Later on Tuesday, King Charles III will give a major address in Canada’s parliament expected to provide his backing in the nation’s conflict with US President Donald Trump.
Arriving in Ottawa, on the royal couple’s first visit to Canada since the beginning of their rule, the King and Queen Camilla were greeted kindly.
Shortly after his arrival, the King—who is Canada’s head of state—met with Prime Minister Mark Carney, freshly elected on a tsunami of anti-Trump popular opinion. :
Carney has hailed Canada’s sovereign identity’s “historical ties,” including the “vitality of our constitutional monarchy,” which he claimed “crises only fortify”.
Following his recent general election triumph, Carney asked the King to speak at the inauguration of parliament in a campaign marked by threats to Canada’s sovereignty from Trump.
With the King’s choice to visit parliament in Ottawa regarded as a symbolic display of support for Canada, this will be the first time in almost 50 years a king delivers the “Speech from the throne”.
Written on the recommendations of the Canadian government, the King’s speech will convey a clear, if diplomatic, message to the US stating the nation is “not for sale”.
Carney said before of time that the address, given in English and French, would “the weight of our times”.
