Britain’s King Charles III (L) and Queen Camilla were greeted as they arrived for a state visit at MacDonald-Cartier International Airport in Ottawa, Canada.On Tuesday, Charles spoke of “staying true to Canadian values” before departing back home across the Atlantic Ocean. Photo By Eric Reid/EPA-EFE
Britain’s King Charles III delivered a rare speech Tuesday to the Canadian parliament during his two-day visit as head of state.
“The True North is indeed strong and free,” the king said in his remarks in reference to the Canadian national anthem and jokes by U.S. President Donald Trump to annex Canada as the 51st U.S. state.
“Today, Canada faces another critical moment,” he continued. “Democracy, pluralism, the rule of law, self-determination, and freedom are values which Canadians hold dear, and ones which the Government is determined to protect.”
The king, 76, visited Canada for a two-day visit with his wife, Queen Camilla, amid strained diplomatic relations between the United States and Canada. They departed Tuesday afternoon.
On Monday, Charles received a ceremonial welcome at Ottawa’s Macdonald-Cartier International Airport with newly installed Prime Minister Mark Carney leading dignitaries.
The royal visit to Ottawa included an address at the opening of Canada’s 45th parliament — a trip delayed due to Charles’ cancer diagnosis. He assumed the throne in 2022 following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
In his speech before lawmakers, Native leaders and other diplomats, Charles said Canadians “give themselves far more than any foreign power on any continent can ever take away.”
He urged Canadian lawmakers to be “guardians of fundamental rights and freedoms.”
Interestingly, Queen Camilla’s great-great-great-grandfather, Sir Allan Napier MacNab, was Canada’s prime minister from 1854-1856, while Charles’ great-great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria, ruled over the British Empire, which once included India.
“Every time I come to Canada, a little more of Canada seeps into my bloodstream and straight to my heart,” he told attendees in the Senate chamber.
As Canada’s head of state, Charles became the first British monarch since 1957 to preside over the opening of parliament — a role typically carried out by the governor-general — following in the footsteps of his late mother, Britain’s longest-reigning sovereign.
While the king gave no direct reference to Trump, he emphasized “staying true to Canadian values” and urged the land-rich nation to “build new alliances and a new economy that serves all Canadians” in prepared remarks written by the prime minister’s office.
“The prime minister (Mark Carney) and the president of the United States, for example, have begun defining a new economic and security relationship between Canada and the US, rooted in mutual respect and founded on common interests, to deliver transformational benefits for both sovereign nations,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Assembly of First Nations called the king’s visit an opportunity to highlight the “nation-to-nation relationship” between Canadian tribal nations and the British crown.
“We are allies with a sacred perpetual relationship that cannot be broken,” National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said Tuesday in a statement, adding how as titular King of Canada, Charles “carries a responsibility to uphold the Treaties that protect our rights.”
Canada is in the middle of a housing affordability crisis with skyrocketing housing prices over the last 10 years. Charles said Canada was ready to build “a coalition of like-minded countries that share its values, that believe in international co-operation, and the free and open exchange of goods, services and ideas.”
On Tuesday, Nepinak said progress was “long overdue” on a number of issues affecting Canadians which included housing, clean water, healthcare, infrastructure and “full recognition” of rights for Canada’s Indigenous population.
“It was a very successful visit,” the Canadian prime minister told the BBC after the royal visitors departed.
“A good reminder of the strength of Canadian institutions,” said the Liberal Party’s leader Carney.
