Royal reminders
From Sussex street names to the Princes’ Gates, Toronto has lots to make couple feel at home,
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are moving to Canada. The New York Times says the country is “giddy” in anticipation, while a British tabloid says we’re “furious” over the possible security costs, but most are wondering where they’re going to land.
There is a lot of Canada to choose from. Perhaps too much. British Columbia? They seem desperate, with “British” in their very name. The couple needs some place that has more chill, but is still welcoming, like Toronto.
Toronto was, after all, known as the “Queen City,” a loyalist outpost in a far colony. So loyal, in fact, this city welcomed a giant statue of King George VII on horseback from Delhi when India was purging itself of colonial relics.
Today, he sits in the middle of Queen’s Park. We are a refuge for wayward royals who don’t seem to fit into their current surroundings.
There is a housing crisis in the Greater Toronto Area, so it’s important the couple start thinking about getting a place. They will need at least a twobedroom condo, unless young Archie is willing to be squeezed into a wee “den.”
Perhaps a bit of a yard is desired in the form of a semidetached in Milton or Markham. They should avoid the older areas of Toronto where many houses, though worth seven figures and having been renovated and flipped over and over, remain drafty old places.
The couple is probably quite tired of living in damp piles and want something new, with proper HVAC and stairs that don’t creak.
Indeed, the Sussex they are “of” is one of the suburban “Home Counties” that surround London, essentially that city’s “905,” so perhaps Toronto’s version will appeal to them. If they want an actual Sussex there’s always Sussex Avenue with Sussex Court and Sussex Mews running off of it. All are near the University of Toronto campus, where there are many British-looking buildings built in the Hogwarts style.
Should they want to set up a business there’s the Sussex Centre in Mississauga City Centre, an office complex located by Sussex Gate. In Etobicoke, there’s tiny Sussex Drive by Lake Ontario, and Richmond Hill has a Sussex Avenue. We may have more Sussex than the original Sussex.
Beyond their geographical namesake, should they feel homesick we have many castles to remind them of home. Casa Loma, of course, but there’s also places such as Graydon Hall Manor in North York, available for rent should they need space for a big party.
In King City, royally named itself, there’s Eaton Hall, a grand estate, once home to Lady Eaton and where John and Yoko slept in 1969, so it’s celebrity-ready. Part of Seneca College now, it can also be rented out.
If they want something familiar but just slightly lower key, they can go for a walk on any North Toronto street and find hundreds of miniature Buckingham Palaces: neoclassical McMansions built by commoners striving quite hard for some royal verve.
The landscape here should be a familiar comfort with neighbourhoods and places named after British and London locations, such as Kensington, Yorkville, York Mills, Regent Park, Earlscourt and Bermondsey.
As for sport, soccer and cricket pitches are being expanded across the region, and the Toronto FC, with exuberant marches to BMO Field before the games, has recreated the European football experience here in Toronto, though if they want something like an English football riot they’ll have to go to Montreal or Vancouver and watch a hockey game.
At the CNE, the Princes’ Gates were named after Prince Harry’s great uncles, Princes Edward and George, when they visited town in 1927.
Who would complain if we included the current prince as one of the princes to give the gates some present-day panache?
Miss dad, the Prince of Wales? Head out to Swansea, Welsh at least in name. There’s also Prince of Wales Drive in Mississauga, Prince Charles School in Newmarket, and Prince Charles Park in Toronto to help remind Harry of his pop.
Miss grandma? There’s Queen Street and the Queensway, and countless plaques that mark where she unveiled something or other to remind Harry of her.
Miss great-grandmum? Take a drive on the Queen Elizabeth Way, though it’s not as elegant as when it opened in 1937, dedicated to then Queen Elizabeth, later known as the Queen Mum.
Fear not, St. Andrew subway station is named after the nearby church, not the creepy uncle, though they may want to avoid Duke of York Boulevard in Mississauga and Prince Andrew Place in Don Mills.
Other relatives are plentiful too, such as Princess Royal Drive in Mississauga, named after Aunt Anne, as is her other street, Princess Anne Crescent, in Etobicoke. There’s much more too.
Perhaps Toronto isn’t so chill when it comes to the Crown. Maybe we’re too royal for royals who want to escape, after all.