The Duke of Edinburgh made a visit to the Belleville Armouries on Sunday.
Prince Edward took a tour of the building while also speaking with members of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, a regiment of which he is Colonel-in-Chief.
His visit comes off the heels of his visit to Prince Edward Island to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the P.E.I. Regiment.
“I think one of the things that drives him is making sure that we recognize public service, and of course, people in our military are doing just,” Canadian Private Secretary to Prince Edward, Maureen Harquail tells media.
“So that’s really one of the driving reasons for him to come and to do these visits with not only the the army, a couple of his army regiments, but we’re also going to be stopping to see a Naval Reserve division, along with our CAF Trenton.”
Prince Edward speaking with cadets. June 29, 2025. (Photo: Zach McGibbon/Quinte News)
It has been close to a decade since the last time Prince Edward visited Belleville.
When asked about a renewed push to Canada following the Speech from the Throne in May from King Charles, Harquail says the interest in Canada has always been there.
“This visit has been planned now for over a year. I think it was great, of course, that His Majesty the King could join us for the Speech from the Throne. So this is just a nice cadence to follow up that visit,” Harquail said.
“I think anytime a member of the royal household wants to visit, it’s a big deal. It’s a big deal,” Commanding Officer of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment LCol Angelo Manzara tells media on the royal family member’s visit.
“The fact that we have his name as part of our regiment, and he is our Colonel-in-Chief, makes it more so.”
LCol Manzara explained one goal that the regiment was looking to accomplish at the end of the tour.
“We have, in the Canadian military and other militaries, we have a thing called the regimental coin. We call it a challenge coin, where you know someone from a similar regiment, you can present your coin, and hopefully they have their coin,” LCol Manzara explained.
“He has not received one yet. So that’s pretty much the big thing that we’re going to do today is, at the end of it, before he leaves, we’re going to give him his regimental coin.”
Other dignitaries in attendance for the Prince’s visit included Bay of Quinte MP Chris Malette and Belleville Mayor Neil Ellis.
Prince Edward will continue his week-long tour of Canada including a visit to Toronto as well as Ottawa for Canada Day festivities.
Prince Edward shown equipment while speaking with members of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment. June 29, 2025. (Photo: Zach McGibbon/Quinte News)
