OTTAWA – Sure, watching the royal wedding curled up on the couch in a pair of PJs was fun, but gawking at Kate and Wills up close with thousands of other Canadian peeps would be so much more Facebook worthy.
Imagine the braggy album title: “Me and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on Parliament Hill, July 1, 2011.”
The newlyweds picked Canada as their first official trip as a couple, arriving in time for the Canada Day festivities in the nation’s capital. Kate Middleton has never visited Canada, so Ottawa at its party-hardiest will be her first taste of Canadian hospitality.
William’s parents, Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, visited Canada for the first time in 1983 while the young prince celebrated his first birthday back home. Diana dazzled the massive crowds — she in a blue-and-white striped dress and feathery white hat, they in their Loverboy-era sun visors and T-shirts.
For those who want to be part of the welcoming party for Will and Kate in the national capital region, there are many ways to give the trip a royal twist and many of the activities are free. Here are a few:
Get a good vantage point of their Highnesses: Based on past royal visits, including last year’s by the Queen, the landau generally arrives for the beginning of festivities around midday. It travels westward on Wellington Street before arriving on Parliament Hill. The best areas will be along the barricades along the Hill’s central pathways. Getting a good spot obviously means arriving quite early in the morning. Dress for the weather and keep the digital camera charged.
Visit the Parliament Buildings while you’re at it: A big white tent between the Centre and East Blocks of Parliament Hill is the point of departure for free tours during the summer months. The Senate foyer features paintings of Canada’s monarchs since Confederation. Check www.parl.gc.ca/Visitors/index-e.asp#visitor for information about the schedule.
Stop by the National War Memorial: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) unveiled the monument to those who served Canada in war in 1939, the first time a reigning monarch had visited Canada. The granite arch with bronze figures is a stone’s throw from Parliament Hill. In 2000, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was added to the site.
Check out Rideau Hall: Members of the Royal Family always stop by the Governor General’s residence during official visits. The grounds have flower gardens, picnic-perfect lawns, a play structure and wooded areas and are open from 8 a.m. until an hour before sunset. Many of the trees have been planted by members of the Royal Family over the decades.
Tourists can tour the residence free of charge beginning at 10 a.m., and will see part of its impressive collection of Canadian works of art and the rooms where royals have been feted over the years. The official Canadian portraits of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, taken during a visit in 2005, hang in the main ballroom
Check the website (www.gg.ca) to make sure your plans don’t clash with those of the Duke and Duchess.
Buy a fantastic hat: Now that “fascinator” has suddenly infiltrated the mainstream lexicon, buying a proper fancy hat or headpiece seems like a completely justified party expenditure. New Brunswick-born Madeleine France Cormier’s hat store in the Byward Market, Chapeaux de Madeleine, has seen a boom in business because of the royal wedding. Her little shop at 47 Clarence St. is chock-full of all manner of glam hats for all kinds of events, and her custom work with peacock feathers, ribbons, bird-cage veils and fabric petals ships across the country.
The milliner is betting that the duchess will sport a hat that features red and white.
“When we put a hat on, we laugh. We giggle, we laugh, we say, ‘Oh my God, look how I look,”‘ says Cormier.
“It doesn’t really change your personality, but it’s having a different style. All of a sudden the attitude of the person changes. It’s expressing yourself without having to talk.”
Have a British-style tea: The Fairmont Chateau Laurier, which turns 100 next year, has been holding a tea service ($30-$50) since it first opened. Patrons settle in to the cosy armchairs at Zoe’s restaurant, sip tea and eat fancy sandwiches and pastries.
“It’s just a really fun thing to do — you should see the numbers of people who come in just to enjoy the setting,” says hotel spokeswoman Deneen Perrin. “Different generations too. You’ll get the grandmother with the daughter and the granddaughter.”
The hotel also has a photo gallery open to the public that includes a candid snapshot of Princess Diana, taken during an event in the main hotel ballroom back in 1983.
Watch the fireworks: If all those stories are true, Will felt fireworks when he saw Kate for the first time in 2002. At the end of the evening Canada Day show on Parliament Hill is a spectacular fireworks display. Major Hill’s Park adjacent to the Byward Market and Jacques-Cartier Park just across the Ottawa River are two great spots for seeing the lights.
