What do you give the King? It could be cufflinks, a car or Indigenous beadwork

CBC

9 hours ago

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Sometimes, a gift can say as much about the giver as it does about the person on the receiving end.
So the list of official gifts to King Charles that was made public the other day by Buckingham Palace — complete with everything from cufflinks to a Rolls Royce — offers its own insights into leaders, countries and individuals who wanted to recognize his coronation or audiences they had with the monarch.
Among the gifts are several with a Canadian connection.
Many reflect Indigenous culture and heritage, whether they are beaded medallions or a four-volume Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada.
"It definitely speaks to the great importance of Indigenous culture and history in Canada," Justin Vovk, a royal historian at McMaster University in Hamilton, said in an interview.
"It speaks to a recognition that Canadian culture and Canada's relationship with the monarchy … cannot happen without the inclusion and the acknowledgement of our Indigenous history.
"I think it also speaks to the respect that the King has for Indigenous history and Canada's Indigenous people. I feel like those gifts on a personal level would mean more to him than, 'Oh look, another Maple Leaf pen or another bottle of maple syrup.'"
When Charles was in Canada last month to deliver the speech from the throne, he began with a land acknowledgment.
"This land acknowledgement is a recognition of shared history as a nation," he said. "While continuing to deepen my own understanding, it is my great hope that in each of your communities, and collectively as a country, a path is found toward truth and reconciliation, in both word and deed."
The gift list released by Buckingham Palace covers items received in 2023, including the Rolls Royce from the King of Bahrain; and cufflinks, photographs, letters and a jar of honey produced by White House bees from the U.S. president of the day, Joe Biden, and his wife, Jill.
While there are extensive rules around the receipt of royal gifts, in general, they ultimately become part of the Royal Collection.
The Rolls Royce Cullinan Series II motor car — valued in the British media at 300,000 pounds (about $550,000 Cdn) — was a coronation gift from Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the king of Bahrain.
Judith Rowbotham, a social and cultural scholar and visiting research professor at the University of Plymouth in southwestern England, suggests the gift says "a great deal" about the country giving it.
Bahrain is noted for its lavishness, she said in an interview.
"To have sent something like a jar of honey would have been humiliating for them."
But for the United States, other factors could be at play.
"With a [country] like the U.S., where there are real protocols about public expenditure on gifts of this kind of nature, you could expect something such as honey," said Rowbotham.
"And the interesting thing is that honey, of course, lasts forever, so it can sit in the Royal Collection."
As for the cufflinks from the Bidens, Rowbotham suggests they could come out on Charles's wrists when he's on official duties that have an American connection.
"A state visit to the U.S. or U.S. state visit to the U.K., it could well be that King Charles will choose to wear his coronation gift cufflinks, because they will be there as objects to be used as part of the Royal Collection."
During an audience with Charles in November 2023, Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, gave the King the four-volume Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada and a lidded wicker basket.
Other gifts to Charles include items from retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who met with the King in February 2023 to discuss sustainability in space. Hadfield gave the King a lunar policy handbook and a small 3D-printed model of an astronaut. Four months later, Hadfield gave Charles a copy of his book The Defector during a reception with global leaders on space sustainability.
"I think there's probably a desire there for the novelty of it. What do you bring a person who's received virtually any kind of gift you can imagine?" Vovk said.
"Well, probably something simple and unique with a personal touch."
More recently, the government of Canada made a $50,000 donation to the King's Trust Canada, a national charity focused on youth opportunities, in honour of the visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla to Ottawa in May.
"The government of Canada's donation is part of a longstanding tradition of recognizing visits or tours by members of the Royal Family with a meaningful gesture," it says on its website.
The donation, Vovk said, is a way in which the Canadian government can show its support for what the monarchy does in a non-partisan way.
"It's a way of contributing capital that will be used to promote shared values."
Gifts from Commonwealth countries are "pretty much always" intended for use and display, Rowbotham said.
There's a practicality to them, she said, and the Canadian government's recent donation is in keeping with that spirit.
"You're not giving something to show off. You're giving something which has a legacy effect, and a legacy effect which in particular benefits the King as King of Canada."
Getting ready for Prince Edward
As a Canadian Armed Forces captain a decade ago, Chris Michaud recalls feeling anxious as he anticipated meeting his regiment's colonel in chief for the first time.
Now, as commanding officer of the Prince Edward Island Regiment, Lt.-Col. Michaud is anticipating a similar feeling as he meets Prince Edward again later this month.
"I can remember when I first met him myself 10 years ago and being nervous," Michaud said in an interview.
"I expect to be nervous … when he arrives to greet him again and to welcome him to the regiment."
Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, will be on Prince Edward Island on June 25 as the unarmoured reserve regiment marks its 150th anniversary.
Several events are planned over the two and a half days Edward is on the island.
WATCH | Prince Edward visits the Prince Edward Island Regiment in 2015:
Prince Edward inspects P.E.I. Regiment troops.
10 years ago
Duration 0:56
"For us, it's a momentous opportunity," Michaud said.
