Monarchy in Prince Edward Island

King in Right of Prince Edward Island
Provincial
King's Arms in Right of Prince Edward Island
Incumbent
Charles III
King of Canada
since 8 September 2022
Details
StyleHis Majesty
First monarchVictoria
Formation1 July 1873

By the arrangements of the Canadian federation, the Canadian monarchy operates in Prince Edward Island as the core of the province's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy.[1] As such, the Crown within Prince Edward Island's jurisdiction is referred to as the Crown in Right of Prince Edward Island,[2] His Majesty in Right of Prince Edward Island,[3] or the King in Right of Prince Edward Island.[4] The Constitution Act, 1867, however, leaves many royal duties in Prince Edward Island specifically assigned to the sovereign's viceroy, the lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island,[1] whose direct participation in governance is limited by the conventional stipulations of constitutional monarchy.[5]

Constitutional role

The role of the Crown is both legal and practical; it functions in Prince Edward Island in the same way it does in all of Canada's other provinces, being the centre of a constitutional construct in which the institutions of government acting under the sovereign's authority share the power of the whole.[6] It is thus the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the province's government.[7]

The Canadian monarch—since 8 September 2022, King Charles III—is represented and his duties carried out by the lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island, whose direct participation in governance is limited by the conventional stipulations of constitutional monarchy, with most related powers entrusted for exercise by the elected parliamentarians, the ministers of the Crown generally drawn from among them, and the judges and justices of the peace.[5] The Crown today primarily functions as a guarantor of continuous and stable governance and a nonpartisan safeguard against the abuse of power.[5][8][9] This arrangement began with an 1873 order-in-council by Queen Victoria and continued an unbroken line of monarchical government extending back to the early 16th century.[10] However, though Prince Edward Island has a separate government headed by the King, as a province, Prince Edward Island is not itself a kingdom.[11]

Government House, or Fanningbank, in Charlottetown

Government House in Charlottetown is owned by the sovereign in his capacity as King in Right of Prince Edward Island and is used as an official residence by the lieutenant governor, and the monarch when in Prince Edward Island.[citation needed] It is also where the Executive Council is sworn-in and honours are given to Prince Edward Islanders.

According to the Legislative Assembly's Members' Handbook, members are not permitted to speak "disrespectfully of the Queen, the royal family, the governor general, the lieutenant governor, or the administrator of the province", as, "by their rank and position, they are entitled to respect from members." What constitutes unacceptable language "depends largely on circumstances". However, insults, obscene language, or questioning a royal or viceregal person's integrity, honesty, or character is disallowed.[12]

Royal associations

Those in the royal family perform ceremonial duties when on a tour of the province; the royal persons do not receive any personal income for their service, only the costs associated with the exercise of these obligations are funded by both the Canadian and Prince Edward Island Crowns in their respective councils.[13]

From top to bottom: Charlottetown, named for Queen Charlotte; the Kings County Playhouse in Georgetown, King's County, both of which are named in honour of King George III; Prince of Wales College, which derived its name from Prince Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII)

Monuments around Prince Edward Island mark some of those visits, while others honour a royal personage or event. Further, Prince Edward Island's monarchical status is illustrated by royal names applied regions, communities, schools, and buildings, many of which may also have a specific history with a member or members of the royal family; Prince Edward Island is itself named in honour of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. Associations also exist between the Crown and many private organizations within the province; these may have been founded by a royal charter, received a royal prefix, and/or been honoured with the patronage of a member of the royal family. Examples include the Central Agricultural Society, which was under the patronage of Prince Albert, Prince Consort, after 1843.[14]

The main symbol of the monarchy is the sovereign himself, his image (in portrait or effigy) thus being used to signify government authority.[15] A royal cypher or crown may also illustrate the monarchy as the locus of authority, without referring to any specific monarch. Further, though the monarch does not form a part of the constitutions of Prince Edward Island's honours, they do stem from the Crown as the fount of honour and so bear on the insignia symbols of the sovereign.

History

Foundations of the Crown in Prince Edward Island

What is today Prince Edward Island was discovered and claimed by John Cabot for King Henry VII; though, it was in 1523 also claimed by Giovanni da Verrazzano for King Francis I, putting Île Saint-Jean, as Verrazzno called it, under the sovereignty of the French Crown. As a consequence of the Acadians' refusal to swear allegiance to King George III and their subsequent expulsion from British-controlled Nova Scotia, between 1755 and 1764, Île Saint-Jean's population rose to approximately 5,000.[16]

(Clockwise from top) Prince Edward in 1799; the coat of arms of Prince Edward; the King's Arms in Right of Prince Edward Island with the gold lion passant drawn from the Prince's arms

However, these new arrivals found themselves once again under the British Crown following the signing of the 1762 Treaty of Fontainbleau, which transferred sovereignty over the island from King Louis XV to King George III,[17] who merged it with Nova Scotia. The following year, the Earl of Egmont presented an elaborate memorial to the King, asking that the Island of Saint John be granted to him and divided into baronies. After initially denying Egmont's request,[18] George, swayed by Egmont's second petition in 1767, approved. On 19 July 1769, Saint John Island was separated from the jurisdiction of Nova Scotia and became its own colony of the British Crown.[19]

During the American Revolutionary War, which took place between 1775 and 1783, Charlottetown was raided by a pair of US-employed privateers[20] who imprisoned the colonial administrator, Phillips Callbeck,[21] standing-in during the absence of Lieutenant Governor Walter Patterson. Both as the conflict proceeded and after it ended, some 46,000 American settlers loyal to the Crown, known as the United Empire Loyalists, fled north to the Maritimes and other colonies in the Canadas. The King-in-Council granted each family 0.81 square kilometres (200 acres) of land.[22] Though the majority settled on the mainland, the government of St. John's Island had some success with its effort to attract the exiles,[23] about 2,000 of them immigrating to the colony.[24]

One of George III's sons, Prince Edward, arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1794. Though Edward never visited the island (a planned royal tour in 1800 was cancelled after the Prince was injured in a riding accident[25]), he, as Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in North America, ordered that new barracks be built in Charlottetown and defences constructed to protect the harbour;[26] completed in 1805, this was named the Prince Edward Battery.[25] (The cannons there today bear the royal cyphers of both Edward's father, King George III, and Edward's daughter, Queen Victoria.[25]) Recognising the Prince's interest in the island, its legislature passed a bill that received royal assent on 2 February 1799, with effect on 6 June of the same year,[25] changing the colony's name in honour of Edward.[27] The gold lion passant on the modern arms of the King in right of the province refers to Prince Edward's coat of arms.[25] Kent College, named for Prince Edward's Dukedom of Kent, was established in 1804 by Lieutenant Governor Edmund Fanning and his Legislative Council. The college would eventually become the University of Prince Edward Island.[25]

The 19th century

Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1864, four years after he visited Prince Edward Island, making him the first member of the royal family to do so

By 1843, construction of Province House was begun and the laying of the cornerstone was followed by a royal salute and three cheers for Queen Victoria.[28] Not four years after, the Legislative Assembly adopted an address to the Queen, asking for the establishment of responsible government in the colony, as had been done in a number of other jurisdictions in the Canadas, and the request was soon thereafter granted.[29]

The Liberal Reform Party won the plurality of seats in the Legislative Assembly in 1850 and made responsible government a key goal. They faced opposition from Lieutenant Governor Ambrose Lane, but, would not relent and the legislature "virtually went 'on strike'" the following year, voting non-confidence in the Executive Council and refusing to pass supply bills. The impasse was finally overcome when the Lieutenant Governor invited George Coles to form a PEI's first responsible government.[30]

Prince Albert Edward (the future King Edward VII), the eldest son of, and heir to, Queen Victoria, landed at Charlottetown, on 10 August 1860, where he was welcomed by George Dundas, the colony's Lieutenant Governor, and proceeded to Government House. There, the Prince held audience with the Executive Council and, later, attended a formal ball and levee. Albert Edward toured the countryside and visited Province House, where he received an addresses from the Executive Council. Upon his departure, the Prince left £150 with the Governor for charitable use.[31]

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, in Charlottetown, 2011

The 20th and 21st centuries

Prince Albert (later King George VI) arrived on Prince Edward Island in 1913, while serving as a midshipman aboard the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Cumberland,[32] spending some leisure time coaching a cricket match.[33]

Queen Elizabeth II attended the 100th anniversary of Prince Edward Island's entry into Confederation. Her son, Prince Charles (now King Charles III), toured the island in 2014, following his son, Prince William, and William's wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, who travelled through PEI in 2011. While he was in Charlottetown, William gave a speech at Province House, standing where his ancestor, Prince Edward, had stood 151 years before, and said, "it is quite a moment for Catherine and me to be standing here in the Atlantic Canada, in front of Province House, where Canadian federation was forged [...] Here, in the crucible of Canadian nationhood, we look forward to meeting many of you."[34]

