Princess Anne spent more than an hour Saturday touring GodB次元官网网址檚 Acre veteranB次元官网网址檚 cemetery and its tiny, wooden chapel, laying a wreath to honour the more than 2,500 military personnel and family members buried there.
The visit to the secluded, tree-covered Esquimalt, B.C., cemetery is part of the princessB次元官网网址檚 three-day West Coast visit, which started Friday in North Vancouver with her participation in the commissioning of the first Arctic patrol vessel for CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Pacific fleet, HMCS Max Bernays.
GodB次元官网网址檚 Acre is a national historic site that dates back to 1868.
Princess AnneB次元官网网址檚 tour will also see her attend a commemorative service on Sunday for the Battle of the Atlantic at the B.C. legislature.
She is also scheduled to visit the Royal Victoria Yacht Club Sunday and members of the Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association later in the day.
The tour of the cemetery grounds by Princess Anne, the sister of King Charles, carries great significance, said David Loveridge, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission director for Canada, Americas and the Pacific.
The princess is the current president of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, overseeing its mandate to care for 23,000 war memorials and war cemeteries around the world commemorating 1.7 million Commonwealth casualties, he said.
B次元官网网址淭o have her here in Canada and to come to GodB次元官网网址檚 Acre veteransB次元官网网址� cemetery to lay a wreath is a great event for us to commemorate the veterans who are here,B次元官网网址� said Loveridge.
Princess Anne was on board HMCS Max Bernays early Saturday when it entered the fleetB次元官网网址檚 home base in Esquimalt Harbour to the greeting of a 21-gun salute.
She wore a Canadian navy uniform Saturday, including a Canadian Fleet Pacific hat.
Navy enthusiasts and royal watchers gathered on the shores of Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse to greet the ship and the princess.
B次元官网网址淪heB次元官网网址檚 commodore of the navy, an honourary commodore, and she did the commission ceremony and spent the night on the boat after it left Vancouver,B次元官网网址� said Iain MacAulay. B次元官网网址淪o, yes, cool.B次元官网网址�
Murray Baines said he wanted to get a look at the HMCS Max Bernays and catch a glimpse of the princess.
B次元官网网址淚 saw somebody out there waving,B次元官网网址� said Baines. B次元官网网址淚 even had my little binoculars, but I couldnB次元官网网址檛 make out who it was.B次元官网网址�
The Department of National Defence said in a statement Friday the official introduction of HMCS Max Bernays into the fleet included B次元官网网址渁 symbolic presentation of the keys to the shipB次元官网网址� to the commanding officer, Commander Collin Forsberg, B次元官网网址渁long with the breaking of the shipB次元官网网址檚 commissioning pennant, and three cheers by the shipB次元官网网址檚 company.B次元官网网址�
Forsberg told reporters ahead of the ceremony that the patrol vessel arrived in its new home port in Esquimalt last month. He said the ship was B次元官网网址渄esigned for, principally, exercising Canadian sovereignty in northern waters.B次元官网网址�
He said the introduction of the ship, which was named after a Canadian naval hero in the Second World War, will allow the navy to better meet future defence challenges in the North.
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Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press
