Prince George hoping for Prince George visit

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be visiting B.C. and Yukon this fall, but there was no official word on whether William and Kate’s two children would be coming along as well.

Speculation in the British press was that three-year-old Prince George and his one-year-old sister Princess Charlotte would tag along on the Royal visit, the first official trip by the family as a foursome.

“As a future King and Queen of Canada they will be anxious to introduce their children to the people of the country, the senior overseas realm, as soon as possible,” a story in the Express read.

A detailed itinerary for the September tour hasn’t been released, but nowhere would the family be more welcome than in the city of Prince George.

“You can appreciate that there is a tremendous amount of work and certainly expense to get the Royals to a community,” Prince George Mayor Lyn Hall said Wednesday.

He was in the dark about their itinerary and whether the kids were coming, but was hopeful.

“You know what, it would be great if they could come here.”

Prince George, founded in 1807 as a trading post called Fort George (after King George III), was incorporated as a city in the early 1900s under the name Prince George, after then-King George V or his fourth son, Prince George, Duke of Kent. They have been waiting for another George ever since.

Prince Charles and Diana toured B.C. — touching down in Prince George — in the year of Expo 86. Later, William’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, came to the city in 1994 to open the new University of Northern B.C.

William and Kate were last in Canada on a 2011 honeymoon visit, but got only as far west as Alberta.

Anticipation was high in the city of Prince George when William and Kate had their first baby, with speculation George was one of the names under consideration. The city celebrated when the name was made official after the baby’s birth July 22, 2013.

“We had a little ceremony out in front of our city hall, our veterans’ plaza,” Hall said.

“We had a crib and we had stuffed animals. It was really an opportunity for us to wish Prince George a welcome to the world. We just felt we had to do that. It was a lot of fun.”

Hall said the city will send Canadian Governor General David Johnston a letter asking about the visit.

— GETTY IMAGES FILES Prince George (the city) doesn’t know officially if Prince George (the Royal) will visit the city with his parents William and Kate and sister Princess Charlotte during a royal visit to British Columbia and Yukon in fall. Speculation is the family...