It would be great pickings at a yard sale at Buckingham Palace, particularly considering all the fabulous gifts the Queen receives during her visits. And it’s not hard to imagine that this is a woman who pretty much already has everything.
The 84-year-old Elizabeth II just wrapped up her nine-day tour of Canada, boarding a plane Tuesday for a flight to New York. By all accounts, her visit gained plenty of attention and crowds, suggesting at least a portion of Canadians maintain an affinity with the Monarchy.
It wasn’t quite the same story during the recent visit of her son and first in line to the throne, Prince Charles, accompanied by his wife Camilla. At that time the shortage of enthusiasm and scarce throngs of people suggested an ennui here in Canada for the Royal Family.
That had people suggesting either a general lack of interest in the Monarchy in this former colony or that Charles simply hasn’t the personality to capture royal attention.
The Queen herself, however, does still seem to command a fair bit of response from royal watchers. Beginning with the tour’s start here in Nova Scotia last week there was a bevy of interest among people from small communities including our own who would get to meet her personally.
Among the gifts presented to Her Majesty were a personalized BlackBerry cellphone – suggesting she’s very much with it – and a display to be housed in the Hockey Hall of Fame, which includes pictures of the Queen attending a hockey game in Toronto in 1951 and dropping the puck in 2002 in Vancouver.
In her parting remarks, the Queen made mention of Canada’s sacrifices in Afghanistan and its values of freedom and fairness – sure to please the average Canadian.
With her diamond jubilee coming up in 2012, the admiration will continue. What happens when her successor comes to reign is anyone’s guess, but we can be sure the average Canadian will be a lot less infatuated.
