Prime Minister Mark Carney looks on as King Charles delivers the Speech from the Throne on Tuesday.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
King Charles III has won plaudits back home for including some personal remarks in Tuesday’s Throne Speech in Ottawa, which defended Canada’s sovereignty without treading on relations between Britain and the United States.
The main purpose of the Speech from the Throne was to open the 45th Parliament and outline the priorities of the recently elected Liberal government. But the King also offered his thoughts on Canada and its standing in the world.
“Every time I come to Canada . . . a little more of Canada seeps into my bloodstream – and from there straight to my heart,” he said. He added that “the Crown has for so long been a symbol of unity for Canada. It also represents stability and continuity from the past to the present.”
The King made reference to Donald Trump, who has threatened to annex Canada, by saying the U.S. President and Prime Minister Mark Carney have begun “defining a new economic and security relationship” that will “deliver transformational benefits for both sovereign nations.”
And he closed the speech by quoting O Canada: “As the anthem reminds us, the True North is indeed strong and free.”
“The King has risen to the occasion,” wrote Hannah Furness, the Daily Telegraph’s royal editor. “The words, delivered by the King of Canada, were carefully chosen. Not enough to antagonize Mr. Trump, they nevertheless underlined the point that the Canadian Prime Minister and government have been making.”
The King’s visit was “undoubtedly seen as a symbolic sign of King Charles wanting to show solidarity with Canada, at a time when there has been such pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump,” said BBC royal correspondent Sean Coughlan.
After the speech, Mr. Carney told reporters: “It was a very successful visit. A good reminder of the strength of Canadian institutions.”
Just how far the King would go in his remarks had been of great interest in London.
The British government regularly touts the country’s “special relationship” with the U.S. and Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been keen to exploit Mr. Trump’s admiration for the King in order to curry favour with the White House. Mr. Starmer has refrained from criticizing Mr. Trump’s trade war and invited him to London for a state dinner hosted by the King, making him the only U.S. President to be given that honour twice.
That’s at odds with Mr. Carney and other U.S. allies, who have criticized Mr. Trump’s tariffs. Mr. Carney also hoped the King’s visit to Ottawa would help demonstrate Canada’s sovereignty and blunt Mr. Trump’s talk of annexation.
“A great deal of tact is required to ensure that the various roles of the King do not conflict. He’s King of the U.K., King of Canada and other realms, and head of the Commonwealth,” said Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government at King’s College London and author of The Monarchy and the Constitution.
Daily Telegraph writer Charles Moore said in a column this week that the decision to have the King open Parliament demonstrated that the monarchy mattered and sent a strong message to Washington. “Who better than the King, whose role and character Mr. Trump admires, to administer an implied rebuke?” he wrote.
The closest the King came to giving the American President a rebuke was when he remarked, “All Canadians can give themselves far more than any foreign power on any continent can ever take away.”
Mr. Moore warned of possible pitfalls, given that the King has different responsibilities in Britain, which is the origin of his authority. “There is the potential for a clash if, say, Canada, wants the King to do something which might not accord with British interests,” he said.
The King’s visit has been overshadowed in Britain by events in Liverpool, where a car rammed into a crowd of soccer fans on Monday during a parade to celebrate Liverpool F.C. winning the Premier League.
Merseyside Police said on Tuesday that 65 people were injured and 11 remain in hospital in stable condition. Police said they are not treating the case as terrorism and that a 53-year-old British man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, reckless driving and driving while under the influence of drugs.
In a statement on Tuesday from Ottawa, the King and Queen Camilla offered their condolences to the victims.
King Charles III delivers the Speech from the Throne, opening the 45th Parliament of Canada on Tuesday.
The Globe and Mail