Prince William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, braved temperatures in the nineties as they continue their Royal Tour of Canada at a stop in Ottawa. Kate wore a striking red hat adorned with the Canadian maple leaf as well as a brooch loaned from the Queen. In his speech, Prince William referred to his grandmother as the “Queen of Canada.” Queen Elizabeth II remains Canada’s head-of-state.
Kate flashes a smile as we get a close-up of her red hot fascinator by Sylvia Fletcher for Lock and Co.
Kate wears a family heirloom loaned to her by Queen Elizabeth II: a diamond brooch of a maple leaf, Canada's national emblem.
Queen Elizabeth II wore the maple brooch when she toured Canada 60 years earlier, in 1951.
The flag of Canada features a red, 11-tipped maple leaf against a white field, flanked by vertical red bands. Canada is a federal state that is governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual nation with both English and French as official languages at the federal level.
Readers: For more on the British Royal Family here on Lisa’s History Room, click here.
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I bet Prince William wakes up every morning, takes a look at Kate and thanks God that he had enough sense to marry her over some of those other ladies he was seen with. She is so strikingly beautiful that she is sure to go into history for that as well as her position.
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Carole, Kate is world-class, isn’t she?
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Have you seen the photos of Kate on the tarmac with little Diamond Marshall, the six-year old little girl who has cancer? Wow–what a great way to start her public life as part of the “firm”! That huge, and genuine, hug she gave Diamond was proof that Kate has the same natural charisma and approachability that made people love Diana so much and (thankfully) she definitely isn’t obsessed with protocol like most of her in-laws (still) are. I had tears rolling down my cheeks as I read the story and saw the pics! If only there was a way to bottle that kind of magic! I hope the rest of the royal family will remember that, although they saw her as a problem, Diana’s break from their rigid style and stuffy rules was very good for their public image. Personally, I feel the concept of a monarchy is outdated and frivolous, but I know there are millions of people who strongly disagree and feel it’s worth the expense to support a royal family. By royal standards, Diana was a rebel but she paved a path for future royals to choose how they want to be seen–and sometimes hugged, by people. I think she’d definitely approve of William’s choice and she probably thought “you go girl!” when she saw how Kate handled that day on the Canadian tarmac! I hope the rest of the family and their advisors will respect Kate enough to allow her to be herself–if they do, I think she’ll make a wonderful Queen someday. (A far better one than ole Cami, the Duchess of Corndogs would be!)
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I love Kate in the red hat. It is terrific. I know she will be a superb Queen someday but never you fear, Camilla will bear that title FIRST or be damned. 🙂
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I fear you are right.
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I was just wondering…How do most of the subjects in England feel about Camilla now that so much time has passed since Diana’s tragic accident? Living here in the States it is difficult to get a grasp on Camilla’s popularity in her home country and though I dislike her thoroughly, I hesitate to say very much about it because I do not wish to insult her countrymen or embarrass myself. Actually, Camilla makes my skin crawl.
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Camilla is the ultimate schemer. I don’t like her one little bit either. She’s trying to make the Brits like her. I don’t know how they feel. So much time has passed since Diana’s death that most anything could be true in public opinion.
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I mention Camilla only because she seems to have attached herself to Kate with velcro, sort of sharing in the popularity of the new Duchess. Kate is in the unenviable position of having to be very generous to Camilla because she does not want to lose the affection of Prince Charles. I think he genuinely likes Kate but I think he likes her even more because Kate shows friendship to Camilla and makes her more acceptable to the subjects.
On the day of the engagement, I noticed that Kate was very mindful of just how much she praised Diana (she did a wonderful job) because she knew she had to face the very much alive Camilla. It puts Kate in a tough spot because she has to (wants to) be loved by her in-laws until she is finally Queen. Because Prince Charles loves Camilla so much, those who want to be in his good stead have to show great love and respect for her.
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Kate is made of really tough stuff.
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I agree. And it’s a “good thing” as Martha Stewart would say.:) She’s got years to go. She seems to grow more and more lovely and gracious with every public appearance.
She hasn’t selected a lady-in-waiting yet has she? Maybe that is a role that will die out. I heard on TV that she sort of depends on Pippa as an unofficial Lady-in-Waiting. Oh well, I’m over here in the States and the royalty is all very glamorous to me.
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Carole, do you read about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor? They are fascinating.
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She also proved she could rock a cowboy hat when she and Wills were in Calgary!! (I believe they were at the world famous Calgary Stampede Rodeo.) As a former rodeo Queen, I must say, hers should have had a crown on it……(that was meant to be a joke……predictable, huh? Sorry.)
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I saw those cowboy/girl hats. They looked so natural in Western wear.
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I haven’t read much about them though I am an avid reader. I have seen nearly every PBS documentary about them. Being 3/4 century old, I was around during their time and like Queen Mary and the Queen Mother, I detested the Duchess. Their affinity toward Hitler was also quite a turn-off for me.
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From the same 1951 trip that you note above, I think: The young Queen Elizabeth in a different setting: http://lexanteinternet.blogspot.com/2012/07/queen-elizabeth-ii-in-canada.html
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