Information on this page may be out of date following the recent passing of Her Majesty The Queen.

   

HIS MAJESTY KING CHARLES III

KING OF CANADA

 
King Charles III Accession Photo
 
"King Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom, Canada
and His other Realms and Territories, King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith."
 
 
Click here to hear Canada's Royal Anthem
HM The King of Canada
HRH The Prince of Wales
 
Long to Reign Over Us
The Royal Standard
Head of State of... 
A Brief History of the Monarchy in Canada
Defender of the Faith
The Crown and Our First Nations
The Crown and Our Canadian Forces
Succession to the Throne

LONG TO REIGN OVER US

Since the 17th century, four Sovereigns have reigned over Canada for more than half a century: They were Louis XIV of France for 72 years (1643-1715), George III of Great Britain for 60years (1760-1820), his grand-daughter Victoria for 64 years (1837-1901) and her great-great granddaughter Elizabeth II for 70 years (1952-2022). Before her Coronation in 1953, Elizabeth II assumed the separate title "Queen of Canada" by Act of her Canadian Parliament. This new royal style and title was proclaimed at Ottawa 29 May 1953.

 

THE ROYAL STANDARD 

 

The Royal Standard is the official flag of His Majesty The King in his capacity as Sovereign of Canada. The Royal Standard above is for Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and will change for HM King Charles III.

The flag is split into four quadrants. The first quadrant represents England and contains three gold lions passant on a red field; the second quadrant represents Scotland and contains a red lion rampant on a gold field; the third quadrant represents Ireland and contains the gold harp of Ireland on a blue field; the fourth quadrant represents France and has three fleurs de lis on a blue field. The lower third of the flag contains red maple leaves of Canada on a white field.

A blue disc containing the crowned letter 'E' (for 'Elizabeth'), encircled by a wreath of gold roses, is superimposed over the coat of arms. 

In Flag protocol, the Royal Standard is supreme. It must only be flown from buildings where the King is present. It flies above the Maple Leaf, Standards of other Royal Family members, and other provincial flags. It never flies at half mast.

HIS MAJESTY THE KING IS HEAD OF STATE OF...

Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands,
St. Kitts - Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Tuvalu and the United Kingdom
 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MONARCHY IN CANADA 

Canadians have lived with royalty ever since Henry IV, King of France, commissioned Pierre Du Gus de Monts as his viceroy and lieutenant-general in Acadie (or Acadia), the name given in the 16th century to lands now forming New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and parts of Quebec and Maine. This was in 1604. The treaty of 1763 saw a changeover from a French monarch to a British monarch.

The question is sometimes raised today why French Canada should feel any loyalty to a British sovereign. One must remember that our monarch, King Charles III, is a direct descendant of Louis IX of France. He in turn was also the ancestor of Henry IV, the sovereign who first claimed Acadie. It must be remembered also, that the majority of French Canadians in Lower Canada (Quebec) voted for the confederation of 1867. Quebec has been the keystone for most of the majority governments in Ottawa and has given several prime ministers to head federal regimes.

King Charles III is King of Canada, monarch of all Canadians, and he is King by the will of the people.

DEFENDER OF THE FAITH

 Although the King's Canadian title includes "Defender of the Faith," neither the King, the governor general, nor any lieutenant-governor has any religious role in Canada. There have been no established churches in Canada since before confederation in 1867. This is one of the key differences from the King's role in the United Kingdom where he is Supreme Governor of the Church of England. 

THE CROWN AND OUR FIRST NATIONS 

Canada's First Nations view their treaties as being agreements directly between them and the Crown, not with the ever-changing government. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 by King George III made clear that the First Nations were autonomous political units and affirmed their title to lands. It remains an important document, mentioned in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, outlining the Canadian Crown's responsibility to protect First Nations' territories and maintain the bilateral "nation-to-nation" relationship. 

THE CROWN AND OUR CANADIAN FORCES 

The Crown retains a prominent place within the Canadian Forces. The Constitution Act, 1867 states that the Command-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces is vested in the King. However, the 1905 Militia Act changed references to the Office of the Governor General to become the Office of the Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of the Militia; the title and its duties being held and performed by the Governor General on behalf of the Sovereign. The Letters Patent of 1947 further reinforce this position.
 
