OK, so it's a little weird that the last post had to do with the House of Windsor and today I'm writing about Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall's visit to Saint John.
It's Victoria Day today and as it happens, Charles and Camilla were in Saint John to represent the Queen in honour of her Diamond Jubilee. I wanted to add a little something to the day, and welcome them in a special way, so I basketed up 7 of the doves and took them with us, planning to release them at some point.
Weather-wise, we couldn't have asked for a better day... not a cloud in the sky (4th day in a row... quite a stretch for Saint John ). The birds were in this heart-shaped basket that I usually use for weddings.
We headed uptown around 10:30 thinking that we'd have to get in there early to beat the crowds. As it turned out, we didn't have to go that early... BUT, the fact that we did, ensured that we got a really really good spot. As their arrival got closer, I figured I'd better talk to someone about what I was planning to do (I didn't want security to jump me when I lifted a basket up to shoulder-level within view of the royals). They weren't too hesitant and merely said not to do it when they were right in front of us and that it would be best to do it well before they got to where we were.
Charles was on our side and Camilla on the opposite side of the street. As they approached, several members of the press corps asked what was in the basket. When I indicated that it was a team of white doves that I planned to release, they asked me to come closer to the street. At this I looked immediately at the security personnel (someone different than I'd spoken with earlier), asking if THEY were OK with that. They were and simply said to hang on... he'd signal when it was OK to release them.
As they approached, 
people surged forward a bit and Mr. Security sort of had other things on his mind so he didn't give me the cue. Charles passed in front of us and just before he did, my daughter shot this photo of him (we were pretty close).
Once he passed however, I threw caution to the wind and opened the basket. There was a massive cheer as the crown saw the birds come out. Charles turned back to see what the commotion was as the birds were starting to kit up. SO... it's not like we had a chat about them or anything, but he definitely knew that doves had been released in honour of their visit. Pretty cool.
Because I was the one doing the releasing, I don't actually have any pics of the birds going off... It'd be really cool if some of the press corps people caught the Prince with the doves flying off in the background. If anyone sees any pics like this (either online or in the news) I'd LOVE to know about it... please let me know. There was a girl from the Telegraph who spoke with me afterwards, but sh didn't get a pic of it (because it wasn't an official part of the program, no one really knew about it until after the fact).
They spent close to an hour on Prince William St. before heading to an event at the Marco Polo Cruise Terminal. So we actually got to pack up our stuff, take it back to the car & then walk down... with plenty of time to still see them come down Duke St.
My White Doves have now officially flown in honour of the future King of England.
All in all a very cool day. The kids were pretty excited...
... the big kids too! :)
