Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid his respects to Queen Elizabeth on Saturday and met with King Charles and other royal prime ministers at a gathering at Buckingham Palace. Mr. Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, attended the Queen’s funeral with Canada’s High Commissioner to Britain, Ralph Goodale. Unlike the tens of thousands of people who joined the eight-kilometre queue along the River Thames, Mr Trudeau used a special VIP entrance to pay his respects to the Queen. The prime minister arrived in London on Friday night, one of hundreds of foreign leaders who descended on the capital for the Queen’s funeral on Monday. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also attended the gathering at Buckingham Palace on Saturday afternoon with King Charles. Mr Goodale told reporters on Saturday that Mr Trudeau would meet individually with Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss, Mr Albanese and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Sunday. Before meeting the kingdom’s prime ministers, King Charles hosted his governors-general for a reception and lunch at the palace. Mary Simon from Canada attended the event, as did her counterparts from the Bahamas, Belize and Antigua and Barbuda. All three of these countries are considering dropping King Charles as head of state. Canada does not have a similar democracy movement and Mr. Trudeau has been known in the British press for his affinity with the late queen. “She was one of my favorite people in the world and I will miss her so much,” Mr Trudeau said when the Queen died on September 8. Hundreds of thousands of people descended on London during the country’s ten days of mourning for the late sovereign, and the prime minister’s motorcade drove through crowds outside the palace. Mr Goodale said the intensity of Mr Trudeau’s personal reaction to the Queen’s death was genuine and he and the King would have shared “reminiscences about the relationships they had with each other and with each other’s families over the years . “ Mr Trudeau first met the Queen as a boy when his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was prime minister in the 1970s. A 19-strong delegation will represent Canada at the Queen’s state funeral in London on Monday morning. Mr Trudeau and other prime ministers and governors-general of the kingdom will also join the Royal Family for a service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Also representing Canada are former prime ministers and governors general, as well as members of the Order of Canada, including former Olympic swimmer Mark Tewksbury and actress Sandra Oh. Leaders of the three groups that represent Indigenous people in Canada – Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief RoseAnne Archibald, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed and Métis National Council president Cassidy Caron – are also in the delegation. At a press conference on Saturday in London, Ms Archibald said she wanted to remind people of the Queen’s human side as a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. “I want to respect the fact that he just lost his mother. And I’m just not willing to speak ill of anyone during their grieving period.” Indigenous peoples have a unique relationship with the Crown, for example, through signed treaties, which are agreements that set out ongoing rights and obligations. Ms Archibald met the then Prince Charles when he visited Canada in May. He said at the time that he apologized to the Crown for failing to live up to its treaty obligations and for the treatment of Indigenous children in residential schools. Ms Caron also said at the time that the Queen should apologize for the legacy of institutions which have seen Indigenous children forcibly removed from their homes and culture. He declined to comment on the status of that request. Once his mourning period and induction ceremonies are over, he said the AFN will ask to bring a delegation to London to meet with him and will also invite him to Canada. He said he wants to work with the new monarch on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call for a royal proclamation on reconciliation.
