ESQUIMALT, BC –
Princess Anne spent more than an hour Saturday touring God’s Acre Veterans Cemetery and its small wooden chapel, laying a wreath in honor of the more than 2,500 service members and family members buried there.
The visit to the secluded, tree-covered cemetery in Esquimalt, B.C., is part of the princess’s three-day visit to the West Coast, which began Friday in North Vancouver with her participation in the commissioning of the first ship Arctic patrol vessel for the Canadian Pacific Fleet, HMCS. Max Bernays.
God’s Acre is a National Historic Site dating back to 1868.
Princess Anne’s tour will also see her attend a memorial service Sunday for the Battle of the Atlantic at the British Columbia legislature.
He is also due to visit the Royal Victoria Yacht Club on Sunday and members of the Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association later in the day.
The tour of the cemetery grounds by Princess Anne, sister of King Charles, has great significance, said David Loveridge, director of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for Canada, the Americas and the Pacific.
The princess is the current chair of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, overseeing its mandate to care for 23,000 war memorials and cemeteries around the world commemorating 1.7 million Commonwealth victims, he said.
“Having her here in Canada and coming to God’s Acre Veterans Cemetery to lay a wreath is a great event for us to commemorate the veterans who are here,” Loveridge said.
Princess Anne was aboard HMCS Max Bernays early Saturday morning when she entered the fleet’s base of operations in Esquimalt Harbor with a 21-gun salute.
On Saturday he was wearing a Canadian navy uniform, including a Canadian Pacific Fleet hat.
Navy enthusiasts and royal watchers gathered on the shores of Fort Rodd Hill and the Fisgard Lighthouse to greet the ship and the princess.
“She is a navy commodore, an honorary commodore, she performed the commissioning ceremony and spent the night on the ship after it sailed from Vancouver,” Iain MacAulay said. “So, yeah, great.”
Murray Baines said he wanted to take a look at HMCS Max Bernays and catch a glimpse of the princess.
“I saw someone waving,” Baines said. “I even had my little binoculars, but I couldn’t make out who he was.”
The Department of National Defense said in a statement Friday that the official introduction of HMCS Max Bernays into the fleet included “a symbolic presentation of the ship’s keys” to commanding officer Commander Collin Forsberg, “along with the completion of the commissioning of the ship”. pennant and three cheers from the ship’s crew.”
Forsberg told reporters before the ceremony that the patrol vessel arrived at its new home port in Esquimalt last month. He said the ship was “designed primarily to exercise Canadian sovereignty in northern waters.”
He said the introduction of the ship, named after a Canadian naval hero in World War II, will enable the navy to better meet future defense challenges in the North.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2024.