Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall lay wreath at the National War Memorial

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall met members of Canada’s Ukrainian community on the second day of the royal tour. 

Two protesters holding ‘abolish the monarchy’ signs stood on the lawn outside the Blessed Virgin Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Ottawa as the royal couple made their way inside. 

Charles and Camilla are on a whirlwind three-day tour of the country to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. 

It comes amid calls for Charles to apologise on behalf of the monarchy for the ill treatment of indigenous communities. Charles addressed the issue of reconciliation in his maiden royal tour speech yesterday, saying is time to find new ways to ‘come to terms with the darker and more difficult aspects of Canada’s past’.

Although there were small signs of dissent today, there were also crowds of flag-waving well-wishers who turned out and the couple were given a warm welcome at the church.

The royal couple spoke to a refugee family, a mother and her two sons, who recently joined her sister in Ottawa after being forced to flee their home under Russian shelling.

The Prince and Duchess were also reintroduced to Ukrainian culture and food, with Camilla trying her hand a painting eggs and both attempting to make perogi.

The Prince of Wales appeared emotional as he heard how the funeral of his father Prince Philip had bestowed ‘great honour’ on the Orthodox Christian world.

An 85-year-old woman told the Prince she had been moved to tears after hearing the Russian Kontakion of the Departed, translated by William John Birkbeck, played at the St George’s Chapel service in April 2021.

Dr Jennie Dutchak said: ‘I thank you personally. He his soul rest in peace.’

The Prince grasped her arm and sounded moved as he thanked her very much for her words.

Dr Dutchak, who spoke to the Prince in the final moments of the visit, said afterwards: ‘A year ago, at his funeral, his father chose a special hymn. Our choir sing it here and it moved me to tears to have a choir sing it at a royal funeral. It was jubilation.

‘It is a great honour on every Orthodox Christian that he recognised its sacred beauty. We are all proud.’

The Prince at moments appeared lost in thought, closing his eyes as he listened to the melodic service.

The Very Reverend Volodymyr Kouchnir, dean of the St Sophie Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedreal in Montreal told them: ‘Today, your country is truly a friend to Ukraine. Having extended a helping hand to our military but also as fellow citizens of our planet. We shall never never never forget that.

‘We are sincerely grateful to the Royal Family, to Her Majesty, and to you for personally for your help and support for the Ukraine which today is fighting for democratic values and the chance to live as part of the European family. God grant you many, many blessed years.’

The Prince and Duchess then moved downstairs to the church hall, where they were greeted by a group of five men and women in traditional Ukrainian dress.

They were both introduced to Natalia Stepaniuk, who has been living in Ottawa for ten years after studying at its university, and Olha Rudenko, who left the family’s home in Lutsk in March and has since been accepted for a Canadian visa.

Her two sons Stanislav, 16, and Lukian, nine, have travelled with her, while her husband remains in Ukraine to fight.

The Duchess asked her: ‘Are you coping? It must be so very hard.’

After hearing her story, she added: ‘We are so behind you. We do worry about you so much.’

Asking after the children, and hearing that they had started school but the younger was not yet about to speak the language, she reassured them: ‘Very very soon he’ll be speaking English.’

The Duchess was then invited to make traditional painted eggs, using a delicate wax technique.

‘I’ve always admired these eggs so much. Are you going to show me?’

Later, the Prince admired her rudimentary lines on an egg shell, as well as the colourful ones painted by the experts with more time.

The couple also tried their hand at making pierogi, the potato and cheese-filled dumpling.

After Camilla made one successfully, it was placed to the side as the group teaching her decided what they should do with the special royal pierogi.

Before they left, the Prince listened to a male voice choir and the Duchess met children from a local Ukrainian school. After signing the guest book, they took part in a short walkabout with several hundred people outside.

Earlier, Charles was invested as an Extraordinary Commander of the Order of Military Merit by the Governor General of Canada Mary Simon.

The prince holds a number of honorary appointments and ranks with the Canadian military and the order recognises exceptional service displayed by the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Following the ceremony, the couple laid wreaths as they paid tribute to Canada’s war dead.  

The couple stood before the imposing memorial, symbolising the sacrifice of all Canadian military in the cause of freedom in all conflicts, as a bugler played the Last Post and a period of silence was observed.

