Lucas: Indifferent to a king

If English King Charles III were a real king he would have made several news during his two-day visit to Canada last week We hardly knew he was there But he was in Canada to give a speech from the throne at the opening of the Canadian Parliament He would have been better off if he came to the U S instead or even to Boston where at least there is specific pivotal history and where he even has a river the Charles named after one of his ancestors They just don t make kings like they used to King Charles I - and King Charles II - his namesakes would have been embarrassed at the lack of royal enthusiasm over the visit Heads would have rolled In fact back then heads did roll including the head of King Charles I in when he was overthrown and executed following a civil war led by Oliver Cromwell He was lucky in that he previously named the Charles River after himself following its discovery by English explorer Captain John Smith in the s Local Native Americans called the meandering river the Quinnuppe It turns but they had no vote in the renaming Charles son and eventual successor Charles II avoided the gallows and died of a stroke in Charlies III while only a monarch in name nevertheless could have made his mark and proven his relevance by proposing that Canada annex the United States instead of the other way around Canada with a population of million is made up of provinces and three territories Were it to annex the U S it would absorb a country with a population of million not counting illegals in states where everybody speaks English or used to The states would be turned into provinces one of which would be run by the king s estranged brother Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle both of whom are desperately searching for meaning to give to their meaningless lives Had Charles III done so he would have captured the attention of not only Canada the U K and the U S but of the world as well Heads would have turned not rolled Trump is not the only world leader who can make a deal his Majesty could have commented Accompanied by his wife Queen Camilla not be confused with Queen Kamala the visit to The True North was designed to lift Canadian spirits in the wake of President Donald Trump s plans to take the place over Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney previously announced Canada is not for sale To which Trump responded Everything is for sale Be that as it may no one not even Carney has suggested that Canada take over the U S Charles III would have been the first to propose it And he could have framed it under the proposition that the U S or at least its original Colonies were part of the British Empire before old King George III let them slip away But while it would be impossible for the U K to take the Colonies back it might make sense for Canada to have a say in the matter over what belongs to who or who belongs to what But it won t be easy given that kings are not as popular as they used to be A poll by the non-profit Canadian Angus Reid Institute evidenced that Charles III is even less popular in Canada than old Joe Biden is in the U S or even perhaps King Charles I when he still had his head The poll manifested that a whopping of the Canadians polled were indifferent or did not care about the king s visit While King Charles did not directly talk about Canada annexing the United States he did warn that Canada was rebuilding rearming and reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces To which Trump would have responded by saying Bring it on Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at peter lucas bostonherald com