Not long after Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, royal observer Janice Klymson turned to her husband and said: “I have an idea…why don’t we go to the coronation? She’s on my wish list.”
He accepted.
Klymson, a fan of royalty for over 50 years, is delighted to
be traveling to London for the coronation.
“I’m so sorry that they add and shed light on so many issues
and unite people around those issues that politicians could never do,” Klymson,
who works in the financial services industry, said in a phone interview from
Toronto.
For Klymson, the fascination began in 1981 when her mother
woke her up to watch the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of
Wales.
“I was even there for the famous 1991 photo of Princess
Diana and her children hugging them as she arrives at the Royal Yacht Britannia
in Toronto! I personally met King Charles in 1996 and also Princess Diana in
1991 when they both visited Toronto,” Klymson explained.
After the 1996 meeting with then-Prince Charles, after which
she was interviewed by CTV News, she appeared in the newspaper the next day
with the phrase: “Canada wouldn’t be Canada without the royal family.” Do you
still believe that?
“Yes, 100 percent. …If you really look at what they do, they
stand out and give great visibility to a lot of different causes. They have the
ability to rise above the political fray.”
Janice Klymson has been a royal fan for over 50 years.
(Distribute)
Klymson is one of many Canadians who contacted CTVNews.ca to
say they will be traveling to the UK for the historic occasion.
‘ONCE IN LIFE”
“I said this year, whatever happens, we will go to the
coronation when it happens,” Ian Talbot told CTVNews.ca by phone.
Ian and his wife Mairi work in healthcare in Kingston,
Ontario.
His journeys to commemorate the royals began with the
marriage of William and Catherine in 2011.
They have since also traveled to the UK for the Diamond
Jubilee, Harry and Meghan’s wedding and the late Queen’s funeral.
Ian and his wife Mairi Talbot will travel to London for the
coronation. There they will meet their daughter and grandchildren. (Distribute)
For the coronation, the Talbots plan to set up a spot in St.
James Park where they will picnic with their daughter and grandchildren, who
will join them from Germany.
“For us it’s probably once in a lifetime. We may be able to
go and see William’s coronation, in another 20 years,” Talbot said, adding:
“The whole family seems to have a good long healthy life.”
As for his thoughts on Charles as king, Talbot says that he has
come a long way and has become “a person of the people. … I think she will be
an excellent bridge between his mother and William”.
‘WOULDN’T IT BE FUN TO GO TO LONDON?’
Catherine Doyle and Elizabeth Hale, best friends since they
attended Carleton University together in the 1990s, planned a week-long trip to
London especially for the coronation.
Doyle, a partner in a public relations agency in Montreal
while Hale lives in Ottawa, says you won’t find two more enthusiastic and
knowledgeable “royal observers” than them. In fact, his pet corgi is named
Windsor, he confesses with a laugh. Queen Elizabeth II had a long-standing
affection for the short-legged dog breed, owning dozens of them herself during
her lifetime.
Elizabeth Hale (left) and Catherine Doyle (right) are seen
in this photo taken at Hampton Court Palace on a previous trip.
(Distribute)“When the queen died, we texted all day and all week and then we
said to each other…wouldn’t it be fun to go to London for the coronation?” she
said herself in a telephone interview.
Their plan is to find a place for the procession, carrying
their Canadian flags, and then find street parties they can join and
participate in.
I hope the weather is good. I hope it’s beautiful and we get
to see the flags in the mall and the carriages go by…because it’s an amazing
city to begin with.”
A CHAIN OF FRIENDSHIP COVENANT
Claudine VanEvery-Albert of Six Nations of the Grand River
in Ontario will attend the coronation as part of a group of true history buffs.
VanEvery-Albert, a trustee of the Grand River District
School Board and a former educator, says there is a long history that her
people, the Haudenosaunee, are allies and not subjects of kings and queens
“because we always fought on the side of the British as long before the
American Revolution (between 1765 and 1791).”
“We fought alongside them in the War of 1812 and World War I
and World War II,” said VanEvery-Albert, who is a member of the Six Nations,
Mohawk Nation Turtle Clan.
