The Princess Royal visits British Columbia, Canada

As Commodore-in-Chief of the Canadian Fleet Pacific, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, accompanied by Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, has been in British Columbia for a series of engagements with the Royal Canadian Navy.

Upon arrival in Canada on Friday 3rd May, The Princess Royal attended the Commissioning Ceremony for the HMCS Max Bernays – the Canadian Pacific Fleet’s first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel. The Princess Royal also had an opportunity to tour the ship and meet some of its company.

The following day, on Saturday 4th May, Her Royal Highness laid a wreath at God’s Acre Cemetery as President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The historic cemetery, in Esquimalt, is the final resting place of more than 2,500 military personnel and their families. 

Next, The Princess Royal visited the Maritime Museum of British Columbia Archive to view some of the items in its archival collection. 

After learning that there was no naval museum during a visit to Esquimalt in 1951 by the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, Prince Philip contacted the Greenwich Maritime Museum and asked them to send some objects to British Columbia to start a new naval museum thus creating the Maritime Museum of British Columbia.

The Princess Royal also visited FED Urban Farm to hear about their work in providing home-based start up food gardens during the Pandemic which used simple and affordable supplies.

On Sunday 5th May, The Princess Royal and Sir Tim Laurence attended the Battle of the Atlantic Memorial Parade. The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous battle of the Second World War and the Parade commemorates the service and sacrifice of the thousands of Canadians who fought for control of the North Atlantic Ocean to supply the war effort from 1939 to 1945.  

Her Royal Highness also visited The Royal Victoria Yacht Club (RVYC), the oldest yacht club in western Canada and the Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association of which Her Royal Highness is Patron.