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Canadian Royal Family
The Canadian Royal Family is a group of people closely related to the monarch of Canada;[1] it is a non-resident royal family, as those who comprise the group live predominantly in the United Kingdom; some members have lived in Canada for extended periods as viceroy, such as Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone. Members often perform ceremonial and social duties but, aside from the monarch, have no role in the affairs of government. Those who comprise the Royal Family carry the style His or Her Majesty (HM), His or Her Royal Highness (HRH), or sometimes The Right Honourable (in French: Sa Majesté (SM), Son Altesse Royale (SAR), and Le très honorable), which usually results in the application of the term to: the monarch, the consort of the monarch, the widowed consorts of previous monarchs, the children of the monarch, the male-line grandchildren of the monarch, and the spouses and the widowed spouses of a monarch's son and male-line grandsons.
It has been stated by the Canadian Royal Heritage Trust that Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, due to his having lived in Canada between 1791 and 1800, and his being father of Queen Victoria, is "the ancestor of the modern Canadian Royal Family."[2] However, the concept of the Canadian Royal Family did not emerge until after the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931. Though the act came into effect during the reign of King George V, Canadian officials only began to overtly consider putting the principles of Canada's new status as an independent kingdom into effect during the late 1930s.[3] At first, the monarch was the only member of the Royal Family to carry out public ceremonial duties solely on the advice of Canadian ministers; King Edward VIII became the first to do so when he dedicated the Vimy Memorial in July, 1936 – one of his few obligations performed during his short reign.[4] Over the decades, however, the monarch's children, grandchildren, cousins, and their respective spouses began to perform functions at the direction of the Canadian government, representing the monarch within Canada or abroad.
Despite the length of service, it was not until October 2002, when the term Canadian Royal Family was first used publicly and officially by a member of it: in a speech given to the Nunavut legislature at its opening, Queen Elizabeth II stated: "I am proud to be the first member of the Canadian Royal Family to be greeted in Canada's newest territory."[5] Still, the Canadian media often still refer to the Royal Family as the British Royal Family.[6][7]
Composition
Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Royal Family; her family is considered Canada's Royal Family.[8] Those in the direct line of succession owe their allegiance to Elizabeth II specifically as the Queen of Canada,[9] and, according to the Department of National Defence, members of the family who bear the style Royal Highness are subjects specifically of the Canadian monarch,[10] They are entitled to Canadian consular assistance and to the protection of the Queen's armed forces of Canada when they are outside of the Commonwealth realms, and in need of protection or aid.[9] Their position as subjects but not citizens of Canada is reflected in the confusion that arises around the awarding of honours to members of the Royal Family; for example, the Order of Canada bestowed upon the Queen Mother was only honorary, though the Canadian Forces Decoration awarded to her was not.[11][12]
Although there is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member of the Royal Family[13] – a royal family is loosely defined as the extended family of a monarch – according to former Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps, the Canadian federal government does maintain an official list of Royal Family members for matters of honours and protocol.[14] Because of the shared nature of the Crown, most members of the Canadian Royal Family are also members of the British Royal Family, and are thus also members of the House of Windsor. There are some exceptions, however; for instance Angus Ogilvy was included in the Department of Canadian Heritage's Royal Family list,[15] whereas he was not considered a member of the British Royal Family.
There has been one marriage of a Canadian citizen into the extended royal family, and a second such marriage is expected to take place soon. In 1988, Sylvana Jones (neé Tomaselli) married George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews, a great-grandson of George V. On July 28, 2007, the engagement was announced of Peter Phillips to Autumn Kelly, of Montreal;[16] Phillips is the son of Princess Anne, and the eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II. Divorced spouses of the monarch's descendants are removed from the official government list of Royal Family members, as was the case with Diana, Princess of Wales.[14]
Canadian poet George Elliott Clarke has publicly opined on a fully First Nations royal family, asking "why can't a truly Canadian royal family be Aboriginal or Métis? I think the project... would do wonders for national identity and national unity."[17] However, this would contravene the convention laid out in the preamble to the Statute of Westminster (a part of the Canadian Constitution).
