Princess Anne lays wreath at B.C. veteran's cemetery; receives 21-gun salute
Princess Anne spent more than an hour Saturday touring God's Acre veteran's cemetery and its tiny, wooden chapel, laying a wreath to honour the more than 2,500 military personnel and family members buried there.
The visit to the secluded, tree-covered Esquimalt, B.C., cemetery is part of the princess's three-day West Coast visit, which started Friday in North Vancouver with her participation in the commissioning of the first Arctic patrol vessel for Canada's Pacific fleet, HMCS Max Bernays.
God's Acre is a national historic site that dates back to 1868.
Princess Anne's tour will also see her attend a commemorative service on Sunday for the Battle of the Atlantic at the B.C. legislature.
She is also scheduled to visit the Royal Victoria Yacht Club Sunday and members of the Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association later in the day.
The tour of the cemetery grounds by Princess Anne, the sister of King Charles, carries great significance, said David Loveridge, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission director for Canada, Americas and the Pacific.
The princess is the current president of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, overseeing its mandate to care for 23,000 war memorials and war cemeteries around the world commemorating 1.7 million Commonwealth casualties, he said.
“To have her here in Canada and to come to God's Acre veterans' cemetery to lay a wreath is a great event for us to commemorate the veterans who are here,” said Loveridge.
Princess Anne was on board HMCS Max Bernays early Saturday when it entered the fleet's home base in Esquimalt Harbour to the greeting of a 21-gun salute.
She wore a Canadian navy uniform Saturday, including a Canadian Fleet Pacific hat.
Navy enthusiasts and royal watchers gathered on the shores of Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse to greet the ship and the princess.
“She's commodore of the navy, an honourary commodore, and she did the commission ceremony and spent the night on the boat after it left Vancouver,” said Iain MacAulay. “So, yes, cool.”
Murray Baines said he wanted to get a look at the HMCS Max Bernays and catch a glimpse of the princess.
“I saw somebody out there waving,” said Baines. “I even had my little binoculars, but I couldn't make out who it was.”
The Department of National Defence said in a statement Friday the official introduction of HMCS Max Bernays into the fleet included “a symbolic presentation of the keys to the ship” to the commanding officer, Commander Collin Forsberg, “along with the breaking of the ship's commissioning pennant, and three cheers by the ship's company.”
Forsberg told reporters ahead of the ceremony that the patrol vessel arrived in its new home port in Esquimalt last month. He said the ship was “designed for, principally, exercising Canadian sovereignty in northern waters.”
He said the introduction of the ship, which was named after a Canadian naval hero in the Second World War, will allow the navy to better meet future defence challenges in the North.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
16-year-old boy fatally shot outside Scarborough plaza identified
Police have identified a teenage boy who was fatally shot in Scarborough’s L’Amoreaux neighbourhood on Saturday afternoon.
Joe Alwyn says breakup with Taylor Swift was 'a hard thing to navigate'
Joe Alwyn is speaking publicly for the first time about the end of his years-long relationship with Taylor Swift.
Ottawa Food Bank receives largest donation in its 40-year history
210,000 pounds of food was delivered to the Ottawa Food Bank on Saturday, the largest donation in its 40-year history.
Ontario Northland bus fire closes part of Highway 400
Part of Highway 400 was closed on Sunday after an Ontario Northland bus caught on fire.
Your father’s diet before you were born could have affected your health, a new study suggests
Your father's diet before you were born could have played a role in your health, a new study has found.
Prince William shares childhood photo of him and King Charles III for Father's Day
Prince William on Sunday shared a photograph showing him as a child with his father, King Charles III, to mark Father’s Day in the United Kingdom this year.
Singh 'more alarmed' after reading report, but won't break from Liberal-NDP agreement
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he is 'even more alarmed than before' after reading the un-redacted report alleging there are MPs and senators who are participating to some degree in foreign interference efforts.
Global study ranks two Canadian cities high on list of most expensive places to buy a home
As Canadians continue to struggle with the extremely high cost of buying a home in some of the country’s major urban centres, a new global report is underscoring just how expensive some of those markets are.
'We're in pretty good shape': Calgary goes low in water consumption after state of local emergency declared
On a day that a local state of emergency was declared in Calgary, city residents answered a request from the mayor and emergency officials to use less water.