EDITORIAL
Harry and
Meghan, and why members of the Royal Family can’t live in Canada
PUBLISHED
JANUARY 13, 2020
Britain is
the inventor of one of the world’s great innovations in government: a monarchy
that reigns but does not rule. Canada took that system and improved it, by
pushing it one step further. The Canadian monarchy is virtual; it neither rules
nor resides. Our royals don’t live here. They reign from a distance. Close to
our hearts, far from our hearths.
And that is
why, in response to the sudden announcement of a vague and evolving plan for
the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – Prince Harry and Meghan – to move to Canada
while remaining part of the Royal Family, the Trudeau government’s response
should be simple and succinct: No.
You are
welcome to visit, but so long as you are senior royals, Canada cannot allow you
to come to stay.
This isn’t
about breaking up with the Crown. On the contrary, it’s about maintaining
Canada’s unique and highly successful monarchy.
On Monday,
the British paper the Evening Standard reported that sources had told it that
Ottawa had agreed to pay for security costs for the soon-to-arrive royal
couple. When asked, Finance Minister Bill Morneau told reporters that was
untrue, and that his government had not even discussed the matter. The dollars
and cents of supporting a royal resident might be significant, but that’s not
what’s really at issue. It goes deeper than the possibility of the feds having
to find a few million extra bucks.
Canadians
like their monarchy, and visits by the Queen and other members of the Royal
Family tend to produce outpourings of public enthusiasm. But while the people
who embody the Crown pay visits from time to time, they don’t set up a home on
the premises. A royal living in this country does not accord with the
long-standing nature of the relationship between Canada and Britain, and Canada
and the Crown.
If they
were ordinary private citizens, plain old Harry and Meghan from Sussex, they
would be welcome. But this country’s unique monarchy, and its delicate yet
essential place in our constitutional system, means that a royal resident – the
Prince is sixth in the line of succession – is not something that Canada can
allow. It breaks an unspoken constitutional taboo.
The concept
of the Crown is at the centre of the Canadian system of government. Bills
aren’t law until they receive royal assent; crimes are prosecuted in the name
of Her Majesty by lawyers known as crowns; your passport asks foreign states
for protection in the name of the Queen. All of that comes out of a
constitutional order, more than a century-and-a-half old, based on the British
model.
But though
Canada borrowed from Britain, it isn’t Britain and never was. And this country
long ago took steps to make that unmistakably clear.
‘Meghan and
Harry: If you are reading these comments, please take them to heart and stay in
Britain!’ Readers debate: Can the royal couple live in Canada?
Canada
never had a class system with hereditary aristocrats like Britain, and Canada
definitively broke with the idea of aristocracy when the Nickle Resolution of
1919 asked the British government to stop conferring titles on Canadians.
What’s more, with the Statute of Westminster of 1931, Canada’s relationship to
Britain was spelled out as one of equal, independent nations.
However,
Canada kept the monarchy, and a head of state we share with various
Commonwealth countries. The head of state’s representatives here are the
governor-general and the provincial lieutenant-governors, who perform essential
duties from opening parliaments to deciding who gets to form a government in
minority situations. They’re as close as Canada comes to having resident
royalty, but they’re not royalty. Instead, they’re merely temporary avatars for
a virtual monarch who remains permanently ensconced across the sea.
Furthermore,
since the 1950s, governors-general have always been Canadians. Princes are not
shipped over here when no useful duties can be found for them on the other side
of the Atlantic.
The
Sussexes are working out their own personal issues, and Canadians wish them the
best of luck. Canada welcomes people of all faiths, nationalities and races,
but if you’re a senior member of our Royal Family, this country cannot become
your home.
The
government should make that clear. There can be no Earl Sussex of Rosedale and
no Prince Harry of Point Grey. Canada is not a halfway house for anyone looking
to get out of Britain while remaining a royal.
Canadian
newspaper The Globe and Mail slams Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's living
plans in furious editorial
JACOB
JARVIS
4 hours ago
Harry and
Meghan's plans to reside in Canada have been lampooned in a furious editorial
from one of the country's largest newspapers.
The
scathing piece mounted an all out attack on the pair's proposed North America
move - encouraging the nation's prime minister Justin Trudeau to tell them they
are not welcome to stay while they are royals.
The Globe
and Mail critiqued the suggestion of residence as breaking an "unspoken
constitutional taboo", stating: "You are welcome to visit, but so
long as you are senior royals, Canada cannot allow you to come to stay."
In their
bombshell announcement to stand down as senior royals, the Duke and Duchess of
Sussex said they hoped to split their living between North America and the UK.
They spent
the Christmas period in Canada, while Meghan has since returned there and is
staying in Vancouver Island with their son Archie.
The Globe
and Mail's piece however said that royalty living in the country "does not
accord with the long-standing nature of the relationship between Canada and
Britain, and Canada and the Crown".
It stated
that while the Queen is the country's monarch, she and the monarchy
"neither rules nor resides", adding: "They reign from a
distance. Close to our hearts, far from our hearths."
The country
appreciates the visits from royals, it said, though added it wanted their trips
to the nation to be no more than that.
"Canadians
like their monarchy, and visits by the Queen and other members of the Royal
Family tend to produce outpourings of public enthusiasm," it added.
"But
while the people who embody the Crown pay visits from time to time, they don’t
set up a home on the premises. A royal living in this country does not accord
with the long-standing nature of the relationship between Canada and Britain,
and Canada and the Crown."
It rallied
on the Canadian government to push back against the plans, concluding:
"The government should make that clear. There can be no Earl Sussex of
Rosedale and no Prince Harry of Point Grey. Canada is not a halfway house for
anyone looking to get out of Britain while remaining a royal."
It comes as
images emerged of Meghan visiting two charities during her time in Canada,
while Harry is set to conduct his first public engagement since the pair
announced their plans.
The duke is
set to remain in the UK into next week, despite rumours claiming he was
preparing to fly to Canada to be reunited with Meghan and baby son Archie,
while the Queen has agreed to the couple's wish step back as senior royals.
No comments:
Post a Comment