Charles, 73, laid a wreath of poppies, which featured the Prince of Wales’ feathers made from white flowers, while Camilla, 74, left a bouquet. 

Both floral tributes featured cards from the couple with the words ‘in grateful remembrance’ written in French and English.

Charles’ grandfather, King George VI, unveiled the memorial in May 1939 and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was added in 2000, the resting place of a Canadian serviceman from a war cemetery near Vimy Ridge, a First World War battle site in France.

At each corner of the tomb a member of the Armed Forces stood on guard facing outwards, head bowed with their arms resting on a rifle.

Earlier, Charles was invested as an Extraordinary Commander of the Order of Military Merit by the Governor General of Canada Mary Simon.

The prince holds a number of honorary appointments and ranks with the Canadian military and the order recognises exceptional service displayed by the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Charles and Camilla landed in Ottawa yesterday after travelling from Newfoundland and Labrador, where he attended an official welcome ceremony at the Confederation Building in St John’s.

During the ceremony the prince made a speech saying is time to find new ways to ‘come to terms with the darker and more difficult aspects of Canada’s past’ as he addressed reconciliation for the treatment of indigenous communities in Canada. 

He had been urged to apologise on behalf of the monarchy ahead of touching down in Canada on their first day of their tour yesterday. 

Cassidy Caron, National Council President of the Metis people, said she intended to raise the issue personally with the heir to the throne when they meet today. 

Mary Teegee, executive director of child and family services at Carrier Sekani Family Services in the province of British Columbia, said: ‘They also have to understand that they are not the leaders in our nation,’ adding that recognition of the harms of colonisation are needed rather than just a ‘trite’ apology.

The pressure comes after two recent royal visits to the Caribbean – by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Earl and Countess of Wessex – attracted criticism for promoting ‘colonialism’ and calls for reparations over Britain’s role in the historic slave trade.

Nevertheless, Charles and Camilla received a very warm welcome from cheering crowds, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and senior leaders from indigenous groups.

Delivering a speech in both English and French, Charles referred directly to the process of reconciliation in Canada, talking about ‘our collective need’ to come to terms with the ‘darker and more difficult aspects of the past’. 

He said: ‘However, as we look to our collective future, as one people sharing one planet, we must find new ways to come to terms with the darker and more difficult aspects of the past: acknowledging, reconciling and striving to do better. It is a process that starts with listening.’

He continued: ‘I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to discuss with the Governor General the vital process of reconciliation in this country – not a one-off act, of course, but an ongoing commitment to healing, respect and understanding.

‘I know that our visit here this week comes at an important moment – with indigenous and non-indigenous peoples across Canada committing to reflect honestly and openly on the past and to forge a new relationship for the future…’

He added that he and his wife ‘look forward to listening to you and learning about the future you are working to build. ‘

 ‘As so often in the history of this country and her people, Canadians have embarked on a journey that demands commitment and courage. My wife and I could hardly be more privileged to travel part of this journey with you and we are deeply grateful for your warm welcome, which we will carry with us throughout this entire tour.’

The UK enjoys a warm relationship with Canada, where the Queen is head of state, and whose Platinum Jubilee Charles and Camilla’s three-day visit is designed to celebrate.

Horsing around! Prince Charles and Camilla are treated to a musical performance by the Mounties and share a joke at a local market on a busy second day of the Canadian royal tour

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall visited a local school, toured a market and watched a performance by the Canadian Mounties on an action-packed second day of their royal tour. 

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall started the day in Ottawa after jetting in from Newfoundland on Tuesday.

The royal couple laid a wreath at the National War Memorial and attended a service at a Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral before carrying out a string of engagements celebrating local culture and industry.  

Charles and Camilla looked enthralled as they took front row seats for the spectacular Musical Ride performed by 20 members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, known as the Mounties. 

Camilla tapped her feet to the music during the modern take on a classic Canadian tradition. The Mounties carried out complicated and choreographed artistic display to music with names such as the ‘spiral’, ‘dome’, ‘star’ and ‘the charge’. They also reenacted the Diamond which was created for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The crowd included first responders representing fire, paramedic, healthcare, older people from care/retirement homes and law enforcement organizations from across Ottawa and Gatineau and their families, and students from schools in the neighbourhood. 

