‘Strong Saskatchewan connection’ felt at coronation of King Charles III

When a Regina woman booked a holiday to London, she had no idea she would be stumbling into what she now calls a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Nina Brailean doesn’t consider herself to be much of a royal watcher, but from the comfort of a London pub, she watched King Charles III’s coronation Saturday.

“We had planned this trip back in January and had sort of plotted out all of our days and what we were going to do,” Brailean told Taylor MacPherson on Talk Shots on Saturday morning. “We were going to come and see the sights.

“Then we found out that the coronation was (going to be) on while we were here on the Saturday and at first thought it would be a terrible time to come because there was going to be so many people here. But then (we) kind of got excited about it and thought, ‘You know, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be here in London when this is happening.’

“We got more and more excited as the day approached and then once we were here, just seeing all the excitement and feeling the hype here in London was pretty exciting.”

Brailean said the atmosphere in the pub — where people watched the ceremony on a big screen — was much like a family gathering.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” she said. “I thought, ‘OK, are people going to be drinking and going crazy in there?’ But actually, when we walked in, it was really interesting because it was a lot of families — people with their children and babies; a couple of people even had their dogs with them — and I was really surprised at how young the crowd was in there.”

Despite not being a royal watcher, Brailean said she was fascinated by the coronation ceremony, including the symbolism and the words that were spoken.

With the celebration over, Brailean was planning to do some shopping while reflecting on the occasion.

“Things have kind of wound down a bit, but there was definitely a lot of excitement, even the last few days here,” she said. “Watching the coronation was incredible — (it was) quite a historic event — so (I was) really excited that I was able to be here for it.”

As Canada’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom, Regina’s Ralph Goodale also was in London for what he called “a very impressive ceremony.”

He said Canada was well-represented at the coronation and at other events.

“Obviously all of the officials were there, but also a contingent of young people, scientists, educators (and) Indigenous leaders,” Goodale told MacPherson. “It was a good, solid cross-section of Canadian diversity and Canadian life.”

In addition to that, Goodale said in particular that “there’s a very strong Saskatchewan connection” to the ceremony.

Members of the RCMP were featured in the coronation parade, including Sgt. Maj. Scott Williamson from Saskatchewan.

“The horses that the Mounties were riding in the parade today, five of them, were all horses that had been previously gifted to the Royal Family by the Musical Ride,” Goodale explained.

As well, two members of the Regina Symphony Orchestra — principal clarinetist Hyon Sun Kim and principal violin II Heng-Han Hou — were selected to perform in the Coronation Orchestra at Westminster Abbey.

Goodale noted Canada might have had the largest representation of military personnel in attendance, outside of the United Kingdom’s armed forces.

“There were a number of Canadian and Saskatchewan connections,” Goodale said. “It shows the importance of the relationship between the King and Canada.”

He also paid tribute to his home province for the ceremony it threw the day before the coronation.

“Kudos to Saskatchewan too, because on Friday outside the Legislature, there was a special event acknowledging the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla,” Goodale said. “I think it was a very good thing for Regina to participate in that way.”

Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers, including Saskatchewan-born Sgt. Maj. Scott Williamson, ride in front of the carriage carrying King Charles III and Queen Camilla during the Royal Procession following the King’s coronation on May 6, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette