History of Monarchy in Canada - An Independent Kingdom

An Independent Kingdom

On 29 July 1981, with the required approval of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in a wedding that attracted the attention of millions of Canadians. The ceremony was attended by Governor General Edward Schreyer, and, echoing the gift presented to the Queen and Prince Philip upon their wedding in 1947, Trudeau commissioned a hand built canoe as the Cabinet's gift for the royal couple. Diana proved more popular with Canadians than the Prince of Wales; it was noted by a former member of Charles' household that during a 1983 tour of the country, when the Prince emerged from the car there would be groans, but cheers for Diana when she was seen. Charles' aunt, Princess Margaret, also received negative attention when, in 1981, her visit to the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada in Cambridge, Ontario, as their Colonel-in-Chief, was targeted by Irish nationalist protesters. At one of the ceremonies, which were boycotted by three city councillors, there was a scare when a gun barrel was thought to have been seen in the gathered crowd, but it proved to be a mistake.

At the same time, the government was approaching a final resolution on the constitutional issues of the past decades. In 1981, Paul Martin, Sr., John Roberts, and Mark MacGuigan were sent to the UK to discuss the patriation project; Martin noted that during this time the Queen had taken a great interest in the constitutional debate, and the three found the monarch "better informed on both the substance and politics of Canada's constitutional case than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats." Elizabeth continued to assist with the project until a conclusion was reached the following year, when in Ottawa on 17 April she proclaimed the Constitution Act, 1982, which, amongst other changes and additions, patriated the constitution, making it fully Canadian law, and entrenched the monarchy in Canada; any change to the position of the monarch or the viceroys thenceforth required the consent of the federal and all ten provincial legislatures. Trudeau commented in his memoirs: "I always said it was thanks to three women that we were eventually able to reform our Constitution The Queen, who was favourable... I was always impressed not only by the grace she displayed in public at all times, but by the wisdom she showed in private conversation."

However, the terms under which the constitution was patriated had not been agreed to by the Cabinet of Quebec, headed by Premier René Lévesque, a move that was viewed by Quebec sovereigntists as a betrayal. The Queen, aware this was the first time in Canadian history that a major constitutional change had been made without the agreement of the Quebec government, privately expressed to journalists her regret that Quebec was not part of the settlement.“”

In 1987, after the first agreements were reached among the 11 prime ministers in Canada on the Meech Lake Accord—which attempted to bring Quebec governmental support to the patriated constitution by introducing further amendments—the Queen made a rare foray into political matters when she publicly expressed on 22 and 23 October her personal support for the plan. She received criticism from opponents of the accord and Pierre Trudeau did not arrive for an official lunch with the Queen on 24 October. Also in 1987, Prince Andrew toured Canada with, for the first time, his wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, who proved popular with Canadians and relaxed among them. The royal couple spent 18 days canoeing through the Canadian north, and the Duchess later reminisced that "Canada is like my second home." She also revealed in 2009 that sometime during her marriage to the Duke of York, he had been offered the position of Governor General of Canada; the couple agreed to decline, and the Duchess of York speculated in hindsight that the choice may have ultimately been a contributing factor in their eventual divorce in 1996. The idea had also been floated that Canada abandon its status as a Commonwealth realm but retain a separate monarchy with Prince Andrew as King of Canada; this proposal, too, was never pursued.

The Queen undertook another tour of Canada in 1990, a trip originally planned around her putting the royal sign-manual to the constitutional amendment that would have implemented the Meech Lake Accord's plans, including recognising Quebec to be a distinct society. The accord, however, had failed, which inspired fears for the unity of Canada. At Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill, Elizabeth addressed the crowds, stating: "It is my fondest wish... that Canadians come together and remain together... I and members of my family have been with you on many special days in the life of this country... Canada is a country that has been blessed beyond most countries in the world. It is a country worth working for."

Despite the Queen's pleas, however, nationalism in Quebec gained vigour and another referendum on departure from Canada was held in 1995. Five days before the vote, the monarch was tricked into speaking in both French and English for fourteen minutes with Pierre Brassard, a DJ for Radio CKOI-FM Montreal, who was pretending to be Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. When told that the separatists were showing a lead, the Queen revealed that she felt the "referendum may go the wrong way," adding, "if I can help in any way, I will be very happy to do so." However, she pointedly refused to accept the advice that she intervene on the issue without first seeing a draft speech sent by her prime minister. Overall, her tactful handling of the call won plaudits from the DJ who made it, and the real Chrétien later in his memoirs recounted the Queen's tongue-in-cheek comments to him regarding the affair: "'I didn't think you sounded quite like yourself,' she told me, 'but I thought, given all the duress you were under, you might have been drunk.'" On 30 October, the day of the referendum, Queen Elizabeth was on her way to a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in New Zealand and asked her pilot to remain at Los Angeles International Airport until the final tally from Quebec had been announced.