The pomp and pageantry was on full display when King Charles arrived in Canada for the first time since his coronation.<\/p>\n
He is due to deliver the Speech from the Throne to open the 45th session of Canada\u2019s parliament in Ottawa on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The King is the head of state of Canada \u2013 and of 13 other Commonwealth realms such as Australia, New Zealand and several Caribbean states \u2013 as well as the UK.<\/p>\n
The King, who is travelling with Queen Camilla, previously journeyed to Canada several times as the Prince of Wales. This is his 20th visit.<\/p>\n
This address is traditionally given by the governor general, who is the monarch\u2019s top representative in Canada. They read it on behalf of the prime minister, to set out the government\u2019s agenda when a new parliamentary session is about to begin.<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s House of Commons and Senate cannot conduct any public business before the Speech from the Throne is made.<\/p>\n
It is so-called because it is typically read from the seat in the Senate chamber that is reserved for the monarch or their representative in Canada.<\/p>\n
The current governor general is Mary Simon. But this time, newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney has invited the King himself to inaugurate the new parliament. He is scheduled to do so on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
While it is not unprecedented for the throne speech to be read by the monarch, the last time this happened was in October 1977, when Elizabeth II read the speech for the second time. The first was in 1957.<\/p>\n
This will be the first time a king opens a new session of parliament. King Charles\u2019s grandfather George VI granted royal assent to several bills when he visited Canada in 1939, but he never delivered a throne speech.<\/p>\n
Earlier in May, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had invited the King to formally open Canada\u2019s 45th session of parliament.<\/p>\n
His request was viewed as a strategic one, as it came amid strained ties between Canada and its powerful neighbour the United States.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on Canada, and has repeatedly referred to it as the \u201c51st state\u201d. He also disparagingly referred to Carney\u2019s predecessor Justin Trudeau as \u201cGovernor Trudeau\u201d.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Ottawa, Carney said the King\u2019s visit \u201cclearly underscores the sovereignty of our country\u201d. He told reporters: \u201cThis is a historic honour that matches the weight of our times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s Governor General Mary Simon said the visit \u201chighlights the enduring relationship between Canada and the Crown\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow more than ever, we need to come together to ensure a future that builds on our shared global values of democracy, equality and peace,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived at Ottawa\u2019s Macdonald-Cartier International Airport at 13:15 EST (17:15 GMT) on Monday, and were greeted by Governor General Mary Simon, Prime Minister Mark Carney and his wife, Diana Fox Carney.<\/p>\n
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed, and M\u00e9tis National Council President Victoria Pruden were also at the airport.<\/p>\n
The trip began at Lansdowne Park, where the royal couple met individuals and organisations showcasing Canadian identity and diversity.<\/p>\n
They then made their way to Rideau Hall \u2013 the residence of Canada\u2019s governor general and the official residence of the monarch when in Canada. There, the King took part in a tree-planting ceremony.<\/p>\n
He then held separate private meetings with Simon and Carney.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday morning, the King and Queen will head to Canada\u2019s Senate accompanied by a royal escort, where they will receive full military honours \u2013 including a 100-person guard of honour from the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, an inspection of the guard and the band, and a 21-gun salute.<\/p>\n
Shortly after 11:00 local time, the King will deliver his Speech from the Throne to open the 45th session of parliament.<\/p>\n
The royal couple will then pay their respects to Canada\u2019s fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial, before leaving the country later that day.<\/p>\n
In his role as head of state, the monarch is expected to avoid straying into politics. He instead appears to have sent coded signals and made symbolic gestures of support for Canada amid Trump\u2019s threats.<\/p>\n
The King praised Canada as a \u201cproud, resilient and compassionate country\u201d in February, on the 60th anniversary of the first raising of the country\u2019s maple leaf flag \u2013 an event that might have otherwise passed without royal intervention.<\/p>\n
When he visited aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales on 4 March, he appeared wearing a set of Canadian medals.<\/p>\n
The same month, when he sat for the Commonwealth Service \u2013 an annual celebration of Commonwealth countries in London \u2013 he did so on a Canadian chair.<\/p>\n
And at a tree-planting ceremony at Buckingham Palace earlier this year, the tree he chose was a maple.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The pomp and pageantry was on full display when King Charles arrived in Canada for the first time since his coronation. He is due to deliver the Speech from the Throne to open the 45th session of Canada\u2019s parliament in Ottawa on Tuesday. The King is the head of state of Canada \u2013 and of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115635\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}