"We're small and this is an opportunity to celebrate the island's military history, its contribution to Canada, to peace operations, to [its] service in war as well….
"To have our colonel in chief to join us … on behalf of the soldiers, I can say it's a huge, huge honour and privilege to be able to welcome His Royal Highness to our birthday celebrations."
Michaud said events planned by the regiment include a focus on priorities for Edward: the arts, Indigenous culture and youth. There will also be a royal regimental ball, a breakfast with serving members and a freedom of the city parade, something Charlottetown hasn't seen in almost 40 years.
"For us, it's a huge opportunity to engage with the community as well because usually the only time that the island community … sees us is on Remembrance Day, so they'll have an opportunity to see us in a different light," said Michaud.
Following Edward's time on Prince Edward Island, he will be, according to the Royal Diary, in Toronto on June 28 and Ottawa on Canada Day, July 1.
Edward — in his role as chair of the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award — will also attend two youth development forums. One is in Charlottetown on June 26 and the other in Toronto on July 2. The forums will focus on efforts to integrate skills-focused experiences into public education.
Edward's "presence highlights the global significance of Canada's efforts to lead in education innovation and youth development," the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award — Canada, said in a media release Thursday.
Vovk says Edward's visit, coming right after King Charles's first official visit to Canada as monarch, will have a more official tone, and the fact that Edward will be here on Canada Day, and in Toronto and Ottawa, seems "particularly strategic."
"The Duke of Edinburgh would not be able to be coming on an official visit, let alone be in the largest city in Canada, and the capital on Canada Day, without the government's invitation," Vovk said.
"There is part of me that does wonder if because the King's [24-hour] visit was just so lightning fast, if this is the more comprehensive state visit that we've sort of been waiting for."
Rowbotham also looks at the length of the trip — a week — and sees it as perhaps something of a makeup for visits that were called off last year, when both King Charles (after his cancer diagnosis) and Princess Anne (after an injury involving an incident with a horse) were unable to come to Canada.
Edward and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, have made numerous visits — separately and together — to Canada since they were married in 1999. Many have been lower-profile, working visits, when they spend time with groups, organizations and regiments with which they are affiliated.
"They are the members of the Royal Family that visit Canada most often and they have clearly taken that on. They clearly love Canada," Rowbotham said.
Edward and Sophie, Anne and Charles enjoy their time in the country, she said.
"You can see that in the body language. You can see that in the commitment. I mean the King was dressing himself up as King of Canada symbolically, body language, the speeches, his words. It was an absolute affirmation of his commitment to his role as King of Canada."
William's appeal for the ocean
Prince William's profile on the international stage has been on the rise, and he was back there the other day, delivering a speech urging the world to "act together with urgency" to protect oceans.
"They need our help," he told the Blue Economy and Finance Forum in Monaco on World Oceans Day.
"Rising sea temperatures, plastic pollution and overfishing are putting pressure on these fragile ecosystems, and on the people and communities who depend most upon them."
The speech in the presence of leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron is in keeping with William's interest in conservation and environmental issues. And it is in keeping with an interest that goes back a couple of generations in his family.
It's "very much within the tradition" of his grandfather, Prince Philip, as well as his father, King Charles, said Rowbotham.
"It was Prince Philip who ensured that his son and then his grandsons should have a consciousness of environmental issues," she said.
"Prince Philip choosing to involve himself with the World Wildlife Fund was considered to be an almost embarrassing departure by many traditional courtiers back in the 1950s and 1960s."
William is personally passionate about such issues, Rowbotham said.
"That interest, that investment, personal as well as official investment, bears a very strong mark not just of his family heritage, but also the way in which figures, notably [broadcaster] David Attenborough, have been invited into royal circles to advise, to guide, to warn."
Ahead of World Oceans Day, a video was released of a conversation between William and Attenborough, whose recently released film Ocean looks at the vast but fragile underwater world.
William's oceanic interest spills into his personal life, Rowbotham said, noting that he takes his family to walk along the underpopulated beaches of the eastern England county of Norfolk, where "you have the chance to walk along and see day by day what the sea has washed up."
"Those are not really 'having fun' and 'building sandcastle' beaches," said Rowbotham. "Those are beaches where you walk along and you pick up interesting stones, where you see various forms of marine life washed up."
Other natural life was the focus of attention later this past week from William, who is Duke of Cornwall, as he launched a plan to restore peatlands and promote sustainable farming on the Duchy of Cornwall's Dartmoor estate.
"Dartmoor is a magnificent and complex ecosystem — the balance between nature and people has evolved for thousands of years to shape the landscape we recognize today," William said in the forward to the plan.
"To keep Dartmoor special, we must respond to the twin challenges of global warming and the requirement to restore nature, while ensuring the communities on Dartmoor can thrive."
Royally quotable
"Some of them might not want to see you that much. It's a mixed bag sometimes.'"
— Prince William, as he joked that family can be something of a "mixed bag" when he spoke to soldiers at an army air field.
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