Journalists from the United States reporting on Canadian politics might search for an angle that does not revolve around the nation’s holy war against President Donald Trump. Such a search is in vain.
Due to the president’s barrage of tariffs this year and machinations for bringing Canada under American control, every facet of the country’s politics has reoriented with one mission: rally against the barbarians at the southern gates.
The outrage is palpable and inescapable. Shops across the country stock “Canada is not for sale” merchandise. Nationalist battle cries such as “Elbows up!” and “Never 51!” are plastered or worn throughout major cities. Even attempting to use an American Express credit card where it isn’t accepted can prompt an unsolicited treatise about the “antichrist” in Washington.
It was hoped that the federal elections held on April 28 would produce a majority government and select a champion to march strong through the tumultuous trade wars and culture crises.
A resounding consensus did not emerge. Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away victorious without meeting the 172-seat threshold. The Conservatives had their best showing in over a decade but lost their own leader’s district. The New Democratic Party crumbled to dust, and its leader resigned.
One wonders what Charles III, the king of Canada, thought as he observed the results across the Atlantic Ocean in Buckingham Palace. He is, after all, the head of state and monarch of all 40 million Canadians.
That role has been entirely ceremonial for decades, with the king’s majestic title considered a relic of a bygone era. Nowadays, Canadians are known more for their embrace of multiculturalism and anti-racism than hereditary sovereignty.
Then, a message from Carney came through the wire.
“To be clear, I have made the request of His Majesty, and he has accepted. He will open parliament with the speech from the throne, and that clearly underscores the sovereignty of our country,” Carney said in the days after his election, championing him as Canada’s “ultimate head of state.”
On May 26, the king of Canada will open the Canadian parliament — the first time a sovereign has done so in almost 50 years.
The invitation is strategic. Trump displays an uncharacteristic amount of respect for Charles and the rest of the Windsor family in their roles as British royalty. He is, by all accounts, charmed by their aristocratic character and impressed by their world-class celebrity.
During his reelection campaign, Trump scolded then-President Joe Biden for not attending the king and queen consort’s coronation, calling the pair “two very special people” and wishing them a “long and glorious” reign. He gushed about “how handsome” Prince William looked at the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral.
When rumors appeared earlier this year in the pages of the Sun claiming the king was considering inviting the United States into the Commonwealth of Nations, of which he is the head, Trump shocked Revolutionary War-obsessed patriots with his enthusiasm — “I love King Charles. Sounds good to me!”
Even first lady Melania Trump expresses affection for the monarch. Having met the royals on multiple occasions over the years, she revealed in her memoir that she “exchange[s] letters with King Charles to this day.”
Yet, for all the devotion the king receives from Canada’s public enemy No. 1, the Canadians have wanted little to do with the Windsors.
When Ipsos polled Canadians on the monarchy following Queen Elizabeth II’s death, over half responded that they would like to see all ties to the royal family cut, and that was an improvement from the previous results.
The king’s lack of meaningful presence in Canada is considered progress by moralists who feel the institution is outdated, unmeritocratic, or, God forbid, dripping with the unforgivable sin of colonialism.
But no matter how much they tear away at the pomp and circumstance of the institution, it remains the central authority that undergirds the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches of the federal government.
The prime minister derives his legitimacy from the king. Government-owned territory is often referred to as “Crown lands.” Anyone seeking to become a Canadian citizen must swear an oath of allegiance to His Majesty.
In practice, the monarch’s few legitimate powers are exercised by his federal and provincial representatives, known as the governor general and lieutenant governors.
Once upon a time, these viceroys were adorned in court uniforms and bicorne hats. They carried ceremonial sabers and lent a sense of grandeur to Canadian politics that elevated it above the utilitarianism of American government.
In most provinces, these affectations are a thing of the past. Disinterest or disdain for solemnities has warped the governorships into bureaucratic middlemen, dressed in suits and acting more like federal human resource officers than royal representatives.
Nova Scotia is an exception. Locals in Halifax, including bartenders and shop managers, speak glowingly of their lieutenant governor, with one woman remarking how nice it is to have something like their own “little king” just down the street at Government House.
Nova Scotia Lt. Gov. Mike Savage was sworn into office in December last year. Formerly the mayor of Halifax, he is among the last lieutenant governors to accept the elegance of the position still, even though he isn’t entirely at home with the fancy clothes and pomp.
