[EN IMAGES] Prince Charles and his wife Camilla have started their visit to Canada

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla kicked off their visit to Canada on Tuesday, kicking off a three-day trip to the country as the governor-general, Queen Elizabeth II’s official representative in the country, invited them to “talk to the indigenous peoples”.

The American couple made their first stop at St John’s in Newfoundland, where they were greeted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Governor-General Mary Simon, herself an Aboriginal.

Ms. Simon urged to speak to Aboriginal people to hear their stories, successes and solutions, and I encourage you to learn the truth about our history, the good sides, as well as the bad.

The visit comes nearly a year after Canada’s discovery of its first unmarked children’s graves on the site of former Indian residential schools, causing outrage and exposing the country’s colonial history.

Upon their arrival, Prince Charles and Camilla walked on, shaking hands with the Canadians assembled near the entrance to the Confederacy building.

“I know that our visit here this week comes at an important time for indigenous and non-indigenous people across Canada, who are reflecting openly and honestly on the past to build a new relationship for the future,” Prince Charles said.

The welcome ceremony featured a prayer in Inuktitut, the traditional language spoken by the Inuit, as well as a musical performance by Inuk soprano and the traditional Micmac song.

Next, the princely couple must go to the capital, Ottawa, and then on Thursday to the Northwest Territories, this region of northern Canada on the outskirts of the Arctic, which is warming three times faster than planet Earth.

“(Prince Charles) wants to talk about the environment and Aboriginal people want to talk about religious boarding schools,” British monarchy historian and expert James Jackson told AFP.

The three provinces hardest hit by this seminary scandal were British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta, which he avoided this time around. By going to NWT, he can easily talk about the environment without talking too much about the boarding school scandal,”

Cette visite royale intervient dans une période de transition délicate pour la monarchie britannique, chahutée lors de deux récents voyages princiers aux Caraïbes, quand d’abord le prince William, puis le prince Edward, ont’s été pour le appelé United kingdom.

Queen Elizabeth, 96, has also canceled nearly all of her public appearances over the past seven months due to health concerns, although the 70-year-old monarch made a surprise visit to open the controversy on Tuesday. Noun.

Despite the deep affection two-thirds of Canadians have for the Queen, whom they’ve known their whole lives, 51% want an end, for posterity, of the constitutional monarchy, according to a recent Angus Reed Canadian Institute poll. .

As Canada re-examines its colonial past, 65% reject the idea of ​​Charles, 73, becoming King and Head of State of Canada, and 76% refuse to recognize Camilla, 74, as their Queen.