Royalty in the News

Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, wrapped their trip to Canada’s eastern province of Newfoundland, and arrived in Toronto Wednesday afternoon. They will be in the city for three days as part of their twelve day official visit to Canada.

REUTERS/Greg Locke

This visit was probably meant to boost the profile of the Prince of Wales and his wife, but it may not be going well. Media reports point out the low turnouts to see the royal couple. Even worse, the CBC is airing a documentary tonight which questions the future of the British monarchy once Queen Elizabeth II dies.

But that all seemed far from the minds of Charles and Camilla. As they spent Tuesday and early Wednesday touring Newfoundland, the two appeared to be enjoying their stay. The Prince had a good laugh yesterday when he unveiled a plaque at the Stella Burry Community Services Center. When he removed the sheet, a parking meter was also revealed. That made it look like Prince Charles had inaugurated a parking meter!

The couple met many locals in Newfoundland, but there was one that stood out the most. After laying a wreath at the National War Memorial in St. John’s, the Prince and the Duchess talked to a crowd that had gathered. According to Toronto’s CP24, a seven year-old boy approached Camilla, threw his arms around her and gave her a kiss. The boy, named Matthew Lucas, then gave Charles a pin, but would not give him a gold pin that was pinned to his coat. It turned out the pin belonged to the boy’s father. He was serving in Afghanistan

REUTERS/ Mike Cassese

in 2007, but was killed in a roadside bomb attack. Perhaps seeing the Prince of Wales remembering his father meant a lot to Matthew.

Afterward, Charles and Camilla hopped on a plane to Toronto. As mentioned, they will be there for three days. They were greeted by Lt.-Gov. David Onley and Premier Dalton McGuinty, with whom the couple privately met with for a half hour.

Once arriving in downtown Toronto, Prince Charles went to the Canadian Business for Social Responsibility, while the Duchess of Cornwall was at the University of Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. They will be at a reception later in the evening.

Tags: Canada, Duchess of Cornwall, official visit, Prince Charles

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 8:35 pm and is filed under United Kingdom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.