It was (and in some cases will continue to be, for the foreseeable future) almost everywhere in the military. From portraits, prefixes and designations to oaths and honours, the military imprint of the Commonwealth’s longest-serving monarch will not disappear quickly. Modifying these royal honors for a post-Elizabethan military officer requires a whole series of changes. Some of those changes will be easy and automatic, while others will be more complex and could take years to work out, the lieutenant colonel said. Carl Gauthier. He heads the Division of Awards and Recognition at the Department of National Defense. As most Canadians wonder when King Charles’ face will grace the $20 bill, the military is mourning the loss of the late monarch’s personal interest in individual units and soldiers — the quiet, behind-the-scenes gestures and words of encouragement he gave . offered over the years. The Queen has been commander-in-chief – the master of ceremonies – of 16 different military units in this country. This is an extraordinary number given the relatively small size of Canada’s armed forces. Members of those regiments make up the Canadian military contingent — 95 soldiers, sailors and aircrew — who will attend her funeral in London on Monday.
“She represents who we are”
“We always toast the queen,” said Cpl. Raquel Bitton, a member of the Canadian Grenadier Guards based in Montreal and part of the corps attending the funeral. “We have her picture on our constitution as we enter our mess. You know, it’s all about the queen. I mean, she represents who we are. It’s part of our identity and something we’re very proud of.” Beaton said the Queen’s death is a “great loss” because of what she achieved during her reign. He said it was “truly honoured” to be present at her funeral. Gauthier said the queen has been patron of some Canadian regiments for more than 70 years, starting when she was still a princess. Queen Elizabeth walks past the Canadian Armed Guard during her final departure ceremony at Queen’s Park in Toronto on July 6, 2010. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press) She was, he said, quite active behind the scenes. “The queen basically met with the command team of each regiment,” Gauthier said. “Even if he wasn’t visiting Canada, they could go and have an audience at Buckingham Palace or elsewhere.” Such visits, he said, tended to be short and focused. “The Queen would like to know what’s going on with the unit,” he said. “Are people being deployed in operations? Have there been casualties? Are the major changes happening with the units?” Whenever the Queen was in Canada, tour organizers always made time for her to spend time with members of the military. During the war in Afghanistan, he met privately with some families of the fallen. All of these gestures touched deeply members of the tight-knit military community, Gauthier said. Now, each unit will have to decide which of the royal family they want to represent them. Prince Charles, center left, receives a hoodie and hat during a Canadian Rangers review in Yellowknife during the Royal Tour of Canada on May 19. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press) King Charles III holds a handful of ceremonial posts in the Canadian military. Gauthier, who was an aide to the then Prince of Wales during his visit to Canada in 2009, said the new monarch also displayed a personal touch. At a meeting in Montreal with the family of a reservist from the Royal Highland Regiment of Canada (the Black Watch) killed in Afghanistan, the fallen soldier’s mother—moved by Charles’ words—asked if she could hug Without hesitation, Charles abandoned protocol — which says he should not be touched — and hugged the grieving woman, said Gauthier, who was present at the private meeting. On another occasion, Gauthier said, Charles sent a bottle of Scotch to a wounded soldier.
“They don’t just want to be a name on a letterhead”
“I know the [former] The Prince of Wales was asking me when I was [aide] to make sure the [commanding officers] write to him,” he said. “He wanted to know. They don’t want to be just a name on a letterhead… they want to be involved, they want to be informed.” The queen has been patron of a number of regiments across the Commonwealth, and finding new ones among the royal family will be a years-long process, Gauthier said. Similarly, the Queen’s image, or insignia, adorns many of Canada’s military medals, including those for heroism. They should also change. “It will take some time for the King to approve any effigies and new encryption so we can modify the designs and manufacture metals,” Gauthier said. “In the meantime, we will continue to issue Her Majesty’s effigy medals until a new insignia is available.” Changing the designation of Canadian warships – such as HMCS Halifax, pictured here – was a relatively simple matter. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press) Other aspects of the Queen’s presence in military life change more easily. The designation of Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS), as opposed to Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship, was more or less automatic. So the oath of allegiance that members of the military swear when they enlist was changed. Veteran diplomat and foreign affairs commentator Colin Robertson said the outpouring of grief over the Queen’s death was an interesting moment. He noted how Canadian governments in the 1960s and 70s sought to put a more independent stamp on the military, moving Canada away from its British colonial roots by merging the branches into the Canadian Forces (later the Canadian Armed Forces). “I think there was a sense that the queen represented the British connection, in the sense of empire and colonialism … some governments felt that that wasn’t it, that wasn’t where Canada was,” Robertson said. The feeling at the time, he said, was that “Canada was an independent nation and that our constitutional monarchy was a system of government, but the emphasis was on the Constitution and less on the monarchy.” Both the air force and navy lost their “Royal” designations during this period – only to be reinstated under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper.
