Many believe royal visit will help monarchy’s popularity

Some people say the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge visit to Canada will go a long way to make the monarchy more popular across the country.

Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton arrived in Canada to a large crowd on Thursday as part of their tour of the country.

"Catherine and I are so delighted to be here in Canada, instilled in us by our parents and grandparents, who loved this country," William said. "We've been looking forward to this moment for a very long time."

The royal couple spent their Canada Day in Ottawa before they continued their tour to Quebec. More than 1,300 journalists have been accredited to cover the royal tour, including more than 200 from countries other than Canada.

That's far more than the 20 foreign journalists who came along for the Queen's visit to Canada last summer. This year's international contingent hails from 13 different countries, including Qatar, Japan, India and China.

All the media coverage caught the attention of Thunder Bay residents who told Tbnewswatch.com on Sunday that the visit would help to make the monarchy more popular in Canada.

Sandy Pacholczak said it was great that William and Kate came to visit Canada for their first official international visit as a couple and that spoke a lot to how highly the British Empire values Canada.

"They are young and exciting and I think it is good for the monarchy," Pacholczak said. "I think most Canadians are still welcoming to the monarchy and I think this visit will help make it more popular. It is also going to help to get more young people interested in the monarchy as well."

Martha, who did not feel comfortable giving her last name, said she was glad that William and Kate decided to come to Canada but wasn’t overly excited by the event.

"They are just people and I don’t get excited for movie stars either," Martha said. "I think Canadians are still open to the monarchy in certain parts of the country. In Calgary, they get pretty excited and Victoria, B.C."

But not everyone agrees that the visit will have much impact on Canadians.

Eric Reinelt said it didn’t really matter that much that Will and Kate came to Canada ,but admitted he would go to see them if they visited Thunder Bay.

"It’s nice that they come and visit us once and a while but I don’t think a lot of people give a darn about it," Reinelt said. "I don’t think we’ll ever lose the monarchy because it has been around for too long."

With files from the Canadian Press