Crowds wait for hours for brush with royalty
Thousands lined the streets of Vancouver on Sunday dreaming about a quick chat with a duke or duchess, or a royal handshake, but only a lucky few actually saw their dream come to fruition.
Still, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have made the dreams of numerous royal watchers come true this weekend, even singling out the odd person to chat with.
At pregnancy outreach program Sheway in the Downtown Eastside, only a handful of lucky royal watchers got to go one-on-one with the duke and duchess, but Tamara Gardner was one of them. She shook William’s hand as he was hurried inside.
“I started crying. Oh, it was so embarrassing!” she said afterwards.
Sunday was her 10th encounter with the British monarchy, while her 15-year-old daughter, Victoria, ticked off her fourth.
“Last time, when William was here, (Prince) Charles came over and talked to my kids and then shook my baby’s foot, because he’s named after him — Charles William,” Tamara said.
She was planning to follow the duke and duchess to Whitehorse on Wednesday.
Perhaps no one was happier than Tina Coligado of Vancouver.
“I can’t believe I got such a sweet hug from Prince William,” said Tina Coligado, who arrived with a friend at Jack Poole Plaza at 6:45 a.m. “We stayed for four hours waiting for him but it was worth it.”
Coligado never thought she would get so close to the Duke of Cambridge.
“It was unexpected. I asked him if I could have a hug and he said ‘Of course.’ And it was such a tight hug. We were cheek to cheek and I am really excited,” she said.
“I always call my son Prince William,” she said. “It’s too bad my son couldn’t have come with us, because he was working. I’m overwhelmed.”
At Jack Poole Plaza, where the royals arrived in Vancouver from Victoria, Donna Moraes and Nicole Amaral, both 22 and from Richmond, were giddy from their close-up encounter with at least one half of the royal couple.
Standing in the second row behind the barriers, they stretched out their hands toward William as he approached.
“He walked by. He’s really nice. He shook our hands and said, ‘It’s nice to meet you,’ ” said Amaral.
Neither of them call themselves royal watchers, but they made the trip and stood in line because they are fans of Will and Kate.
“Kate was on the other side, but, hey, I’m not going to complain now,” Moraes said.
The duke then had a longer conversation with a child beside them who was holding up a card, they said.
And at the Immigrant Services Society later in the day, Melanie Makaj waited for hours, hoping to catch a glimpse of Will and Kate. The Vancouver mother of two was one of the lucky few who met Diana during her visit to Vancouver with Prince Charles in 1986.
“I went out everyday to try to see them, but the crowds were so huge,” said Makaj, who was three months pregnant at the time.
So, on the final day of their Vancouver visit, Makaj bought flowers, called in sick to work and staked out a spot in front of city hall. When the couple arrived, it was Charles working the crowd on her side of the street. Then the couple suddenly switched sides.
“Diana saw the flowers and made a beeline toward me,” Makaj said. “We spoke and she took my flowers. She was very beautiful, very special.”
Makaj is hoping that some of the same magic will come her way during the royal visit this week.
In the end, Will and Kate didn’t greet bystanders at the ISS, where Makaj was waiting, but if there’s a lesson to be learned from the past, royal success goes to whoever plays the long game and keeps trying.