King Charles greets members of the public along Wellington Street in Ottawa on Tuesday. New Canadians were among the thousands who turned up to welcome the King.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
The Lefter family never expected to swear allegiance to a king.
Until a few years ago, Yulia Lefter and her two daughters were living their lives in Berdycziw, Ukraine. And then the war broke out. The family was split up. The daughters, aged 12 and 15, were sent to safety, and the parents were left behind.
“I kept thinking,” Ms. Lefter said, “‘The war will be over tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.’” Instead, Ottawa is where the family finally reunited, just five months ago. Canada has become their new home.
So, as she stood in the bright sunshine Tuesday morning, just steps away from where King Charles III and Queen Camilla were expected to appear, Ms. Lefter wanted to deliver a message personally for the royal couple whom she now calls King and Queen.
The historic visit has been met, from coast to coast, with a range of responses: polite indifference in some parts, near-ecstatic excitement in others. But for many newcomers to Canada, the visit landed with a special kind of poignancy.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla were greeted by a large crowd as they toured a farmer’s market on the first day of their visit to Ottawa.
Among the thousands who greeted the royal couple in Ottawa this week were new Canadians – new to the country, many of them new even to the idea of a monarchy. They brought with them stories from around the world that illustrate what the Crown represents to them: for some, powerful memories of a painful past; for others, a promise, a symbol of hope for the future.
By around 9 a.m. on Tuesday, a large crowd had already gathered along Ottawa’s Wellington Street. This was the route the King and Queen were expected to take as part of the royal procession ahead of the King’s delivery of the Speech from the Throne.
Perched along the fence, awaiting the King and Queen, was Brian Alan Fernandes. Mr. Fernandes came to Canada in 2023 from India, another member of the Commonwealth.
To the 28-year-old Mr. Fernandes, the royal couple represents a connection to his own past – to his own home. During his childhood in Mumbai, Mr. Fernandes’s mother loved the Royal Family. She’d always wanted to meet Queen Elizabeth. But the closest she ever got was a visit to Britain, where she posed with a cardboard cutout.
Mr. Fernandes, who drove to Ottawa from his home in Toronto, had managed to meet Queen Camilla the day before, at Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park. Shaking her hand, he said, felt like fulfilling a promise to his mother. He was braving the crowds – and the blistering sun – for a second day, hoping to meet the King, too.
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“I’m her eyes,” Mr. Fernandes said, referring to his mother. “That’s the way it has to be.”
Just a few feet away, Claudia Casadiego stood waiting, too. The noise around her was building – the excitement of the crowd was growing, and in the background were the sounds of a brass band playing the national anthem.
Ms. Casadiego, 52, said she only began learning about the history of Canada, and the history of the Commonwealth, in her ESL classes shortly after arriving in Canada from Colombia last year. “It felt like real-life history,” she said.
As she spoke, the cheers grew louder. There were military officers, then the horses of the RCMP Musical Ride. And then there were the King and Queen, in the state landau.
Ms. Casadiego stood frozen. She found herself unexpectedly moved, she said. It was the briefest moment. But, for Ms. Casadiego, it crystallized something.
“It feels like I’m a part of the history now too,” she said. As of that moment, she said, “I feel Canadian too.”
King Charles and Queen Camilla receive warm reception in Ottawa ahead of Throne Speech Tuesday
Several minutes later – after the royal couple had already passed – Yvonne Kwok arrived looking flustered. When she realized she had missed the moment, her face fell.
Ms. Kwok grew up in Hong Kong in the 1990s, before the Chinese takeover – when the city was still a British colony. She looks back at that time with a sense of longing. To Ms. Kwok, the Crown represents democracy. Hope. “I learned freedom when I was young,” she said.
She was hoping for a chance to see the King up close. To pass on a message of her own. “I really wanted to tell him, ‘I’m from Hong Kong,’ ” she said. “I think he would understand.”
Back by the Senate building, the Lefter family was still standing by the fence, quietly celebrating.
Just five months ago, the Lefter family fled the war in Ukraine and became Canadians. They are among the many in this country who are new to the idea of a monarchy.Sarah Espedido/The Globe and Mail
Ms. Lefter and her younger daughter, Solomia, were each wearing a vinok – a Ukrainian wreath made up of bright pink, red and yellow flowers. They’d draped along the fence a Ukrainian and a Canadian flag.
The royal couple had come within about 30 feet of them, Ms. Lefter said. Not close enough to meet, but close enough for the King and Queen to see them. To see their flag. There were tears in her eyes. “Just wow,” she said. “Wow. Wow.”
By showing the flag to the royal couple, she said, she’d sent the message she came to deliver.
“Canada and the U.K. have supported us,” she said. “We wanted to say thank you.”