Pandemic ices Royal visit to Sask.

REGINA The Saskatchewan government was looking to bring one or more members of the Royal Family to the province this year, before the COVID-19 pandemic froze planning efforts and put those hopes on hold.

Premier Scott Moe made the request in a Dec. 23, 2019, letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

He pushed for a Saskatchewan stop if a Royal tour came to Canada in 2020.

“We further welcome the opportunity to host the Canadian Royal Family in Saskatchewan during the next Royal Visit to Canada, should their travels take them West,” Moe wrote in the letter to the prime minister.

Such a letter is the first formal step in planning any royal visit.

The premier’s press secretary,

Jim Billington, said there had previously been discussions about a potential visit to Canada in 2020.

Provincial chief of protocol Jason Quilliam said it’s fair to assume that Manitoba’s 150th anniversary celebrations might have provided an occasion.

There was no specific member of the Royal Family in mind.

“We certainly didn’t specify,” said Quilliam.

“We would be more than happy to host any member of the Royal Family. We love them all. They’re all great ambassadors for the Canadian Royal Family and for the Queen.”

But then COVID-19 interfered. Royal tours abroad were postponed, including plans for Prince Charles to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Jordan.

The Royal Family is now carrying out many of its duties remotely using technology, even within the United Kingdom.

Quilliam received word last month that a visit to Canada was no longer considered viable.

That message came from the Queen’s Canadian Secretary, Donald Booth, who wrote in an email that, given the pandemic, the federal government no longer anticipated a royal visit in the near future.

But Quilliam remains hopeful that planning will resume once the danger of COVID-19 is past.

“When the circumstances present themselves, they will keep Saskatchewan in their mind and their planning process,” was Quilliam’s account of the federal position.

In his letter, Moe noted that Saskatchewan’s last official royal visit came eight years ago.

Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, visited the province in 2012.

Prince Edward has been in Saskatchewan twice since then on private business, including once with his wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex.

Moe made the argument for a royal visit to Saskatchewan by noting the monarchy’s connection with Indigenous peoples.

“In particular, we would look to focus on Indigenous peoples in our province, to further strengthen the historic bond between our First Nations and the Crown,” Moe’s letter said.

Billington said no further discussions have taken place due to the pandemic, though the government remains hopeful “that a future Royal Visit to Canada would include a visit to Saskatchewan.” Quilliam shared that hope.

“We would always welcome the opportunity to host a member of a Royal Family,” he said.

“There are a plethora of wonderful Saskatchewan stories to tell.”