Royal visit: Duke, duchess delight thousands in Victoria

The royals brought no shortage of magic to the rapturous crowds gathered in Victoria on Saturday, but only a handful got to see little Prince George, dressed in a robin’s egg blue sweater and navy shorts, walk shyly off the plane at CFB Esquimalt, holding both of his parents’ hands. 

Prince William had to stop at one point, lean over and whisper a few encouraging words in George’s ear, while Princess Charlotte snuggled in close to her mother the Duchess of Cambridge.

On the tarmac, the welcoming party included Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, Premier Christy Clark and her 15-year-old son Hamish. George, who was dubbed the “Republican Slayer” when he travelled to Australia and New Zealand with William and Kate in 2014, seemed shy, no doubt because it was past midnight on his time.

George tugged on his knee socks and hesitated until Kate, knelt down to give him some reassurance — a feat she managed without a wobble in spite of wearing five-inch stilettos and holding 16-month-old Charlotte in her arms. 

The Duchess of Cambridge wore a royal blue Jenny Packham dress, with a matching hat by Lock and Co. The hat was decorated with blue maple leaves, a nod to the red, maple-leaf bedecked hat she wore during the couple’s 2011 visit. Kate wore a diamond maple leaf brooch on her right shoulder, on loan from Queen Elizabeth. The brooch was given to the Queen Mother by King George on the occasion of their 1939 visit to Canada.

The family was quickly whisked away by motorcade to the legislature, but arrived nearly forty minutes late after stopping at Government House to get the children settled. Although the crowd was smaller than what organizers had expected, there was no shortage of well wishers lining the barricades. 

The couple was greeted enthusiastically as they approached the Cenotaph to lay a wreath. After the solemn notes of a lone bugler, the couple laid the wreath, The duke and duchess stopped to speak to three Canadian forces veterans, and their casual, open smiles broke the ice. 

“It was nerve wracking but he made me feel he was interested in what I was saying,” said Cpl. Mireille Poulin, an Air Force officer from CFB Comox who has six medals in the Invictus games. “He asked me about helicopters.”

The two chatted about Sea King helicopters. The duke is a helicopter pilot. 

Second World War veteran George Quan was unfazed at the encounter and told the Duke about meeting his grandmother the Queen in 1939. 

“He started to laugh,” said Quan, who was in a military uniform with numerous medals. 

The duke spent considerable time with Quan but afterwards he brushed off questions about meeting royalty. 

“We are all human beings,” he said. 

The royals said they appreciated the service of the veterans.

“He said it was nice to meet you and thank you for your service,” said Petty Officer Wayne Clarke. 

“It was definitely an honour to meet them,” said Clarke, who is based on HMCS Calgary, adding they were “definitely interested” in what he had to say. “I’m just absolutely thrilled.”

The three veterans were then greeted by the prime minister, governor general and premier.

As the duke and duchess proceeded up the red carpet, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau where they were welcomed by the sound of First Nations drums and a welcome dance by the Lekwungen Traditional Dancers of the Songhees nation.

The pageantry of military honours was on full display as a 21 gun salute made the windows of the legislature shake during the breaking of His Royal Highness’s Canadian Standard. 

After an inspection of a Guard of Honour, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the podium to thank the royals for bringing their children on the trip, during a speech at the legislature. 

“I know you’ve visited Canada before but as any parents who have travelled with children knows, it’s a whole different experience when you bring your family with you,” he said, as the duke and duchess laughed. 

When the Duke of Cambridge stood up to speak the crowd broke into cheers. “Catherine and I are delighted to be back in Canada,” he said, and he continued, speaking, it seemed, from the heart. “The last time we were here we had only been married three months. The warm welcome you gave us at that important time in our lives we have never forgotten.

The duke said the couple had specifically requested the opportunity to meet as many Canadians from as many walks of life as possible, in particular those with mental health challenges and those working in the field, as well as the environment.

“We feel very fortunate to have time to get to know many parts of this country that we didn’t get to know the last time we were here and when I was here as a shy teenager,” he said.

As the duke and duchess were leaving the legislature, the Duchess stopped to meet Monique Girard, 23, who was carrying a six-month-old baby named Scarlett.

“She was very nice, she asked me how old my baby was. She’s six months. So she said, ‘Is it my first baby?’ I said yes. She said, ‘It only gets better after this.”

The experience surprised Girard, who lives near Victoria, because she was at the end of the red carpet line off on the side near the media pen when the Duchess approached.

“That was really cool,” she said.

“I’m shaking right now, I’m starstruck. It’s the coolest thing that ever happened.”

Nearby, Colleen Noble, 52, said the duchess asked her how long she’d been waiting and that she hoped it wasn’t too long. “We were blessed,” Nobel said of the experience.

Beside her, Brenda Hobor, 60, gave Premier Christy Clark a bag with some Thomas the Tank Engine toys inside and asked her to give them to young Prince George.

On the other side of the red carpet, William Rithaler, 13, met the duke. “He asked me if I was a sports guy,” said Rithaler, who proceeded to rattle off the sports he played, including soccer and cross country.

“He said, ‘That’s cool,’” said Rithaler. Then he found out they shared the name William and spoke about that, and returning to school.

His grandmother, Rita Dods, 85, described meeting the duke as “wonderful.”

Loretta Rithaler, William’s mother, gave the duke flowers with a card that had copies of pictures of her daughter giving Queen Elizabeth II flowers during a stop in Victoria years ago.

“He said, ‘Oh my goodness,’” said Loretta, while taking the flowers. “Hopefully he’ll see (the pictures.)”

The royal couple left to waves and screams as they entered their motorcade and sped off to Government House for the evening. 

dryan@postmedia.com

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