They were led round the Mounties’ stables by Supt Kevin Fahy, 57, who was ‘honoured’ to have escorted the Queen into the Royal Windsor Horse Show on Sunday.

Charles and Camilla also met and stroked the nose of five-year-old mare Victoria who was a gift to the Mounties from the Queen.

Brian Bullock, 75, of Ottawa, called out and shook Charles’ hand and sad: ‘I have been waiting for this for 75 years.’

Earlier Prince Charles raved about the quintessential Canadian kitchen staple, maple syrup, during a visit to Ottawa’s ByWard market, which is attempting to revive trade following the pandemic.

The couple were mobbed by members of the public trying to capture the moment on their camera phones as a large number of police tried to clear a path past the stalls.

Rupert Hupe, a second generation maple producer, chatted to the prince and his wife and Charles looked along the various bottles of syrups and maple sweets and said ‘It’s great stuff, great stuff’ adding ‘it’s good for you’.

Mr Hupe said afterwards: ‘That was pretty exciting, something that doesn’t happen every day. He seemed to know about maple syrup.’

Traders have been selling goods on the market site for 200 years and Charles stopped to talk garlic with Serge Cleroux who ran a vegetable and flower stall.

He said: ‘He was asking about the wild garlic, he wanted to know how you prepare it and I said it could be pickled or eaten as it is – it’s milder than ordinary garlic.’

When the couple met Pam and Grant Hooker, founders of the BeaverTails pastries chain, they were presented with lifelong membership cards of the stores found across Canada.

Mrs Hooker said: ‘The prince can get whatever he wants to and we told him he has to present the card but he’ll need to produce to valid pieces of photo ID and he laughed.’

The Duchess of Cornwall read a story to children at a school in Ottawa today as she urged them to ‘keep reading’.

Meeting a group of six and seven-year-olds, the Duchess read from a book called The Library Bus, by Bahram Rahman. The picture book, which tells the story of an Afghan girl visiting a library bus in Kabul, is said to be inspired by the author’s sister’s real-life experience.

Reaching for her glasses before reading to the children sitting cross-legged on a carpet in front of her, the Duchess smiled and asked them: ‘Is everybody on their best behaviour?’

She shared her reading duties with the children’s teacher, Stephanie Lucas, before being shown to a new book vending machine. The vending machine is part of a project called Start2Finish which allows each pupil to choose one book a month for three years.

Rather than a library system, the children are allowed to keep the books.

The school is one of five piloting the scheme which, if successful, will be rolled out further. The books in the vending machines feature indigenous and black authors.

A pupil at the primary school called Nathaniel, who was celebrating his 8th birthday on the day of the Royal visit, demonstrated how the vending machine worked by putting in a token handed out by his teacher. 

A teething problem, however, meant a book got stuck. But after selecting a different book, it dropped down and he was able to collect it from the tray.

‘It’s such a brilliant idea,’ said Camilla.

Speaking afterwards, Brian Warren, Founder and Executive Director of Start2Finish who described his ethnicity as Blackfoot and Cherokee, said: ‘Its aim is to focus on literacy with a focus on First Nations. Children need to see themselves represented in literature to have equity.

‘The most cool thing about this is when the children go home and open a book and they get that smell of a new book for the first time inspires a love of literature but also First Nations children can see themselves represented.

‘This is an important conversation that the Royal Family is involved in. She [the Duchess] was sharing how much she loves the idea and, especially right now, it’s important that she is shining a light on this conversation.’

Camilla also dropped in on a French literature class where the children were reading a novel called ‘une drole de ministre.’

When one of the children said that they were enjoying the lesson and said they spoke French, Camilla replied ‘tres bien.’ Commenting on the children studying their books, she said: ‘There’s a lot of concentration going on here.’

The Duchess had a brief discussion in French with teacher Miss Sarah Erskine who complimented Camilla on her language skills, saying: ‘C’est encore la!’ [‘It’s still there]

After the solo literacy engagement, Camilla joined The Prince of Wales again to walk out onto the school playground where more than 100 children greeted them with a cheer.

Paul and Wonder from the 6th Grade gave the Duchess a bouquet of flowers and a thank you note from the children. The pupils began singing the Canadian national anthem as they left