Royals visit Ottawa, Montreal
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 | 12:16 PM ET
The Canadian Press
Prince Charles meets with Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Tuesday morning. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, were headed to Montreal on Tuesday after a morning of meetings in Ottawa with Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.
The couple, in the final days of their visit to Canada, pulled up to Rideau Hall in bright sunshine and unseasonably mild temperatures. The Governor General and her husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, greeted the two in the hallway outside her office.
Prince Charles commented that he had seen Lafond walking the family dog on the grounds of Rideau Hall earlier in the day.
Jean, wearing a pale blue wool suit, led the royal couple into her office for a half-hour chat.
She told the prince that her daughter, Marie-Eden, attends a nearby public school.
Charles and Camilla then met Harper and his wife, Laureen Harper, in Rideau Hall's spacious drawing room.
Four Canadian Rangers — Inuit who normally patrol the High Arctic — stood guard in their trademark red sweaters as the two couples chatted.
Harper handed the prince two Ranger caps and sweatshirts for his sons.
"Your Highness, as you know we're very proud of our Rangers and our Rangers program …, a great group of people who patrol our vast Arctic territory," Harper said. "Princes William and Harry are becoming honorary members, so we present this to you as a symbol of their honorary membership."
"I hope they fit," the prince chuckled.
"One size fits all," Laureen Harper replied.
Charles later met Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. The two posed before a phalanx of photographers in the sunlit drawing room during the 15-minute meeting.
Bound for Montreal
After that, the couple were to hop on a plane to Montreal, where they were slated to meet Premier Jean Charest and visit the headquarters of Cirque du Soleil and the Biodôme.
Quebec, where the Queen herself has been jeered at by protesters, was seen as the one place where Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, might hit a rough patch. A Quebec radical sovereigntist group — the Réseau de Résistance du Québécois — had warned the Prince of Wales to stay out of the province or face demonstrations.
On Tuesday afternoon, the prince will also be presenting colours to the Black Watch, one of six Canadian regiments for which he serves as Colonel-in-Chief. The royal couple will also meet with soldiers who served in Afghanistan.
Both the prince and the duchess wore two poppies during their visit, one to honour British soldiers and the other to honour Canadian soldiers.
The two arrived in Ottawa on Monday night after attending an outdoor ceremony in CFB Esquimalt, near Victoria, marking the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Canadian navy.
Charles was awarded a second clasp to his Canadian Forces Decoration medal in recognition of his 32 years of honorary service as colonel-in-chief of the Royal Canadian Regiment.
The royal couple were scheduled to be in Petawawa, Ont., and Ottawa on Wednesday for Remembrance Day ceremonies.
They wrap up their 11-day coast-to-coast visit on Thursday when they return to England.
Corrections and Clarifications
- Prince Charles is Colonel-in-Chief of six Canadian regiments, not general in chief as previously reported. Nov. 10, 2009|1:53 p.m. ET
