Royals charm crowd with walkabout
Take time to greet Hamilton wellwishers
November 05, 2009
Daniel Nolan
http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/667107
The Prince of Wales and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, thrilled thousands when they visited Dundurn Castle this morning.
It might be the biggest crowd they have attracted on their 11-day tour of Canada which began Monday in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The crowd was estimated at upwards of 3,000 when the royal couple arrived to tour the castle, which was built by Sir Allan MacNab in the 1830s. The duchess is the great-great-great granddaughter of MacNab, who served as prime minister of the United Provinces of Canada in the 1850s and was a builder of the Great Western Railway between Niagara Falls and Windsor.
Castle officials were thrilled with the visit, which was threatened by rain but was marked by sun by the time of the royal couple’s arrival. The couple toured the castle, asking many questions about its history and artifacts, and then planted an oak tree to commemorate their visit.
“It was a perfect day,” said curator Ken Heaman after seeing the couple off to their next stop, HMCS Haida.
The couple immediately dived into greet the crowd, forsaking the official welcoming party for several minutes. That was not scripted and the crowd, five and six deep at points along the barricade, ate it up. The duchess wore a beige shawl and Prince Charles was attired in a blue suit.
A group of students chanted “We Want the Prince” while the couple did their tree planting duty and Prince Charles was soon over amongst their midst. One person waved a sign proclaiming “King Charles.”
Jerry Vass, 49, arrived two hours before the couple’s 11 a.m. arrival at the castle and got a spot right by the front doors. He was able to meet both of them and shake their hands.
“That was a surprise,” said Vass. “I’m excited just like everyone else here. They were just going from person to person, shaking hands and saying ‘Hello’ to everyone. Both of them were very friendly.”
The tree planting was also watched by 60 VIPS, who were in a roped off just beside the oak tree. This included the venerable Lincoln Alexander, former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.
At one point, while doing a brief walkabout in front of the site, Prince Charles pointed at the oak and told the crowd, “Look after that tree, will you?”
The Duchess of Cornwall got an added family connection from the visit. She, and the prince also, both met Okill Stuart, 88, of Montreal. MacNab’s second wife was Mary Stuart and he is a member of that clan. He was in the VIP area as he was a past-Dominion president of the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada
“I said, “ Don’t we like alike,” Stuart said he told the duchess when they met. “We had a little joke. We just had a few words. It was very nice and it was indeed an honour.”
Stuart also went to school in Scotland with Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, in the late 1930s and mentioned that to Prince Charles. He said the prince said he would be sure to tell that to his father when he saw him back in Britain.
At the Haida, the couple were greeted by a smaller, but no less enthusiastic, crowd and they did another walkabout.
The weather, which had held against all expectations for the first part of the day, finally broke just as the visitors boarded the Haida. Rain pelted down, followed by hail and gusting winds.
Charles turned to one of the official party and joked "whose idea was this?".
About half a dozen people were in front of Dundrun Castle at 8 a.m. And within two hours there were more than 500 people lining the barricades around the castle lane way.
One of the first to arrive was Sara Gawrylash, 15, a grade 10 student at Westdale Secondary School. She came with her sister Emily, 14, a grade 9 student at Westdale and their friend Ricki MacFarlane, 14, also a grade 9 student at Westdale.
“We’re here not only because our mom wanted us to come but it’s exciting” she said, standing a few feet from the pillared front entrance of the 174-year-old castle.
“We thought it would be a cool event to see the Prince and his wife.” She noted that the Duchess is the great-great-great granddaughter of the castle’s builder, Sir Allan MacNab and, “we thought it would be just exciting.”
Mike Brown, 59, and his wife Ann, 59, both of Burlington arrived at about 9:30 a.m.
“My wife wanted to see Camilla and I wanted to see Charles” said the retired import wholesaler.
“I’m originally from London, England. I like to support the monarchy. I think Camilla must be a special woman for Charles to give up Diana for her.”
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