Canadians said goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II on Monday with a parade through the capital Ottawa and smaller tributes across the nation — a few hours after her London funeral.
Eugene Lauzon, 81, waited hours in the early morning on a cold, rainy street corner in Ottawa to see two dozen Royal Canadian Mounted Police on horseback, a 100-soldier honor guard and a military band march past parliament.
Wearing a cowboy hat and a jersey emblazoned with the maple leaf, he told AFP he had seen Queen Elizabeth in person when he was a boy during one of her official visits to Canada, and was here now to bid her “a proper goodbye.”
“Her goodness is like a palm tree with deep roots in Canada, standing tall against powerful winds,” he said.
Although Canadians’ relationship with the monarchy has been increasingly strained, they were attached to Queen Elizabeth right to the end — and she to Canada, having visited the country on more occasions than any other.
“For 70 years, she was there for Canada and the Commonwealth. Through good times and bad, she was there to bear witness to the evolution of our history,” Canada’s Governor General Mary Simon said in a statement.
The day has been declared a national holiday by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but most businesses remained open.
Following the memorial procession, hundreds of dignitaries were expected to attend a service at Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa with music by Ginette Reno and Rufus Wainwright, as well as an address by former prime minister Brian Mulroney.
Outside, a gun salute was to fire 96 rounds — one salvo for each year of the queen’s life — and several fighter jets were to fly past overhead.
They were to be joined in the skies above Ottawa by Second World War aircrafts including a Spitfire and a Hurricane, but all of the planes were grounded at the last minute due to rain storms.
Across Canada, commemorations have included a Mi’kmaq smudging, a Corgi gathering, pipers and bells ringing.
More than 52,000 Canadians also sent messages through an online book of condolences.
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