MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

King Charles support for Canadian sovereignty and new PM Mark Carney

The King has sought to make clear his commitment to Canada, and if it had not been for his cancer diagnosis, he would have travelled for an intended visit in 2024.

King Charles gave a warm welcome to the new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney when he visited Buckingham Palace on Monday. It was another symbolic gesture of support for Canada from a King, wearing a red tie, who has to send coded signals rather than spell things out in words, as Canada faces threats from US President Donald Trump.

But the King has sought to make clear his commitment to Canada - and if it had not been for his cancer diagnosis, the BBC understands he would have travelled there for an intended visit in 2024.

There are also suggestions that once Canada's election is out the way, a visit to Canada will be a priority, where he can further demonstrate his support.

The new Canadian prime minister, former head of Canada’s central bank and the Bank of England, told the King that his Order of Canada pin had broken this morning. The King joked: “Do you want another one?”

“There's much to catch up on,” said the King, ushering Carney to a seat, and perhaps hoping that the broken pin was not a symbol of a Commonwealth relationship under strain.

“These are important matters,” said the King, ahead of a 30-minute conversation with no one else in attendance.

Carney later went on to meet UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at Downing Street. Sir Keir hailed the relationship between the two countries and said they had “so much in common - shared history, shared values, shared King.”

Carney said he was “grateful for the welcomes and the constructive discussions” with Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron , whom he had met earlier in the day.

At a news conference, he was asked if he felt let down by the lack of public support for Canada from other allies, given Trump's trade war with Canada, and his remarks about making Canada the 51st state of the US.

“We don't need another country to validate our sovereignty, we are sovereign, we don't need praise from another country, we are proud in and of ourselves,” he said, adding that Sir Keir had made a point of referring to Canada's sovereignty and to “our shared sovereign in King Charles III.” (BBC)