Tyler Dawson The National Post Sep 08, 2022
Those taking their oaths of citizenship on Thursday got the honour of becoming the first round of new Canadians to swear allegiance to a new monarch, King Charles III, the first people to do so in seven decades, according to a viral Twitter thread.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who reigned for 70 years, citizenship ceremonies were ongoing in Canada, a solemn ritual in which participants swear allegiance to the monarch.
Roberto Rocha, a reporter with the Investigative Journalism Foundation described, in a series of tweets, the scene at a citizenship ceremony not long after the Queen’s death was announced.
Shortly before 2 p.m., Rocha wrote that he was sitting with a friend who was going through a citizenship ceremony via Zoom, that was delayed.
“There is a long delay. He was supposed to swear his allegiance to the Queen. I’m guessing they’re trying to sort out what to do now,” Rocha tweeted.
Even before Queen Elizabeth II’s death, it was clear that Prince Charles, her son, would be the next monarch under the rules of succession. However, unknown for a period of time Thursday was what name Charles would use.
There was some speculation that Charles might have gone with King George VII, as George was the name of his grandfather. Or, indeed, he could have gone with King Philip or King Arthur — two of his other given names, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Yet, Charles opted to go with King Charles III; Prime Minister Liz Truss, the new U.K. leader, used that name in an address to Parliament.
There were, Rocha reported, 141 people on the Zoom call, and officials spoke with each, and watched them cut up their permanent residency cards on camera. When the ceremony got underway, a video was played featuring “Canadiana like maple trees and Mounties and hockey and Niagara falls.”
When the judge began speaking, the death of the Queen was acknowledged, and the announcement made: King Charles III is the King of Canada.
“It was a quick and sober acknowledgment, extremely Canadian. He’s more excited about welcoming the new citizens to the Canadian family,” wrote Rocha.
The new citizens then swore allegiance, Rocha reported, to “His Majesty King Charles III, King of Canada.”
“And they ended with ‘The Queen is dead, long live the King’! That’s wild,” he wrote.
As of Thursday afternoon, the citizenship oath on the Government of Canada’s website had not been updated. Featuring a photo of Queen Elizabeth II, the oath, contained in a publication about the citizenship process, still reads “I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second.”
The National Post sought confirmation from Citizenship, Immigration and Refugees Canada of the switch in oaths on Thursday, and information about how those changes had been communicated to those performing the ceremonies across the country. The government did not respond as of press time