On Tuesday, the royals will parade down Wellington Street in Canada’s state landau, drawn by horses of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Musical Ride. They’ll be escorted by 28 RCMPs — 14 in the front, 14 in the back.
And the official visit will close at the National War Memorial, a monument that was dedicated in 1939 by the king’s grandfather, King George VI. A final royal salute and a flypast by the Royal Canadian Air Force will cap the visit.
But the pomp and ceremony of Monday’s visit also touches another raw nerve for some Canadians. Canada’s republicans warn there could be dangers for Charles in reminding the Canadian public he is still head of state.
“The monarchy has been just a settled and relatively uncontroversial part of Canada’s constitution,” Guy Miscampbell, a director at the polling company JL Partners, which has recently measured public opinion in Canada, said. “Compared to Australia, and other countries, republicanism has much less of an appeal there. It’s just something they’ve made a quiet accommodation with as part of their heritage.”
Yet republicans in Canada hope the high-profile opening of parliament could spark a wider debate about whether the country really should have a distant king at its helm in 2025.
Demand for media interviews with the campaign group Citizens for a Canadian Republic has been high in recent weeks, its director Tom Freda said. “To invite King Charles to open parliament, you know, that’s the one that has a lot of us scratching our heads, but we’re going with it. We think it’ll help our cause, and that’s the most important thing,” Freda added.
