CBC News Indepth: The Royal Family

INDEPTH: THE ROYAL FAMILY
Royal visit diary
CBC News Online | May 20, 2005

CBC Online journalist Kevin O'Connor followed the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh throughout their Saskatchewan travels May 17-20. Armed with a camera-phone and a Blackberry, O'Connor filed regular you-are-there reports from the legislature, the synchrotron, the Centennial Gala and points in between.

Full details on the entire royal visit are on the official Canadian Heritage website for the 2005 Royal Visit

2:55 p.m. Regina Airport
There are 21 people standing behind the airport fence to see the Queen and the Duke off – including their old nemesis, the woman in the bear suit.

The Queen, centre in the green dress, prepares to depart Saskatchewan

She's Allison Ezell, a 24-year-old animal rights activist from Indianapolis, who has dogged the royals throughout their four-day Saskatchewan visit.

She wants the Queen's Royal Guards to stop using bearskin hats.

Sarah Taylor, a 12-year-old Regina girl who has been practising saying �Yes, your Majesty� all day, gives the Queen flowers.

The royal couple don't wave to the people along the fence as they board the plane. Next stop, Alberta.

A minute later the royals are in the air and the bear is left broiling on the asphalt. �It's got to be 20 degrees hotter in here,� she says.

1:20 Regina
Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts
The Queen has arrived for one final Saskatchewan function, resplendent in a dress and matching hat the colour of spearmint toothpaste.

The Queen steps from her vehicle at the Centre of the Arts

The crowd of 500 is told not to clink their glasses during the toast.

In her speech, she pays tribute to former Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas. �I recall with pleasure being greeted by Premier Tommy Douglas on my first visit to Regina in 1951,� she says.

�In a lifetime of most remarkable service, first to province and later to country, Premier Douglas brought social consciousness to life in the policies that directly affected the lives of Canadians.�

More tributes to the people of Saskatchewan and Canada follow and then it's time for the terrine.

1:10 p.m. Regina
Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts

Servers at the luncheon await their cue.

Now the action has shifted to this luncheon for the Queen and the Duke put on by the federal government.

The royal couple is several minutes away, we are told.

To kill time, I go through the menu: British Columbia Wild Mushroom Terrine with Fromage Blanc and White Truffle Essence, Baby Curly Endive with Greens and Cider Glazed Lake Diefenbaker Steel Head.

I'd salivate if I had any idea what this stuff is.

12:02 p.m. Regina
Wascana Golf and Country Club
There are a few gentlemen lining up their putts nearby as the Duke arrives at this

Waiting for the Duke to present the conservation awards

ritzy country club reception.

Wearing a spiffy tan hat and a dark blue suit, the Duke takes to the podium to present five conservation awards.

�You can imagine the pioneers, what they would have thought of this country club,� he says.

Meanwhile, this might be a good place to mention royal visit planners have been to this venue before, according to government documents.

On March 14, a $1,390 bill was racked up at a hospitality dinner attended by Buckingham Palace staff, security, provincial and federal officials. It was billed as a �dry run� dinner, although it wasn't all that dry – the 39 guests went through a dozen litres of wine.

The province picked up the tab.

11 a.m.
McKell Wascana Conservation Project
We're here at the southeast edge of the city, where the whine of circular saws from nearby home construction is competing with the chirping of red-winged

Jack Messer, left, president of Ducks Unlimited Canada, helps the Duke of Edinburgh unveil a plaque. To Messer's right is Robert McKell, the land donor.

blackbirds.

That's why the Duke is visiting here. Retired farmer Robert McKell, 77, has donated land his family has held since the 1890s to this wetlands project, protecting bird habitat for future generations from the encroaching suburbs of Regina.

Waiting for the entourage to arrive, McKell mentions he met the Duke– sort of – at a reception at Expo '67, 38 years ago.

"He was talking to an actress by the name of Genevieve Bujold and, of course, he wasn't paying any attention to me," McKell says.

A little later, the Duke arrives, plants seeds, unveils a plaque and he and McKell stroll off together for a one-on-one chat.

10 a.m. Regina
At the media briefing a few minutes ago, we learn Prince Philip will be �casting seeds� this morning at a conservation area on the edge of town. It means missing the Queen, but there are often some lively exchanges where the Duke is concerned, so I'm going.

The British papers had a field day Thursday when a young protester, dressed as a bear, had a brief, yet civil, encounter with the Duke in Saskatoon.

The �bear,� who is protesting the use of bear-skin hats by the Royal Guardsmen at Buckingham Palace, has been a fixture on the tour, but isn't expected to make an appearance this morning.

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