The unusual gift Prince Edward received from a Canadian leader – and why the Queen called the country her ‘second home’

What do you give the person who has it all?

This was the question Canadian Premier Gary Doer was faced with when Prince Edward came to visit. 

As a Commonwealth realm, Canada has a strong relationship with the British Monarchy. 

The prince met families of Canadian military serving in Afghanistan as part of a three-day visit to Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada, as part of a royal tour in June 2008.

His visit included meeting with the Premier, military families and presenting awards at the Children’s Hospital.

The usual gift for such occasions is a soapstone carving which tell stories, preserve cultural traditions and represent important beliefs and values. 

Famously the Queen was given a gift of five trumpeter swans for her coronation in 1952. 

But Manitoba’s Premier had a gift in mind that would hark back to centuries-old tradition and honour the prince’s two young children.

Prince Edward and Manitoba Premier Gary Doer met families of Canadian military serving in Afghanistan as part of a three-day visit to Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada

Edward arrives at the Manitoba Legislature accompanied by Mr Doer on June 2, 2008

Edward is pictured with wife Sophie, then Countess of Wessex, and children Lady Louise and James, then Viscount Severn, in May 2009

The Premier presented the prince with a pair of framed notices naming two lakes in the central Canadian province after his children.

Edward had recently welcomed his second child, James – now the Earl of Wessex.  Lady Louise was four years old at the time and the children grew up largely out of the spotlight.

The gift followed a centuries-old tradition of naming cities and landmarks after royalty. And Manitoba has lakes named after the Queen’s six other grandchildren.

Also in the province are Lakes Prince William, Prince Henry, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Peter Phillips and Zara Phillips.

Two cuddly toys were presented to the prince by s-year-old Lexie Pellerine

Edward was given this gift in honour of his visit to Churchill in northern Manitoba in 1990

For a long time, members of the Royal Family named places in Canada after themselves.

Queen Victoria has more namesakes in Canada than any other royal – even though she never visited.

And there is another Lake Louise in Canada which was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, Queen Victoria’s fourth daughter.

She became the first princess to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the province of Alberta is also named for Princess Louise.

In 1878, her husband, John Campbell, Lord Lorne, became governor general of Canada and they moved to Ottawa. 

The couple played a key role in the creation of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and the National Gallery of Canada and took part in the first royal tour of British Columbia.

The princess wrote in 1924: ‘I am intensely proud of this beautiful and wonderful Province being called after me, and that my husband should have thought of it.’

Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada, was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, who became the first princess to cross the Atlantic Ocean

‘The Queen had a deep and abiding love and affection for Canadians,’ Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said

Queen Elizabeth and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau attend a banquet on August 1, 1978, in Canada

In June 2008, also among the 300 guests keen to catch a glimpse of Edward were two young children from military families who presented the prince with cuddly polar bears for his own children.

The Vancouver Sun wrote at the time: ‘Recognising that two children – even royal ones – wouldn’t have much use for a piece of parchment, Doer also called upon two children of Manitoba soldiers to present the prince with two plush polar bears in honour of his visit to Churchill in northern Manitoba in 1990.’

Edward reportedly said he hoped one day his children would get to see a real polar bear in the wilds of northern Manitoba, as he himself had in the past.

The prince’s mother, the late Queen, loved Canada and often called it her ‘second home’. 

The Queen made 22 official visits to Canada in her 70-year-reign, and one as Princess Elizabeth – more than any other country outside the UK.

On her death, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said: ‘The Queen had a deep and abiding love and affection for Canadians.

‘She was our queen for almost half of Canada’s existence and was one of my favorite people in the world.’ 

Queen Elizabeth is pictured during her visit to Canada in June 1959 presenting gold cards to the girl guide Jean Tramblay, aged 15, in Saguenay, Quebec

The Queen (pictured) inspects a detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and their black horses – brought from Canada – at Combermere Barracks, Windsor, in 1957

Burmese was reportedly the Queen’s favourite horse which she rode at Trooping the Colour for 18 consecutive years, from 1969 to 1986 

In June 2009 Edward gifted a 16-month-old yellow Labrador called Suzanna to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police during a ceremony in Alberta

Perhaps because of this, Edward turned to his mother, who was honorary commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), when it came to picking a gift when he returned to the country the following year. 

In 2009 he gifted a 16-month-old yellow Labrador called Suzanna to the RCMP, of which the Queen was Commissioner-in-Chief, during a ceremony in Alberta.

He said that the Queen picked Suzanna’s name in honour of the 1936 novel by Canadian author Muriel Denison.

There is a longstanding relationship between the Royal Family and the RCMP. 

The force gifted eight horses to the Queen since 1969, including four that are still alive today. 

Her first horse given, presented in 1969, was a black mare named Burmese.

Burmese was reportedly her favourite horse, and she rode her at Trooping the Colour for 18 consecutive years, from 1969 to 1986.

The four surviving horses – George, Elizabeth, Derby and Sir John, led her funeral procession. 

But after training as a bomb-sniffing dog, Suzanna retired in 2013 after it became apparent her ‘docile temperament’ was not a fit for police work.

The now Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are pictured with Louise and James at Trooping the Colour in 2013

Lady Louise shares many similar traits to her grandmother, the late Queen. Hopefully she will share her love for Canada and we may see a Royal Visit to her namesake lake in the future

Edward’s eldest child, Lady Louise is expected to step into the spotlight after university 

The prince returned to Manitoba with his wife Sophie, now Duchess of Edinburgh, in June 2016 to award the Duke of Edinburgh’s International certificates.

This was Edward’s 38th visit to Canada and Sophie’s first visit to Manitoba.

As their daughter Lady Louise approaches her final year at university, it is expected she will step into the spotlight.

The young royal shares many similar traits with her grandmother, the late Queen, from her love for animals to her appearance.

She may also share Elizabeth’s love for Canada and we may see a Royal Visit to her namesake lake in the future. 

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