A royal visit steeped in symbolism

This visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla, which culminated in him opening the 45th Parliament and delivering the government’s Throne Speech, was put together at the last minute, fit into a busy section of the royal calendar, and was over 24 hours after it began. It may have come as a response to serious political and economic threats from the United States, but the King’s first visit as Canada’s monarch displays notable symmetry with a more long-planned visit 68 years ago, when Queen Elizabeth II’s first visit to Canada as monarch was also a brief stop in Ottawa to open Parliament.