He also commented on the symbolic Silver Chain of the Pact
of Friendship between his people and the British, derived from the metaphor of
a silver chain holding the English sailing ship to the Haudenosaunee. In fact,
when Queen Elizabeth II visited Toronto in 2010, she presented the group of Six
Nations with a set of silver bells on July 4, American Independence Day.
“It means, without saying it, that she was polishing the
chain because she knew we fought on the side of the British during the American
Revolution,” said VanEvery-Albert, whose Mohawk name is Yakowennatoken.
“As the queen got older, I told my family, ‘the queen is
going to die very soon and when she does, I’m going to her funeral or I’m going
to King Charles’ coronation.'”
His relatives also expressed interest and, as soon as he
found out the date, he booked the trip for the group, made up of four adults
and two children.
His plan is to stake a spot right at the beginning of the
mall, with flags, one of which is the Haudenosaunee Hiawatha flag and another
that reads “All Kids Matter.”
In light of the impact of British colonialism on indigenous
people, VanEvery-Albert said: “I think King Charles is an intelligent thinker
and he realizes what colonial history has been and is trying to move away from
it.”
‘SHOW MY SUPPORT AS A YOUNG CANADIAN’
Xander Fallis, a 19-year-old history and political science
student at McGill University, is excited to travel to London to witness this
“once-in-a-lifetime historical event.”
“The world hasn’t seen a coronation in so long that I think
it’s a truly unique opportunity. … And also to show my support as a young
Canadian for our new King.”
Xander Fallis is a McGill University student heading to
London for the coronation. (Distribute)He has appreciated the Crown since he
was a child thanks to his shared interest in history with his grandfather.
When the King and Queen, then the Prince of Wales and the
Duchess of Cornwall, visited Ottawa last year, Fallis was there to witness
Charles lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
He carried with him a Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee medal,
which had been presented to his great-great-grandfather, the Honorable PC
Hewitt Bostock, President of the Senate under Prime Minister Mackenzie King.
Hewitt, who moved to BC from England, also served in his cabinet for a brief time.
“As the now-King was walking down the driveway holding
hands, he noticed the medal and stopped to speak to me briefly about it,”
Fallis said.
“He asked me a few questions and shook my hand,” he
recounted. “It was very surreal, one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”
He attends the coronation, he says, because “despite their
shortcomings, you could call them, and the checkered part of the monarchy, I
think it’s very important for Canada to have those ties to history and that
connection to other countries through the Commonwealth. “. and a shared head of
state.
‘I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN KNEELED’
Ashley Walton Bird and her husband John Bird will be traveling
to London from Fredericton, NB to mark their first anniversary.
Ashley, who works in human resources for the provincial
government, says she is looking forward to seeing the country where her late
grandmother was born before immigrating to Canada as a child.
Ashley Walton Bird and her husband John Bird are seen in
this file photo taken in Florence, Italy. (Distribute)
Her plans include attending a coronation-themed afternoon
tea, then a ball at London’s Caledonian Club, which has an affiliation with the
Royal Family and had a cameo appearance in the recent season of The Crown.
Then, on the morning of the coronation, they plan to be up
at dawn to get as close to the action as possible, carrying their New Brunswick
flags.
What attracts her to the Royal Family is her sense of duty
and her longevity.
“Having that as a constant pillar, even from where we are in
Canada, has always fascinated me,” he said.
“I know it can be a hot debate among Canadians, but I will
always be on the side that the monarchy has a place.”
‘I WANT TO CAPTURE EVERY MOMENT’
Kathy Lee, who lives in Ottawa, is another royal superfan
who reached out to CTVNews.ca.
“Several years ago, my friend Elizabeth and I made a pact to
attend the upcoming coronation. When the date was announced, we started making
our plans,” she wrote in an email.
“Elizabeth and I love London but we don’t love busy London.
We visited Bath in 2001 and decided that this would be our Coronation
destination.”
A photo of Elizabeth (left) and Kathy (right) from their
last visit to London in 2019. (Handout)His plan is to spend several days in
Bath, watch the coronation, which will be broadcast live from Bath Abbey, and
then enjoy high tea at a local establishment. They will then head to Windsor
and take a tour of the castle and pay their respects to the late Queen at St.
George’s.
“With the late queen’s death, I feel like I’m experiencing
an important historical event and I want to capture every moment.”
