LONDON — King Charles III is not letting Donald Trump grab his coveted “51st state” without a fight.
As he heads to Canada for an historic opening of the country’s parliament Tuesday, the 76-year-old British monarch — who remains Canada’s head of state — is summoning all the soft power he can muster in support of the country.
Charles’ trip will mark the first time a British monarch has delivered a so-called “Speech from the Throne” since 1977 — a highly public show of support for Ottawa at a time when the U.S. president has ramped up the hostile rhetoric, lobbed tariffs Canada’s way, and even flirted with annexation of his northern neighbor.
Canada is one of 14 Commonwealth realms, independent nations which continue to have the British monarch as head of state. The Canadian government is already seeing Charles’ visit as a clear show of support, with newly-elected Prime Minister Mark Carney describing the king’s trip as sending “a message of sovereignty.”
The links between the royals and the Canadian PM are strong. Carney’s brother Sean is the chief operating officer at Kensington Palace — the working residence of Charles’ son and heir Prince William.
And for Charles, this one is personal. His mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, was deeply passionate about her Commonwealth role.
But it’s not a risk-free strategy. Back in the U.K., it could cut across the U.K. government’s focus on charming, rather than fighting, the U.S. president.
And royal skeptics in Canada warn it could reignite republican debate among a largely-agnostic Canadian public.
It’s no mistake
Very little happens by mistake in Charles’ image-conscious Royal household.
His team is packed with former diplomatic high flyers, including his most senior courtier Clive Alderton, who was once U.K. ambassador to Morocco.
Since December, when the Trump saber-rattling started, reminders of the king’s role as Canada’s head of state have come thick and fast.
These have included a message of support on social media describing Canada as a “resilient and compassionate country” on the 60th anniversary of its flag day in February, to donning a bright red tie while hosting Trump adversary Carney shortly after he became prime minister.
During his recent state visit to Italy, Charles pointedly referred to himself as “king of the United Kingdom and of Canada.” At the 80th anniversary of VE Day earlier this month he talked about the conflict “in which British, and Canadian forces played a key role.”
Just this week Charles, and his wife Queen Camilla, visited Canada House — the central London high commission, to mark its 100th anniversary.
Charles has long-wanted to visit Canada as king, and has been talking about it since ascending to the throne in 2022, according to a former government official familiar with internal discussions around royal visits, granted anonymity to speak candidly about private discussions.
While Carney officially extended an invitation to King Charles when he visited in March, days after becoming prime minister, it had been made clear to the Canadian government that an invitation would be well-received by the king.
It has not gone unnoticed in Buckingham Palace that the U.S. president seems to have piped down the rhetoric on Canada — at least for now.
He’s our king too
Charles has to walk a fine line in his trip, however — ensuring he is keeping governments in both Ottawa and London sweet.
While Carney has been squaring up to Trump, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been cosying up to the U.S. president, extending an offer to Trump of an unprecedented second state visit in the king’s name — something Carney made clear Canadians were displeased about.
Robert Hardman, who recently published an authorized biography of the king — “Charles III: New King. New Court” — points out that there have been “worse situations” when it comes to differing approaches in the Commonwealth.
Ted Heath, who had strong reservations about the Commonwealth as prime minister, advised Queen Elizabeth II not to go to the Commonwealth summit in 1971 — an order she felt bound to adhere to, despite being annoyed. She was invited to go to the following summit directly by the-then Canadian PM Pierre Trudeau, meaning there was little Heath could do.
Elizabeth was left in a similarly tricky situation in the 1980s when most of the Commonwealth had wanted to impose sanctions on South Africa, while Margaret Thatcher had not.
“What your role is then is to try and not exactly be a peace broker, but at least sort of encourage a level of understanding, make sure things stay amicable,” Hardman said.
Under the U.K.’s constitutional monarchy, Charles acts on the advice of the British government — but that doesn’t mean Charles is “just some guy who goes to the things he is told to go to,” the same former government official quoted above said.
“The king is the king of Canada as well, so he’s speaking on the advice of the government of Canada when he is speaking as king of Canada, when he’s doing something in respect of Canada,” David Landsman, a former diplomat who is now senior adviser at the British Foreign Policy Group think tank, explained.
A British diplomat rejected the suggestion the King’s support for Canada sits in tension with the U.K. government’s own strategy. They described Carney’s own visit to the White House as “pretty positive,” contrasting it with the major personality clash between Trump and his predecessor Justin Trudeau.
Don’t expect Charles to be too forthright with Trump when it comes time to eventually host that second U.K. state visit, either — though royal watchers will be keeping an eye on the coded messages.
“Put it this way … I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s maple syrup on the menu somewhere,” Hardman quipped.
Put it into perspective, guys
Come next week, Canada is ready to lay it on thick.
When the royals land in Ottawa, Camilla will be presented with a bouquet of red and white roses.
A Canadian Armed Forces band will play as the royals are greeted by 25 members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, the senior armored regiment of the Canadian Army that boasts the king as colonel-in-chief.
Charles will receive full military honors, and Camilla will be sworn in as a member of the Privy Council — giving her authority to advise the king in his role as Canada’s monarch.
Canadians will have several opportunities to see the royals in action. The king is scheduled to drop the puck in a street hockey game at Lansdowne Park’s Aberdeen Plaza on Monday.
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.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet is expected to boycott the throne speech, saying he will read it instead. The separatist party opposes the monarchy.
Miscampbell is less sure about the potential for blowback.
Trump’s arrival in the White House has “changed Canadian politics quite substantially, and it’s also changed how they think about their place in the world,” he added, with the “strength of relationship” with Europe and the United Kingdom becoming “much more important.”
There has been a recognition of the “dignity and respect” of a “reserved head of state who treats Canada with respect, and is proud of its heritage,” Miscampbell said.
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