Prince Charles apologises for being late after Quebec protestors bar way

Around 100 Quebec nationalists and anti-monarchists staged a sit-in outside the hall. The protestors threw eggs at soldiers leaving the hall and held placards and shouted slogans denouncing “cultural genocide” and calling for the Prince to “go home”.

Canadian riot police were called in and after some minor scuffles the protestors were pushed aside, allowing the Prince to enter the hall, although some 40 minutes late. Once inside Prince Charles, acting in his role as colonel in chief of the regiment, presented the Canadian Black Watch with new regimental colours.

Prince Charles made light of the incident saying to those gathered inside the hall, "I just want to say how very sorry my wife and I are to have kept you waiting so long. I fear there was a little local disturbance."

In the past Quebec has proven a volatile place for the royal family to visit. In 1964 a riot broke out during a visit by Her Majesty the Queen, the relatively small scale of the protest against the Prince indicates that the level of hostility towards the British royal family by French speaking Canadians has declined significantly.

The French speaking colony of Quebec was taken from the French crown by the British following the Battle of the Heights of Abraham in 1759. The following year the Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the Seven Years War and guaranteeing the rights of French settlers living in what became British territory.