Prince Charles at Holland College, 2014

In 2022, Prince Edward Island instituted a provincial Platinum Jubilee medal to mark the Queen's seventy years on the Canadian throne; the first time in Canada's history that a royal occasion was commemorated on provincial medals.[35]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Victoria (29 March 1867). Constitution Act, 1867. III.9, V.58. Westminster: Queen's Printer. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  2. ^ Elizabeth II (1985). Transboundary Pollution (Reciprocal Access) Act (PDF). 7. Charlottetown: Queen's Printer for Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  3. ^ Elizabeth II (1985). Prince Edward Island Science and Technology Corporation Act (PDF). 2.7. Charlottetown: Queen's Printer for Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  4. ^ Department of Canadian Heritage (31 March 2006). "Official Languages > Canada-Prince Edward Island Agreement on French-Language Services 2005-06 to 2008-09". Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  5. ^ a b c MacLeod, Kevin S. (2008). A Crown of Maples (PDF) (1 ed.). Ottawa: Queen's Printer for Canada. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-662-46012-1. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  6. ^ Cox, Noel (September 2002). "Black v Chrétien: Suing a Minister of the Crown for Abuse of Power, Misfeasance in Public Office and Negligence". Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law. 9 (3). Perth: Murdoch University: 12. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  7. ^ Privy Council Office (2008). Accountable Government: A Guide for Ministers and Ministers of State – 2008. Ottawa: Queen's Printer for Canada. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-100-11096-7. Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  8. ^ Roberts, Edward (2009). "Ensuring Constitutional Wisdom During Unconventional Times" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review. 23 (1). Ottawa: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association: 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  9. ^ MacLeod 2008, p. 20
  10. ^ Victoria (26 June 1873). Prince Edward Island Terms of Union. Schedule. Westminster: Queen's Printer. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  11. ^ Forsey, Eugene (1974). "Crown and Cabinet". In Forsey, Eugene (ed.). Freedom and Order: Collected Essays. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. (published 31 December 1974). ISBN 978-0-7710-9773-7.
  12. ^ Office of the Clerk (Fall 2011), Members' Handbook (PDF), Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island, pp. 10, 43, retrieved 11 February 2023
  13. ^ Palmer, Sean; Aimers, John (2002), The Cost of Canada's Constitutional Monarchy: $1.10 per Canadian (2 ed.), Toronto: Monarchist League of Canada, archived from the original on 19 June 2008, retrieved 15 May 2009
  14. ^ Campbell, Duncan (1875). History of Prince Edward Island. Charlottetown: Bremner Brothers. p. 98. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  15. ^ MacKinnon, Frank (1976), The Crown in Canada, Calgary: Glenbow-Alberta Institute, p. 69, ISBN 978-0-7712-1016-7
  16. ^ Lockerby, Earle (2008), Deportation of the Prince Edward Island Acadians, Nimbus Publishing, p. 7
  17. ^ Campbell 1875, p. 2
  18. ^ Campbell 1875, pp. 10–11
  19. ^ Campbell 1875, p. 19
  20. ^ Government of Prince Edward Island. "Historical Milestones". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
  21. ^ Gwyn, Julian (2003), Frigates and Foremasts, University of British #Columbia, p. 58
  22. ^ "Black Loyalists in Ontario" (PDF). Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  23. ^ Government of Canada, Samuel Holland, Queen's Printer for Canada Archived 25 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ Loyalist Ships, The United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada, retrieved 31 March 2023
  25. ^ a b c d e f Tidridge, Nathan, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and the province of Prince Edward Island, The Crown in Canada, retrieved 30 March 2023
  26. ^ Campbell 1875, p. 54
  27. ^ Campbell 1875, p. 56
  28. ^ Campbell 1875, p. 97
  29. ^ Campbell 1875, p. 101
  30. ^ MacKinnon, Wayne (Summer 2011). "The Prince Edward Island Legislative Assembly". Canadian Parliamentary Review. Ottawa: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. p. 9. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  31. ^ Campbell 1875, pp. 128–130.
  32. ^ Harris, Carolyn (13 September 2022), "King George VI", The Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Canada, retrieved 12 March 2024
  33. ^ Harris, Carolyn (13 September 2022), "King George VI", The Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Canada, retrieved 12 March 2024
  34. ^ “At Home in Canada”: Royalty at Canada’s Historic Places, Canad's Historic Places, retrieved 30 April 2023
  35. ^ "Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee Medal". princeedwardisland.ca. Retrieved 11 August 2022.

External links

  • "Prince Edward visits his island". The Guardian. 12 October 2007.
  • "Royal couple wraps up trip to Prince Edward Island". CBC. 10 November 2000.
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