowed republican. “I am a citizen,” he has declared, “not a royal subject.”
To an Alex Salmond prediction, then, about a king he knows and likes, from a man who came close to delivering independence, though close, of course, is the same as failure.
“I think he'll certainly be the last King of Scots for a while. I think Scotland will become independent, will move to an elected head of state,” Salmond says.
There’s more. He’s far from finished.
“And at some stage certainly the Canadians, certainly the Australians, certainly the New Zealanders, but even the English might say, look, is this really the way we should conduct our affairs?”
He did attend the King’s accession ceremony in London, but he will not be going to the coronation.
Instead he’ll be delivering a speech on Scottish independence in Glasgow.
Thousands of Canadians have been displaced as fires burn in Alberta, B.C. and Manitoba. Here are the latest updates.
Slovak politicians have called for calm in the Central European country after Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times by a would-be assassin on Wednesday, a rare instance of political violence that came as a shock despite deep political polarization.
Canada's transportation department had a UFO 'lead' who tried to 'quell' media interest and planned to meet with U.S. intelligence officials.
A prisoner nicknamed “The Fly” has become notorious in France overnight after a daring and bloody escape from a prison convoy in Normandy that left two guards dead.
Regaining your focus requires you to be mindful of how you are using technology -- a daunting task if you consider the average American spends at least 10 hours a day on screens.
Chief Robert Michell says relief isn't the right word to describe his reaction as the search begins for unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school he attended in northern British Columbia.
Of the $40-million Aiden Pleterski was handed over two years, documents show he invested just over one per cent and instead spent $15.9 million on "his personal lifestyle." The 25-year-old Oshawa, Ont. man was arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering on Tuesday.
A man from B.C.'s Lower Mainland has been sentenced to four years behind bars after shooting a sex worker in the back during a drug-fuelled 43rd birthday.
A warning from a Saskatoon driver about using your fast-food app while in the drive-thru line — a trip to get some free lunch cost him a lot more than he bargained for.
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.