King Charles and Queen Camilla visited Canada House on Trafalgar Square in Central London today ahead of their historic visit to Ottawa next week for the State Opening of Parliament
King and Queen visit Canada House
King Charles will “reinforce the power and the strength of the message” to Donald Trump that “Canada is not for sale” when he makes a historic visit to the country next week. Charles will travel to Canada for the first time as monarch when he flies to Ottawa with Queen Camilla on Monday to attend the State Opening of Parliament.
Ahead of their visit, the royal couple toured Canada House on Trafalgar Square where they were shown a giant map of the country’s historic sites. Ralph Goodale, the High Commissioner for Canada in the UK, said the visit would be significant in the wake of verbal aggression from the US president that Canada should become the 51st state of America.
Mark Carney, the newly elected prime minister of Canada, told Trump that Canada was not for sale following the US president’s comments. Mr Goodale said: “The prime minister has made it clear that Canada is not for sale not, is not for sale ever, and I think he probably added five ‘nevers’ after that to make the point.
“The King as head of state will reinforce the power and the strength of that message and it is as I said before captured in our anthem. We are the true north, strong and free and we will stay that way.”
Charles and Camilla were welcomed on the steps of Canada House by two Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers before being shown inside to view a giant floor map of the country. “It’s brilliant, it really is,” said Charles as he walked across the map. “I wish I could bring it every time I go to Canada to remind myself where I’m going and where I’ve been.”
Charles and Camilla will arrive in the Canadian capital on Monday afternoon, where they will undertake a community engagement in Ottawa. On Tuesday, the King will speak at the State Opening, the first time a British monarch has attended the event since the late Queen Elizabeth II did in 1977.
The royals’ visit marks the 100th anniversary of Canada House, which was opened in June 1925. Following in the footsteps of George V, who opened the building a century ago, Charles was presented with the key to Canada House.
Echoing the key given to his great grandfather, which was cast in Canadian bronze, silver and nickel, the King was given a key created by Morgan Asoyuf, an Indigenous Ts’myen Canadian artist.
Charles today was particularly taken with a map of the Torngat Mountains and Wood Buffalo national park where wood bison are being reintroduced. He pointed out Churchill in Northern Manitoba on the map and told the King: “I had my first audience with the [late] majesty in 2021 and she was speaking very fondly of visiting Churchill and seeing the polar bears.”
The Queen, wearing a cream crepe silk dress, in a floral print by Fiona Clare, was shown an area near Montreal and said she’d visited the area in Quebec previously on a family holiday saying “it was lovely”. Pointing to an area on the map, Robert Fry, the deputy high commissioner, told the Queen: “That was also where the battle of Quebec was fought when the British took over Canada from the French.”
The map features other sites of interest including battles fought during the 1812 war between the US and Britain, although these were not explicitly pointed out to the King and Queen. During a reception area where they greeted High Commission staff and Lyse Doucet, the Canadian-born chief international correspondent for the BBC.
Standing on a stage to present the key to Charles, Mr Goodale said: “Your presence here today launches your journey to Canada next week. This will be your 20th visit but your first as reigning monarch. Your dear mother Queen Elizabeth II often said to the delight of Canadians that a journey to Canada felt like coming home. We hope that you feel exactly the same way.”
Speaking after the visit, Chief Perry Bellegarde, a first nations advocate and Honorary President of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, said that the King’s “throne speech” at the opening of parliament next week was “a huge deal”. He said: “To have the head of state, the monarch, come, is huge. And to read the speech from the throne sends a very strong message that Canada is an independent sovereign country.”
