Airdrie City Hall and the Airdrie Royal Canadian Legion are still waiting for an updated royal portrait to display on their walls.
More than a year after her death, a portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II still hangs on the wall at the Legion draped with a black scarf to acknowledge her passing.
As Canada Heritage’s recommendation, the City of Airdrie removed the late Queen’s official Canadian portrait from the public floor of City Hall after her funeral.
“The official portrait of King Charles is not yet available,” said Ashley Schimpf, Airdrie's communications assistant. “It appears that once the image is available, all organizations will need to order the image on their own.”
Traditionally, Britain offers a portrait of their sovereign to Canadians, which is distinct from the ones in the United Kingdom or other Commonwealth countries.
According to Canadian Heritage, the Canada specific portraits often feature Canadian elements, such as a Canadian insignia, or they were taken by a Canadian photographer or on Canadian soil.
Municipalities are not obliged to adorn the halls of local government with a royal portrait, but the City of Airdrie continues to hang the image on the second floor of City Hall as it appears to be common practice with other municipalities.
Bill Drummond, First Vice President of the Airdrie Legion Branch 288, said no portraits are being issued to Legions across Canada.
Drummond was unsure why no official portrait has yet been made available for Legions to order, and was not sure when they might be able to order one.
As the King of Britain, King Charles III is constitutionally the Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Canadian Heritage says it has no updates on when a Canadian portrait of Charles will arrive.
Buckingham Palace recently announced that Charles has been diagnosed with cancer. According to the BBC, Charles will continue with his constitutional duties, but he will not make any public appearances in the foreseeable future. There is no word on what type of cancer he has.
The last Canadian portrait of Queen Elizabeth was taken in 2019 at Windsor Castle. She was “wearing her Canadian insignia as sovereign of the Order of Canada and the Order of Military Merit,” according to a Government of Canada website.
Monarchy loses popularity across Canada
More Canadians than ever feel that it’s time for the country to retire the monarchy. An April 2023 Angus Reid poll found that 52 per cent of the country doesn’t want Canada to continue as a constitutional monarchy, and 60 per cent are opposed to recognizing Charles as King.
It’s a changed sentiment from the 1940s, when the Canadian government feared ditching the Union Jack in favour of a distinct, Canadian flag would cause political instability.
In 2019 the town of Sidney, B.C. removed Queen Elizabeth’s portrait from its council chambers. It received backlash from the Monarchist League of Canada and members of the community.
The portrait was taken down temporarily until a town crest and a work of First Nations art were ready to be installed in chambers, town officials said at the time.
The portrait eventually went back up. It had been down from May to September of 2019 before someone pointed out that it was missing.
For five months, her majesty’s absence went unnoticed.
*With files from Riley Tjosvold/ Great West Media
