Thread: The King of Norway is in Toronto, Ontario - In a Sailing Race!!!

Turns out the King of Norway, King Hararld V and a crew of fellow Norwegians are in Toronto, on board his 264 foot yacht, while skippering the Sira, an 8 metre sailing sloop in one of the Sira Cup races.

His yacht is moored at the foot of Lower Sherbourne St at Toronto's Harbour.

Turns out his family was here in 1941, as a government in exile during the war. I knew the Dutch Monarchy stayed here as well during the war, and the Queen gave birth to a son in Toronto. In order to ensure that the Dutch Royal Heir was a Dutch citizen, a floor of the Hospital was formally made Dutch Territory - passports and everything required to step onto the floor - you were on Dutch territory - last I heard, that still hasn't changed to this day.

Read all about it:

Norway’s sailor king: Why Harald V has been sleeping on a yacht moored on Toronto’s waterfront | National Post

Thanks for posting that interesting story. The Norwegian connection is very much forgotten here in Canada, sadly.

A little more info on the Norwegian connection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Norway and Camp Norway Lunenburg Nova Scotia for those who may be interested.

Bob

Should have asked him to bring over a couple of strops from Scrupleworks.

Originally Posted by BobH

Thanks for posting that interesting story. The Norwegian connection is very much forgotten here in Canada, sadly.

A little more info on the Norwegian connection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Norway and Camp Norway Lunenburg Nova Scotia for those who may be interested.

Bob

And in terms of The Netherlands, I was slightly off in my facts.

It was Princess Margriet of the Netherlands who was born in Ottawa in 1943, here's what the Wiki says:

The Princess was born in Ottawa Civic Hospital,[2] Ottawa, Ontario, as the family had been living in Canada since June 1940 after the occupation of the Netherlands by Nazi Germany. The maternity ward of Ottawa Civic Hospital in which Princess Margriet was born was temporarily declared to be extraterritorial by the Canadian government.[3][4] Making the maternity ward outside of the Canadian domain caused it to be unaffiliated with any jurisdiction and technically international territory. This was done to ensure that the newborn would derive her citizenship from her mother only, thus making her solely Dutch, which could be very important in the case that the child would have been a male, and as such, the heir of Princess Juliana.

It is a common misconception that the Canadian government declared the maternity ward to be Dutch territory. Since Dutch nationality law is based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis it was not necessary to make the ward Dutch territory for the Princess to become a Dutch citizen. Since Canada followed the rule of jus soli, it was necessary for Canada to disclaim the territory temporarily so that the child, potential heir of the Dutch throne would not, by virtue of birth on Canadian soil, become a Canadian citizen.

Originally Posted by Phrank

And in terms of The Netherlands, I was slightly off in my facts.

It was Princess Margriet of the Netherlands who was born in Ottawa in 1943...

Bah! You beat me to it, and I had a perfectly good "typical Torontonian trying to steal Eastern Ontario's thunder..." mini rant building.

Here's a short CBC piece from the early 90s about her birth. Ottawa get an annual reminder about the story in the form of the tulip festival which rolls around in May. Makes for a very pretty downtown. Parts of it, at least.

CBC Archives

If you ever wondered how the Canadian Tulip Festival held each May in Ottawa came about.

The Tulip Legacy Story - Canadian Tulip Festival

Yet another enduring tie with Holland. My nephew, during his ROTO to Afghanistan, was supported by the Royal Netherlands Air Force supplying their Fast Air.

Bob