Prince William and the royal party could have been forgiven for not noticing, but there was a part of Quebec that had no intention of welcoming him and his wife, except with whistles, saucepan lids, vuvuzelas and, incongruously, bagpipes.
The prince – a rare British royal venturing into the heart of francophone, would-be separatist Quebec – received a formal welcome and inspection parade outside the city hall by the bearskin-helmeted members of the locally recruited 22nd regiment, known as "Les Van Doos". The mayor's words of welcome were warm, and even the regimental goat, Baptiste, looked benignly upon him.
So far, all in a day's work. But a few streets away, around 300 demonstrators had a different message. Mostly young, T-shirt clad and some facially studded, but with a scattering of older folk, they had gathered outside an Irish pub to bellow, toot and whistle the message that the monarchy should get out of Canada.
Blue and white fleur-de-lys Quebec flags were waved, as was the green, white and red standard of the failed insurrection of 1837. Their handmade banners told the story: "Parasite go home" said one, "And don't come back" added another. "Pay for your trip" said a third. "William dégage" was the message. Even more bluntly and in English: "Kate go UK yourself". And one for students of Britain's victory over France in the seven years war: "We are still waiting for your excuses for 1755." » | Stephen Bates | Sunday, July 03, 2011