The Sovereign's position and role in the military is reflected by Canadian naval vessels bearing the prefix His Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS) (subsequently Her Majesty's Canadian Ship during the reign of a queen), and all members of the armed forces must swear allegiance to the King and his heirs and successors.
 

HIS MAJESTY KING CHARLES III

King Charles III, the eldest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was born at Buckingham Palace at 9:14pm on 14th November, 1948. 

On Queen Elizabeth's accession to the throne, Prince Charles - as the Sovereign's eldest son - became at the age of three, heir apparent.

In 1958, The Queen created him The Prince of Wales, and he was invested as Prince of Wales by The Queen on 1st July 1969 in a colourful ceremony at Caernarfon Castle in Wales.
 
On 29th July, 1981, The Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer in St Paul's Cathedral. The Princess was born on 1st July 1961, at Park House on The Queen's estate at Sandringham, Norfolk, and lived there until the death of her grandfather, the 7th Earl, in 1975, when the family moved to the Spencer family seat at Althorp House in Northamptonshire.

The Prince and Princess of Wales had two sons, Prince William who was born on 21st June, 1982, and Prince Harry was born on 15th September, 1984.

On 9th December, 1992, the Prime Minister, John Major, announced to the House of Commons that The Prince and Princess of Wales had agreed to separate. The marriage was dissolved on 28th August, 1996. The Princess was still regarded as a member of the Royal Family. She continued to live at Kensington Palace and to carry out her public work for a number of charities.  The Princess was killed in a car crash in Paris on 31st August, 1997. The Princess lay in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace until the night before the funeral.

On 9th April 2005, The Prince of Wales and Mrs Camilla Parker-Bowles were married in a civil ceremony at the Guildhall,Windsor. She was born Camilla Rosemary Shand on 17th July 1947 at King's College Hospital, London, the eldest of three children.  After the wedding, Camilla became known as HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.



Wedding of HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall

April 9, 2005

 
 
The Prince of Wales
Heir Apparent 
His Royal Highness Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, Prince of Wales, KG, KT, GCB, OM, AK, QSO, PC, ADC, Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.
  
The Prince of Wales, eldest son of King Charles III and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, was born at St Mary's Hospital, London at 9:14pm on June 21, 1982; His Royal Highness Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales. 
On April 29, 2011, Prince William married Catherine Middleton in Westminster Abbey. Catherine Middleton was born on January 9, 1982 in Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. Upon the marriage, the couples became the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The Duke and Duchess had three children; Prince George Alexander Louis born July 22, 2013, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana born May 2, 2015 and Prince Louis Arthur Charles born April 23, 2018.

On the King's accession to the throne, Prince William - as the Sovereign's eldest son - became at the age of forty, heir apparent, at which time the King created him The Prince of Wales.
 

Official site of The Prince of Wales
 
The Prince of Wales' Personal Canadian Flag
 
 

The flag of the Prince of Wales bears a blue roundel within a wreath of golden maple leaves for Canada. The centre features the badge commonly known as the Prince of Wales’ feathers used by the heir apparent to the reigning monarch. Near the top of the flag is the traditional heraldic mark of an eldest male child, the three-point white label.

Note that where the Governor General is in attendance, as the representative of the Queen of Canada, the Vice Regal Standard has precedence over the standard of The Prince of Wales and The Duke of Cambridge. 

SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE 

Until 2013, succession to the throne was by male-preference primogeniture and governed by the provisions of the Act of Settlement and the English Bill of Rights. The Succession to the Throne Act, 2013, passed by the Parliament of Canada, changed the rules of succession to the first born child, rather than the first born male child. These documents are a part of Canadian constitutional law. Canada's rules of succession are identical to those of the United Kingdom by the Statute of Westminster.
The term heir apparent refers to someone who is first in the order of succession to a throne and who cannot lose this status by the birth of any other person.  An Heir Apparent differs from an Heir Presumptive in that, although an Heir Presumptive may inherit the throne upon the death of the monarch, the status of the Heir Presumptive as first-in-line could be overturned by the birth of another person of superior legal status who would at the moment they were born become the Heir Apparent or the new Heir Presumptive. In effect an Heir Presumptive is the de facto or stand-by first-in-line until someone with a superior legal status in the order of succession, the Heir Apparent or a new Heir Presumptive, is born.
 
 
Home