Only 20 percent of us believe Canada should remain a constitutional monarchy. But making like Barbados— which recently removed the Queen as ceremonial head of state—is complicated. Here’s what it would actually take for a royal send-off.
Should Canada Finally Abolish
n April 29, 2011, Prince William and Kate Middleton were married at Westminster Abbey in front of 1,900 guests—and a world that couldn’t look away. The wedding was broadcast in more than 180 countries, including Canada, where 12 million of us tuned in. Royal memorabilia, from tea towels to marmalade, flooded the market. After a difficult 14 years following the death of Princess Diana, media coverage was overwhelmingly positive. While a 2010 Angus Reid poll found that only 36 percent of Canadians wanted the country to remain a monarchy, by June 2011, when the newlyweds embarked on their first royal tour of Canada, a follow-up poll found there had been “a positive change in Canadian opinions of individual royals.” Amid all of the attention paid to the Windsors that year, 58 percent of Canadians believed Canada should remain a monarchy. Things have since gone downhill.
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CHATELAINE • JULY/AUGUST 2022
WRITTEN BY
Stacy Lee Kong
By 2016, yet another Angus Reid poll found that while Queen Elizabeth II remained remarkably popular, fewer than half of Canadians—46 percent—were interested in one day recognizing her successor, Prince Charles, as king. And only 42 percent believed Canada should remain a constitutional monarchy. Then came a very bad 2021. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle gave an internet-breaking interview with Oprah Winfrey,
PHOTO, GETTY IMAGES.
the Monarchy?