The existence of a Canadian royal family has been contested by some, mostly in the small Canadian republican movement. However, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Iona Campagnolo has also stated she feels Canada does not "really have a royal family."[18]
- See also: List of Members
Styles
Unlike in the United Kingdom, in Canada the sovereign is the only member of the Royal Family who has a title established through law. Though it would be possible for other members of the Royal Family to be granted distinctly Canadian titles (as is the case for the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland), they have always been, and continue to only be accorded the use of a courtesy title, which is the style they have been granted via Letters Patent in the United Kingdom.
However, in Canada these styles are also translated to French. The most senior members of the Royal Family are styled as follows:
- His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh: Son Altesse Royale le prince Philip, duc d'Édimbourg
- His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales: Son Altesse Royale le prince de Galles
- His Royal Highness The Duke of York: Son Altesse Royale le duc d'York
- His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex: Son Altesse Royale le comte de Wessex
- Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex: Son Altesse Royale la comtesse de Wessex
- Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal: Son Altesse Royale la princesse Royale
Popularity
The popularity of the Royal Family with Canadians, as well as individual members of it, has fluctuated over the years. Mirroring the mood in the United Kingdom, the family's lowest approval was during the mid 1980s to 1990s when the children of the monarch were enduring their divorces, and were the targets of negative tabloid reporting. Some recent poll results follow:
- An EKOS Poll conducted in May 2002, concluded that 35% of Canadians found the Royal Family boring, 52% saw them as interesting, with 12% stating neither. 44% said they were irrelevant, 46% said the opposite, and 8% said neither. 59% saw the Royal Family as tired, 22% deemed them vibrant, and 17% put them at neither.[19]
- A March 2005, Decima Research Poll found some interesting support levels for members of the Royal Family. 71% of Canadians had a favourable impression of the Royal Family. Only 20% had an unfavourable impression of the Royal Family. The poll found that 28% of Canadians saw the Queen as their favourite member of the Royal Family, Prince William was second with 26%, Prince Harry was third with 9%, Prince Charles was fourth with 6% and Prince Philip last with 2%.
See also
Other Realms
Other
Footnotes
- ^ Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs: Commissionners of the Territories: Honours of Office
- ^ Toffoli, Gary; The Royal Family and the Armed Forces; Canadian Royal Heritage Trust
- ^ Galbraith, William; Canadian Parliamentary Review: Fiftieth Anniversary of the 1939 Royal Visit; Vol. 12, No. 3, 1989
- ^ Veterans Affairs Canada: VAC Canada Remembers: The Battle of Vimy Ridge - Fast Facts
- ^ Text of The Queen's address to the Legislative Assembly in Nunavut, Canada, 4 October 2002
- ^ Peter; Toronto Star: Queen rules for city critics; December 20, 2006
- ^ Canadian Press; Winnipeg Sun: Royal wedding details emerge; April 11, 2005
- ^ Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs: Commissionners of the Territories: Honours of Office
- ^ a b Noonan, Peter C.; The Crown and Constitutional Law in Canada; Sripnoon Publications, Calgary; 1998
- ^ Department of National Defence: The Honours, Flags and Heritage Structure of the Canadian Forces; pg 281
- ^ Queen Mother appointed to Order of Canada
- ^ Commemoration Service for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother,C.C.
- ^ Heraldica: FAQ
- ^ a b Copps, Sheila; Toronto Sun: PM should ignore flag bureaucrats; April 26, 2006
- ^ Department of Canadian Heritage: Royal Family
- ^ Associated Press; Toronto Star: Canadian to marry into royalty; July 28, 2007
- ^ Lingley, Scott; University of Alberta Senate: Clarke calls on grads to help achieve the ideals of Canada; June 7, 2005
- ^ McCullough, John; Interview with Lieutenant Governor Iona Campagnolo; April 23, 2004
- ^ EKOS: Trust and the Monarchy: and examination of the shifting public attitudes toward government and institutions; May 30, 2002