What We Know About Camilla And Prince Charles' Upcoming Royal Tour
Despite the controversy surrounding recent royal tours to the Caribbean, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, are going ahead with their three-day visit to Canada next month. Starting on May 17, the royal couple will travel 2,000 miles throughout the country in celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee (via People). The visit will also highlight Charles' dedicated work in achieving global sustainability, with a sharp focus on the Indigenous communities of the eighth-largest country in the world.
Clarence House released a statement regarding the upcoming tour, saying, "The Prince of Wales has long believed that we need to learn from Indigenous Peoples around the world how better we should live in care for nature and the planet," (via Town & Country). The statement went on to say, "Canada is seeing the impact of climate change and so this tour will highlight an emphasis on learning from Indigenous Peoples in Canada as well as a focus on working with businesses to find a more sustainable way of living with global warming."
As this is the primary focus of Charles and Camilla's upcoming tour, many of their scheduled events will prioritize Indigenous communities and sustainability efforts.
The royal couple will attend a memorial for Indigenous children
Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will start their Canadian tour in St. John's and the Quidi Vidi Village in Newfoundland, per CTV News. While there, the pair will be welcomed outside the Confederation Building with a ceremony that "will reflect the province's rich tradition of song and story," according to the television network. They will also visit Government House, where they'll meet with Indigenous leaders at the Heart Garden. The Heart Garden was built "in memory of all indigenous children who were lost to the residential school system, in recognition of those who survived, and the families of both," Chris Fitzgerald, Prince Charles' deputy private secretary for commonwealth, foreign, and development affairs, told the Daily Mail.
On the second day of their royal tour, the couple will travel to Ottawa where Prince Charles will be given the Order of Military Merit (per CTV News). He and the Duchess of Cornwall will then place a wreath at the National War Memorial "to remember those Canadians who lost their lives in service to their country." While in Ottawa, Charles and Camilla will also meet with people from the Ukrainian community, some of whom have recently fled to Canada following the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
Charles and Camilla will meet with Justin Trudeau
Towards the end of their time in Ottawa, Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, will meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who himself recently visited Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle in early March (via Sky News). For their final day in Canada, the couple will visit Yellowknife where they will "partake in [the] local culture and traditions" of the Dene First Nation, per CTV News. From there, they'll undertake separate duties in the Northwest Territories before meeting up at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.
Despite being a relatively short tour, Charles and Camilla can expect a warm welcome from Canada as this will mark the 19th visit for the Prince of Wales, who first visited the country in 1970 (via Global News). Camilla also has family connections to Canada through her great-great-great-grandfather, Sir Allan Napier MacNab, according to Town & Country, who was once the joint Premier of the Province of Canada.