May 28, 2025
For those of you who are regular readers of my essays,
what I am about to announce to you won’t be news. But if you’re new to this
blog, this might make you blink.
Almost everyone is aware that in England, they have a
King—Charles III—who ascended to the throne upon the death of his mother, Queen
Elizabeth II.
The proper way of “introducing” or “stylizing” the
monarch is as follows: Charles III, By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of his other Realms and
Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.
I italicised the word Realms for a reason. Because,
you see, Canada is one of his realms, which means that Charles III is King of
Canada.
Yes, Canada does indeed have a king, who is our head
of state. One of whom we are rather fond. And yesterday, our king was here,
right here in Canada. And for what purpose, you may ask?
Well you see, after an election of a new Prime Minister, we have a day when
Parliament is officially “opened”, and the business of governing begins.
Usually what happens is that the Governor General of Canada (currently Mary
Simon, a former public servant, diplomat, and broadcaster, a woman of Inuk heritage,
making her the first Indigenous person to serve in this role) also known as the Vice-Regal,
reads the “Speech from the Throne”, on behalf
of the monarch, a speech that outlines the government’s priorities for the
coming session of Parliament. Yes, she is the head of state in Canada but one standing
in for the monarch. The Governor General is appointed by the Monarch on the
advice of the Prime Minister, and usually serves a term of 5 years, though that
can be extended.
And yesterday, she didn’t have to perform the role of
reading the throne speech because our King was here, in person, and he read the
Speech from the Throne himself, and opened Canada’s Parliament.
The rituals and ceremonies of this occasion date back
to the 1700s and are quite interesting to watch.
The King was accompanied by his wife, Queen Camilla,
and was received before the Canadian Senate by a full honour guard, a
twenty-one-gun salute, and of course, the playing of “God Save The King”. And
many spontaneous cheers of the same. He inspected the troops, chatted with some
of them, and then returned to the place of honour and was treated to a
rendition of his second national anthem—O, Canada.
The last time a monarch opened Parliament in person by
Queen Elizabeth in 1977, which was her silver jubilee year. Prior to that, she
opened it during her first visit here as Sovereign in 1957. So yesterday
was a big deal, because it marked only the third time in our history that our
monarch performed that duty.
Their Majesties arrived here on Monday, and left
Tuesday afternoon. It was the King’s 20th visit to Canada but his
first as Sovereign—and he came at the invitation of our Prime Minister.
By and large it’s fair to say that Canadians have
mixed views about the monarchy. There were signs in the crowd reading “God Save
the King”, and signs that read “Not my King”. But that’s Canada for you.
Once when the CBC challenged Canadians to finish the
sentence, “As Canadian as…”, the consensus answer was, “as Canadian as possible
under the circumstances.”
That said, many Canadians of late have been on edge
and unsettled what with all the flotsam and jetsam and hot air being heaved our
way over the last several months. The arrival of our king on our shores, the
words he read—some his own, and some crafted for him by the head of government
as is the norm—were designed to let Canadians know that they are not alone, and
we don’t have to worry.
We are a sovereign nation, but not a nation alone. We
are the true north strong and free. We are a member of the Commonwealth of
Nations, and therefore we have allies. And we have a king.
And our King has our backs.
Love,
Morgan
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury