King Charles and Queen Camilla placed soil over and watered a blue beech tree on the grounds of Rideau Hall in Ottawa Monday. The Governor General said the new tree represents ‘a living symbol of resilience, adaptability and heritage.’
The ceremonial tree planting by King Charles and Queen Camilla is the latest moment in a time-honoured royal tradition.
But as Charles gently spread the dirt, and Camilla followed up with a watering can, the new blue beech they nurtured became more than just another addition to the natural landscape at Rideau Hall.
According to the Governor-General’s website, Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth, and members of the Royal Family have planted 17 commemorative trees since 1939.
Charles himself has already planted four trees at Rideau Hall during visits as Prince of Wales — in 1971, 1983, 2009 and 2017.
Royal historian Justin Vovk of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., sees a broader significance to the planting at this time, particularly in how a tree can represent a natural resource that is critical in Canada.
“There has been so much talk the last four months about Canada’s resources vis-a-vis the United States, the 51st state, all of that rhetoric,” Vovk told me. “So the planting of a tree does take on added symbolism.”
