Posted by Andrew
on November 5, 2009, 6:07 pm, in reply to "Re: The Canadian Prince"
86.142.189.178
Your point is well-taken that senior younger members of the Royal Family should for a time actually reside in the realms over which they may one day reign, as Prince Andrew did in Canada, and Prince Charles in Australia. It is regrettable that there seem to be no plans for Prince William to reside in Canada or Australia. Perhaps they wanted to but were prevented by the Canadian or Australian governments.
But even that would not make the young princes Canadian or Australian. I do not share the view held by some people that having a deep attachment to Canada (as the Queen manifestly does) and sharing many of its values and beliefs is sufficient to make one Canadian. While it is easier to be Canadian than just about any other nationality on earth (the unbearable lightness of being Canadian?), never having lived in Canada must surely be a minimum condition.
I think that there will always be a tension between the purely Canadian nature of the monarchy in Canada (from a legal point of view), and the non-resident British ethnicity of our Royal Family. Personally, I have no problem with this. Alas, I can see why some Canadians would think otherwise. Fortunately, there are many arguments in favour of monarchy in Canada than this.
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