A ceremony to proclaim the accession of King Charles as Canada’s new sovereign will take place Saturday morning at Rideau Hall.
Gov. Gen. Mary Simon will officially announce the Queen’s death and the accession of a new sovereign in a proclamation to be published in the Canada Gazette, the official newspaper of the government, said Nathan Tidridge. He wrote a background paper about the death of the reigning monarch for the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada.
Charles automatically became King of Canada upon the death of Queen Elizabeth. But the accession proclamation is issued by the Governor General on the advice of the federal Privy Council Office, according to the book Canada’s Deep Crown, co-authored by David E. Smith, Christopher McCreery and Jonathan Shanks.
The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. ET.
In the United Kingdom, the Queen’s death will trigger an official 12-day period of national mourning. Canada, however, isn’t likely to officially mourn for the same length of time. Much of how Canada marks the Queen’s passing will be up to the current government.
At some point, according to the Manual of Official Procedure of the Government of Canada, the government will issue a declaration regarding the period of official mourning.
The House of Commons is adjourned for the summer and it is not scheduled to reconvene until Sept. 19. But protocol states the prime minister should reconvene Parliament and move a joint address of loyalty and sympathy and any messages of condolence. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will also arrange for the motions to be seconded by the Leader of the Opposition.
Late Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent several minutes writing a note in a book of condolences for the Queen at Rideau Hall, after returning to Ottawa from a three-day cabinet retreat in Vancouver.
Trudeau, who sat to sign the book that was placed on a table draped with a black cloth. Behind him was a photo of the Queen with a black ribbon placed on it.
Trudeau wrote that, “Canada came of age during Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s time as Sovereign.”
He also wrote that “generations of us have benefited, profoundly, from her steady, graceful leadership and service.”