“I believe that with the turbulence in the world, people are clutching on to institutions, traditions that they knew were there but have a renewed value,” Savage told the Washington Examiner in an interview at Government House in Halifax. “I think the monarch is one of those things.”
Savage is a broad-shouldered, deep-voiced gentleman who looks like he would be more at home in a war room than a government estate.
He never intended to become a representative of a monarch, a role that might have seemed absurd when he was a child in Northern Ireland.
“I would be one of those people when I grew up, that, if I thought about the monarchy at all, it would have been ‘Meh — doesn’t really impact me all that much.’ But as an adult, as someone who’s been a member of parliament and the mayor of a city, I’ve seen the role the monarchy plays,” he said.
“Eighty percent of this role is ceremonial and constitutional as opposed to decision-making powers. But what you discover very quickly is people value this position. They value this role. They value that we have a representative of the king in Nova Scotia,” Savage told the Washington Examiner. “Here, people seem to have a very strong belief in the fact we should maintain our connections to U.K. [traditions] and particularly to the monarchy.”
He emphasized that he’s only joking when he says he texts with Charles every night. But he is expected to report to Buckingham Palace alongside the other lieutenant governors, and the king listens intently to their provincial reports.
The finer points of courtly duties are a complex and sometimes baffling business for those as unfamiliar as Savage when he first received the appointment. Fortunately, he had a guide to help him find his feet in the position.
Christopher McCreery is the lieutenant governor’s private secretary and an unabashed fanatic for the Canadian crown. He’s written 17 books on monarchy, Canadian orders of merit, and the nation’s orders of chivalry. From his ornate office on the lower level of Government House, he tends to every detail of the lieutenant governor’s affairs, from aesthetics to practicalities.
It is McCreery who orders his boss’s ornate court uniforms, curates the display cases of medals, and offers extensive lessons on the monarch’s role in defining the Canadian nation.
“When you see new Canadians when they’re sworn in, there is still a connection to the king and the crown through them swearing their allegiance to the king of Canada and becoming a part of the Canadian family in that way,” McCreery told the Washington Examiner.
It is monarchy nerds and royal enthusiasts who keep the crown relevant despite efforts to tear it down in the name of total egalitarianism.
The Monarchist League of Canada is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering greater national pride in the sovereign. It acknowledges it is fighting an uphill battle against a government and citizenry that treat the crown as a formality instead of a paternal figure.
When Elizabeth died in 2022, her portraits were taken off the walls of government buildings across Canada.
Tradition dictated that the federal government commission and distribute portraits of Charles to replace them. The new portrait didn’t manifest, and the Monarchist League grew impatient as it received inquiries from people and institutions looking to adorn their walls with their monarch.
It eventually pressured the Department of Canadian Heritage to create the portrait and now collaborates with the government to send it to any citizen in the country who requests one, asking only for a flat shipping fee.
Karim Al Dahdah is the senior officer for the Monarchist League in Quebec. It’s a thankless job in a province filled with French Canadians who are not only ambivalent to the crown but actively hostile to it due to its distinctly British heritage.
“It’s a system that works. It has proven over the years that it works,” he told the Washington Examiner with visible enthusiasm. “It brings a sense of stability and continuity to the country, and it contributes to the preservation of the traditions and symbols and heritage of the country.”
Al Dahdah, an illustrator and graphic designer by trade, immigrated to Canada from Lebanon in 2014. He obtained citizenship in 2019, swearing his oath of allegiance to Elizabeth, and is an outspoken advocate of his adopted sovereign.
It is his hope that “renewed interest in what makes us different from the United States” will encourage more citizens to embrace their monarchist roots.
Canadian nationalism often defines itself in opposition to the U.S., emphasizing points of Canadian society that Canadians believe elevate them above the barbarous Yankees.
KING CHARLES III TO OPEN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT TO UNDERSCORE ‘SOVEREIGNTY’ OF COUNTRY
The universal healthcare system is practically a divine institution, a point of pride to be contrasted against the Americans’ pay-for-care model.
Left-wing politics are championed as a patriotic alternative to the populist conservatism of their southern neighbors. America is a homogenizing melting pot, Ottawa elites say, but Canada is a diverse salad.
If this anti-American sentiment continues to swell as it has in the era of Trump, Canadians may soon be singing the praises of their once-discarded king — even if only as a jibe against the White House.
Timothy Nerozzi is the foreign affairs reporter for the Washington Examiner.