Royal visit raises hopes and closes streets

A connection to the man who performed the marriage of the Queen and Prince Philip may be enough to give Robin Rice an opportunity to meet the Royal couple as they visit Winnipeg Tuesday and Wednesday.

• More on exclusive CBC coverage of the Queen's visit

"Her great-uncle was the Archbishop of Canterbury, and he, in fact, married Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, and he was also there for the coronation, so there's a great link between Winnipeg and Buckingham Palace," explains Dwight MacAulay, Manitoba's chief of protocol.

"We're certainly going to try to do our best to see if we can get her to meet the Queen."

While many other Manitobans may not get to meet Queen Elizabeth personally, MacAulay hopes they'll be on hand to greet and welcome the Royals to Winnipeg.

MacAulay says events at the Forks Tuesday afternoon and at the legislative grounds in the evening will be fantastic. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra will perform, as will McMaster and James, Amanda Stott and Loreena McKennitt.

The Golden Boy's light will be turned on, and fireworks will round out the evening.

MacAulay says the events shouldn't be missed, and adds there is plenty of room for a big crowd. "The stage area for the legislative building is virtually on the front grounds of the legislative building, but the public can go all the way down Memorial Boulevard and we have two 'jumbo-trons' so that everybody will have a good view of what's going on at the stage."

After the fireworks, the Royal couple will be treated to a feast prepared by culinary students from across the province. On the menu: pickerel and bison, a grains bread basket and dessert wine from Killarney.

• INDEPTH: The Queen's Golden Jubilee

The Royal visit means motorists are going to have to take a few detours especially near the legislative building.

Memorial Blvd. is already closed between York and Broadway, as is Assiniboine Ave. between Osborne and Kennedy St.

At 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Memorial will close between St. Mary Ave. and York, Kennedy will close between Broadway and Assiniboine, and Broadway will close westbound from Edmonton Street to Kennedy St.

On Wednesday, several streets in the area of Red River College's Princess Street campus will close from 9 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. for the Duke of Edinburgh's visit to the new campus. Motorists will want to avoid any streets between James, King, Bannatyne and Hargrave.

The Royal couple will depart Winnipeg for Toronto shortly before noon on Wednesday.

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