When I was a little boy growing up in Ottawa my parents took me to Parliament Hill to see the Queen.
She was in Canada to honour the land on its birthday.
We were seated no more than 20 metres away from her as she delivered a speech.
Being just a kid I was absolutely in awe. A diehard monarchist was born.
A half century later nothing has changed. I personally believe without a shred of reservation that the monarchy is vitally important to our heritage and our national identity.
Much has been reported recently about Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle wanting to step back from their royal roles in the United Kingdom to become financially independent and live half the year in Canada. It has been explosive news across the pond, and even here in Canada where debate raged between monarchists and republican sympathizers about who should pay for the million-dollar-plus security cost for the well-being of the prince and his pretty American actress wife.
Moreover, what use would the young royal couple be for Canada and its citizenry? Would they just live it up large in Vancouver Island for six months of the year just to achieve their “financially independent” goal and ignore mainland peasants?
Perhaps not. Last week the prince’s young wife did go to the mainland to visit a Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. Reports are she was genuinely interested about the issues brought to her attention. It’s well known Meghan has an established record for advocacy for a number of causes, including a stint as a global ambassador for World Vision Canada, humanitarian work for the United Nations, and counsellor work for the international charity One Young World.
Simply put, this woman does bring a lot to the table other than cutting ribbons and smiling before the cameras.
For decades there has been plenty of public and media chatter about how the Crown must embrace modernization in order for it to survive. The Queen’s four kids mostly proved they did have the right stuff to lead that charge. But we just might see it with her grandkids, through William and Kate or even Harry and Meghan.
The latter couple has proven they are set to defy royal tradition. They are coming to Canada to do just that. It takes courage to break centuries of rules that force members to be duty bound to serve only the interest of the Crown.
With the exception of Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Louise in the 1800s, and Dutch royalty during the Second World War, seldom has Canada had the opportunity to be a primary home for major ranking royals.
It can be a wonderful starting point for the Royal Family to finally move into what can only be a very strange world.
It’s called relevancy.
Johnnie Bachusky is the editor of the Innisfail Province.
