Prince William and Kate recieve rapturous reception in rural Canada

1/8
Robert Jobson28 September 2016

The Duke and Duchess received a rapturous welcome in Kelowna – but were snubbed for a second time in two days by a prominent First Nations leader.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Okanagan Nation Alliance Chairman and Spokesperson, had been due to join the royal couple on stage at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan’s 10th anniversary celebrations, but pulled out this morning.

A day after he refused to attend an historic reconciliation ceremony with William and Kate at Government House in Victoria, he was replaced in the welcome line up by Chief Jonathan Kruger from the local Penticton Indian Band.

The Duke and Duchess, in a racing green Dolce & Gabbana dress and nude heels, were nevertheless greeted by more than 1,000 cheering students and members of the public as they arrived to meet BC premier Christy Clark and UBC Chancellor Mr Lindsay Gordon.

Mr Gordon welcomed the couple to the campus and to the country, adding: “A particularly warm welcome to Prince George and Princess Charlotte, who we hope are enjoying their first visit to Canada. We also hope this is the first of many more family visits.”

Mr Gordon told the royal visitors that the Queen had visited UBC four times over the years and on her most recent visit to mark her Golden Jubilee in 2002, she was told all about a new library offering state-of-the-art technology for students to research and communicate digitally.

He said: “Despite a lifetime of daily formalities, retains a tremendous sense of humour. Her Majesty leant over to the then President Dr Martha Piper and asked: ‘Will there be any books in this new library?’”

Kate and William received a warm welcome
Arthur Edwards/The Sun/PA Wire

William and Kate were then treated to the Song of Okanagan, performed by former UBC student Amber Cardenas, before Chief Jonathan Kruger, addressed them in both his native language and English.

He told them: “I am very happy right now. This is our beautiful land and I’m so happy that you are all here for a beautiful event.

“Welcome to your Highnesses, please enjoy this beautiful land with your beautiful family and create beautiful memories on our lands here in BC.”

Referring to the delicate issue of reconciliation between First Nations groups and the Crown, he added: “True power is human spirit. Please use that power to allocate for true reconciliation and advocate for the indigenous people in this country so they can be all great and good.

“Enjoy your stay and enjoy the gifts we are giving you, Prince, Princess and your beautiful family.”

William and Kate were then presented with a gift bag of traditional foods from the region by children from the First Nations community.

They were then tasked with unveiling a plaque to mark the end of the 10 year anniversary celebrations at UBC Okanagan, before being shown a new artwork installed on the campus and meeting its creator Les Louis.

Kate met some of the local children during the Taste of British Columbia event at Mission Hill winery
REUTERS/Chris Wattie

Mr Louis, from Keremeos in the Okanagan, said: “It was overwhelming and wonderful, they asked me to walk them through it and describe it to them.”

The wooden structure, called sn̓ilíʔtn, is based on the frame of an Okanagan summer lodge and carved with pictographs or ancestral markings.

From there, the royal visitors were greeted by cheers and screams as they entered the university’s gymnasium to watch an exhibition match between members of the nationally-ranked women’s volleyball team.

As they walked in, the announcer said: “Please welcome, all the way from the UK, standing at 6ft 3in and 5ft 9in – or 5ft 11in including high heels, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge!”

After watching some of the action, the couple met players, including Paralympic sitting volleyball player Jennifer Oakes, 18, who lost a leg in a boating accident in Alberta last year and took part in the Rio 2016 Games.

They were also introduced to the team’s mascot Scorch, who would not reveal his true identity, but said of the couple: “I didn’t expect them to talk to me, they were very nice. They said Prince George would love to meet me.”

Before leaving, William and Kate were handed matching volleyball jerseys marked Cambridge and a pair of UBC teddy bears for George and Charlotte.

From there they flew to the stunning Yukon - a former Gold Rush town Whitehorse.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in