Nobody ever said being King and Queen would be easy, and King Charles and Queen Camilla continue to prove how dedicated they are to their duties, even packing in a whirlwind overseas tour to Canada in May.
While travelling across continents for a two-day trip would be considered tiring work for people of any age, the fact that Their Majesties are in their 70s – and King Charles is still facing cancer treatment – makes their recent visit to Canada all the more impressive.
Considering Queen Camilla is the "only person" the King will listen to when it comes to his health, the two of them choosing to take on these activities together is proof that they're both tirelessly dedicated to their work.
During Charles and Camilla’s Canadian royal visit, their official itinerary was packed, starting with community gatherings not long after landing and going on to include tree plantings, audiences with dignitaries, including the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney. Plus, delivering a speech from the throne to open Parliament.
It was royal expert and Daily Mail’s Editor at Large Richard Kay who revealed a clever, but tiring, trick that keeps them going for short trips and helps to avoid jet lag,
It turns out the royals will opt to stay on UK time, meaning they plough ahead without giving themselves the time to properly adjust to a new time zone - and they are still on UK time when they return home.
Richard explained on the Palace Confidential podcast, “One of the problems that you get on a tour where you're eight or nine hours away from the UK, you've got to adjust your body [clock]. On this occasion, they knew they simply weren't going to have enough time to do that. So credit to the king, who's still having cancer treatment - and credit to the queen who's come to this [job] late in life.”
Canada is five hours behind the United Kingdom, so when Charles was giving a speech to Canada’s parliament at 11am on May 27, he was operating at 6am UK time.
Despite this potential for tiredness, the King was warmly received during the royal tour, and a Buckingham Palace spokesperson later confirmed he had been left “deeply moved” by the visit.
The palace spokesperson confirmed to CBC News that “His Majesty was deeply moved and touched by the enthusiastic response to his visit… On the speech, the standing ovation in particular was an unexpected and emotional moment for His Majesty. You can hear his voice go a bit crackly in the final lines.”
