Royal Visit to Canada Includes Christian School

It isn’t every day that a school gets to entertain royalty. So when Immanuel Christian School in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, was told that Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cornwall would visit, the students were ecstatic.

It all started when grade 6-7 teacher Bethany Kipp had her students write letters to Camilla, inviting her to visit their small school, as part of a writing assignment. Kipp had heard that the royal couple was coming to PEI and that Camilla enjoyed visiting schools. Months later, the school received a phone call that the Duchess had personally read the letters and accepted their invitation.

On Tuesday May 20, 2014, the school, with just over 100 students, was honored with a visit from Camilla during the royal couple’s four-day tour of Canada. Camilla is the wife of Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, who is next in line to the British throne.

While at the school, Camilla visited several classrooms before attending a presentation in the auditorium. The presentation included a performance by the school band and several scenes from “Romeo and Juliet.” Four students, Levi Alons, grade 1; Nicolas Dickieson, grade 4; Rachel Hamilton, grade 9; and Logan Anderson, grade 9, recited poems for Camilla. She was then presented with a beach glass necklace made by Maddie Anderson, a grade 6-7 student who also played the role of Juliet in the Shakespeare presentation.

The visit concluded with all the students and staff singing a blessing, “Go Now in Peace”, for the Duchess.

Principal Matthew Mann was pleased with the royal visit to the school, commenting that the Duchess appeared to enjoy her visit. “She interacted comfortably among the children and expressed her thanks very warmly,” Mann said.

Immanuel Christian School was the only school that Camilla visited while in Canada. The enthusiasm from the students was still evident in the following days as grade 9 student and band member Heidi Linzel, age 14, described the Duchess of Cornwall’s visit: “It was amazing, such an honor to have her at our school. We are such a little school in PEI, and still, she came to visit us!”