Britain’s William, Kate head east in Canada
Canada: Prince William and wife Catherine were set for a day
of dragon boat races and search and rescue drills in eastern Canada
Monday after two protest-filled days in French-speaking Quebec. The
British royal couple arrived for a private reception in Charlottetown,
capital of Prince Edward Island, on Sunday evening, from Quebec as part
of their nine-day tour of Canada.
The couple had charmed a crush of well-wishers in Quebec City earlier
in the day as police lines kept republican protests far from their first
official foreign trip as newlyweds.
The duchess of Cambridge, sporting a blue lace Jacquenta dress by
Canadian designer Erdem, accepted flowers from wide-eyed young girls as
her husband the duke exchanged polite banter and shook hands with fans
outside city hall.
William, who spoke in French and apologized for his awkward accent,
thanked supporters for their warm welcome in the Quebec provincial
capital, coming one day after anti-monarchist protests in Montreal
marred their tour of Canada.
“I hope that we will have the chance to get to know each other over
the years to come,” he said, pledging to return to the city, once the
cradle of French civilization in North America that spanned from Acadia
in easternmost Canada to Louisiana in the southern United States.
As the prince spoke, a small plane passed overhead dragging a banner
across the sky touting a controversial phrase delivered by French
president Charles de Gaulle in Montreal in 1967, “Long live a free
Quebec.”
But it was as close to disrupting the royal visit as protesters would
get in Quebec City.
A few blocks away, some 200 republican demonstrators with placards
that read “end to the monarchy” and “William go home” jeered and chanted
for an independent Quebec but were drowned out by well-wishers’ cheers.
Organizers of the demonstration had promised to top angry protests in
Montreal on Saturday.
Riot police had been called to keep the peace outside a Montreal
children’s hospital the royal couple visited and at the Quebec tourism
and hotel business institute where they took a cooking class.
In Quebec City, barricades kept protesters away from the royal tour.
AFP |
