The media coverage of the announcement that His Royal Highness King Charles will visit Washington at the end of April and meet the US President focused on two issues. The first was the UK-US diplomatic relationship in the context of the botched regime-change mission in the Middle East and the second was whether the king would meet Prince Henry, who now lives in America. To my mind, they missed the most important point, which is that our king is also monarch of the largest country in North America.
I know something of Canada having researched their military contribution in World War I, met First Nation Cree, canoed down the Athabasca river, hitch-hiked through the Rocky mountains and manoeuvred tanks around the Alberta prairie. I also worked with many of their peacekeepers and had a detachment of their outstanding soldiers under command in Bosnia 30 years ago. Canada is a magnificent land with friendly people and unlimited resources. It is also a vital member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as, together with Denmark’s Greenland, it flanks the waters west of Iceland. The country has a distinguished Prime Minister, who has led his government with great distinction for the past 12 months.
We all know that behind the scenes of State Visits there are detailed discussions as an agenda is formulated which suits both sides. No doubt, the one in April will be tactful and diplomatic; however, just this once, it would be wonderful to know that the king will also represent Canada and ensure Washington understands that we value our loyal, reliable and authentic relationship with them because they follow the Rule-Based International Order.
Suffield – 1982
Rupert Wieloch 