A Happy Canada Day with the Queen

The hubby & I just got back from spending a few pleasant hours with tens of thousands of other happy revelers on Parliament Hill.  Here is a fine Canadian sight on the Rideau Canal as we peddled toward our goal.

That party will go strong until the final fireworks show, which starts around 10 pm.  This web cam that shows the main stage fronting the Parliament building and the iconic Peace Tower.  (Tip: the supervised, free valet bike parking lots are great. Kudos to the NCC and the service provider for supporting bike transportation in this practical manner.)

The Peace Tower is usually topped by the red maple leaf, but today that national flag came down when the Queen arrived. As the official head of state in this constitutional monarchy, her standard went up to fly as long as she was on the premises.

We did not arrive early enough to get good views of the Queen, the Prime Minister or other dignitaries.  But we did get great views of Mounties (on very fine horseflesh), the empty carriage (landau, actually) which had delivered the Queen and Prince Philip, and various bands as all filed out, looking very sharp and fine.

Small things that stick with me: the tight crowd that shuffled toward the entry gates, eager to get in, but all very calm and well-mannered. No x-rays or metal detectors, just a quick glance into my backpack by a polite officer.  I did not encounter any signs of trouble or protesters of any sort, though by night’s end there will be plenty of drunks on those streets. The happy cheers of the crowd.  The singing of ‘God Save the Queen” by Quebec soprano Marie-Josee Lord, followed immediately by loud, energetic hip-hop, en français (by a group I am unable to identify at this writing, sorry!).

This is the face of Canada Day in the capital, and the face of the modern monarchy.  Her Majesty must attend endless public and private events, to praise and recognize individual, cultural and national achievement, while being the personification of civil discourse and constitutional governance.

There is disagreement about the role of kings and queens in an age of participatory democracy. And there is a case to be made that the modern constitutional monarchy actually contributes to stable democracy by providing the symbolic figure of national unity, above the fray of push and shove politics.

Canadian have already begun this debate, but aren’t quite sure what could ever smoothly replace the role the monarchy currently fills, assuming it needs replacing at all.  In the meantime, most agree that this queen knows her job, performed faithfully for 58 years, and counting.

Happy 143rd birthday Canada!

Post-script added on July 2nd: Never send a Yank to cover Royalty!  I’ve been making protocol mistakes, such as using “HRH” as headline shorthand for the Queen.  According to this Wikipedia entry, that’s wrong. (Though “HM” would be correct.)

Royal Highness (abbreviation HRH) is a style (His Royal Highness or Her Royal Highness); plural Royal Highnesses (abbreviation TRH, Their Royal Highnesses). It appears in front of the names of some members of some royal families other than the King or Queen.

And her husband, the consort who is not a king. Is he properly referred to as Prince Philip, or the Duke of Edinburgh?  The later, I think.  After I’ve been calling him the former.  A real royal watcher would know.  I am more like an interested observer.

Apologies for my mis-steps and jolly good show to the Royal tour to date.

This site gives a thorough description of the role of royalty in Canada’s system of constitutional monarchy.