King Charles III dropped a ceremonial puck to start a street hockey game on the first day of a visit to Canada intended to emphasize the country's sovereignty. The king—Canada's head of state—also took part in a tree-planting ceremony after arriving in Ottawa on Monday, the Ottawa Citizen reports. On Tuesday, the king will read the throne speech to open the new session of Parliament, becoming the first monarch to do so since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, visited Ottawa in 1977. Her throne speech 20 years earlier was the first delivered by a reigning monarch in Canadian history.
On Tuesday, a horse-drawn carriage with a 28-horse escort will carry the king and Queen Camilla to Parliament, reports Reuters. "This historic honor matches the weight of our times," Prime Minister Mark Carney's office said in a statement. "It speaks to our enduring tradition and friendship, to the vitality of our constitutional monarchy and our distinct identity, and to the historic ties that crises only fortify." The king will read the speech written by the Canadian government in the Senate chamber, because tradition bans the monarch from the House of Commons, the New York Times reports.
The visit is seen as a response to President Trump's talk of making Canada the 51st US state. Reuters notes that the king has been showing his support for Canada in other ways, including wearing a maple leaf pin, describing himself as the king of Canada, and planting a maple tree at Buckingham Palace. Charles last visited Canada in 2022, months before his mother's death, and the CBC reports that the crowds this time are "considerably larger." The king will return to the UK on Tuesday after delivering the speech and visiting the National War Memorial, reports the AP. (More King Charles III stories.)
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