Ottawa – Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton were invited by Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to visit the country as the celebrations of the nation’s 150th-anniversary approaches.
The Prime Minister has extended an invitation to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to visit whenever their schedules permitted it. The formal request has been sent to Kensington Palace, and though the visit has not been confirmed yet, Canada is already working on the preparations, according to The Globe and Mail.
Kate Purchase, Trudeau’s director of communications, said to The Globe and Mail that they are still waiting for the confirmation, but “the visit could be as soon as this autumn.” Other sources have told the newspaper that, in anticipation of this or any other royal visit that the country could expect for the celebration, officials are already mobilizing.
The Duke and Duchess last visited Canada in 2011
During the summer of 2011, Will and Kate flew to Canada for a sort-of-honeymoon. Two months earlier, the couple got married, and it was their first royal tour as a couple. The visit lasted nine days, and after celebrating Canada Day in Ottawa, they headed to Montreal, followed by Quebec, Charlottetown and Summerside, the Yukon, Alberta and Prince Edward Island.
Now, the Duke and Duchess, both 34-year-old, could visit the country accompanied with their two children, George, 2, and Charlotte, 1.
PM Justin Trudeau, 44, and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, 41, have three children. Xavier is the oldest one, with eight years old, followed by seven-year-old Ella-Grace and two-year-old Hadrien.
The Prime Minister and his wife have had a peculiar international exposure, appearing in publications like Vogue and Paris Match. Thereby, the stir the royal visit could generate would be massive, and covered all around the world, Amanda Alvaro; a communications strategist told The Globe and Mail.
She added that Trudeau’s communications team have known how to mobilize the Liberal leader and take advantage of highly visible events to get young people interested and participating in politics.
While the Prime Minister’s Office is still waiting for confirmation, and the potential destinations of Prince William and Kate, it is expecting the visit of other members of the Royal Family next year to celebrate that 150 years earlier the Confederation originated the Dominion of Canada. Possible visitors include Prince Charles or Queen Elizabeth II, who attended to the centenary celebrations in 1967. She also attended to Parliament Hill to celebrate Canada Day in 2010.
During the 2014 celebrations, former prime minister Stephen Harper received the visit from the Prince of Wales, Charles, and the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla. That year they visited Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. They had previously visited the country in 2009 and 2012.
Source: The Globe and Mail