Charles, Camilla depart after 11-day visit
Last Updated: Thursday, November 12, 2009 | 11:29 AM ET
CBC News
Prince Charles has a laugh with a crowd of children as he and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, depart from the Ottawa International Airport on Thursday following an 11-day visit to Canada. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, wrapped up their 11-day visit to Canada on Thursday, planting a red oak sapling at Rideau Hall in Ottawa before flying home to England.
The trip was Charles's 15th visit to Canada but the first for Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
The royal couple arrived on Nov. 2 and made stops in St. John's, Toronto, Victoria, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa. The visit was relatively understated, with mostly smaller crowds greeting the pair along their route.
The royal couple partook in 55 events, including a visit to Olympic sites in Vancouver and the National War Memorial in Ottawa for Wednesday's National Remembrance Day ceremony.
A notable exception to their typically warm receptions was in Montreal on Tuesday, where around 200 separatist and anti-monarchist protesters gathered outside the armoury of the Black Watch Royal Highland Regiment, where Charles and Camilla attended a ceremony.
Two polls of Canadians ahead of their arrival suggested the popularity of both Charles and the monarchy were low in the country.
A Harris-Decima poll released Nov. 2 found only 31 per cent of respondents believed Charles should be the next king, while a poll commissioned by Canadian friends of the Royal Family in October found 60 per cent of Canadians felt a constitutional monarchy was outdated.
The Queen and Prince Philip are scheduled to visit Canada in 2010. They last came to Canada in 2005.
