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Silent March
Saturday, May 5th
10:45 am
Armoury - Ainslie Street
to Cambridge Place
Cambridge, ON
Prince Andrew's visit in May will be marked publicly by all the pomp and ceremony of one of the military's most time honoured traditions.
About 140 members of the Royal Highland Fusiliers will parade from the armoury to Cambridge Place in silence for a ceremony known as the granting of the Freedom of the City.
The event, which will start at around 10:30 a.m., will be the only public appearance by the Duke of York during his two day visit to Cambridge and Kitchener on May 4 and 5.
"We chose to do this because we certainly want to include the city of Cambridge in the visit," said Rick Peters, commanding officer of the Fusiliers. "This will bring in the civic aspect and the Duke will also have a chance to interact privately with the troops on two occasions."
The primary purpose of Prince Andrew's visit, which has been in the works for about a year, is to meet with the troops and observe some of the regiment's activities, he said.
Andrew, the Duke of York, officially became the Colonel-in-chief of the Highland Fusiliers, the Toronto-based Queen's York Rangers and Halifax's Princess Louise Fusiliers in 2005.
"He's very well informed on Canadian military matters," Peters said of the prince, who served in the Royal Navy for 22 years as a helicopter pilot. "It's going to be a real thrill for everyone to meet him."
Prince Andrew's motorcade will arrive at Cambridge Place as members of the Royal Highland Fusiliers start their silent march from the armoury up Ainslie Street at 10:45 a.m.
For those eager to get a first-hand look at the prince and the Freedom of the City ceremony, bleachers will be set up in the Water Street parking lot across from Cambridge Place, said Maj. Paul Pickering of the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada.
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, will watch as the Fusiliers are granted Freedom of the City by Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig and members of city council.
He'll then meet with about 30 Second World War veterans from the Fusiliers' predecessor unit -- the Highland Light Infantry.
The Fusiliers will continue their parade, complete with the pipe and drums band playing and flags flying, from Park Hill Road East across the river and down Grand Avenue, Pickering said. They'll then cross the Main Street bridge before returning to the armoury.
The entire event is expected to last about an hour and a half and will be the prince's only public appearance during his two-day visit.
Other scheduled events are invitation-only and centre on the prince mingling directly with the soldiers.
This will be Prince Andrew's first visit to Cambridge as Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Highland Fusiliers -- one of three Canadian regiments for which he serves as ceremonial commander.
It's the first royal visit to the region since Andrew's brother, Prince Edward, presented the Duke of Edinburgh awards at Waterloo's Perimeter Institute in June 2005.
Cambridge is the last stop on Prince Andrew's three-city Canadian tour.
Earlier this week, the prince had a private visit with members of Halifax's Princess Louise Fusiliers -- a unit still mourning the loss of one of their own, killed on Easter weekend in Afghanistan.
Wednesday, Andrew is scheduled to visit Toronto's Queen York Rangers to observe demonstrations in the regiment's new training facility.
A similar event is scheduled at the Kitchener armoury on Friday, when the prince will watch troop demonstrations.
Getting there.. and parking?..
Purple Dotted Line - Silent March
Pink - Available parking
If you're planning on catching a glimpse of Prince Andrew during his visit to Galt this weekend, you'll want to make sure you get there early.With roads closed, the market open and security tight, navigating the city's core on what's expected to be a sunny Saturday morning could be quite a feat.
Two municipal parking lots -- one on Water Street North and the Civic Square lot-- will be closed due to the ceremony and ongoing construction
That will leave about 350 parking spaces open in municipal lots in Galt, but royal watchers will have to contend with the usual Farmers' Market traffic for those spots.Several roadways will also be closed to accommodate the parade and the ceremony.Water Street between Park Hill Road East and Dixon Street will be closed all of Saturday morning beginning at 6 a.m. Other intersections will be shut down temporarily as the parade passes
Route 52 leaves Fairview Park mall every half hour and travels directly to downtown Galt, said John Cicuttin, manger of transit development for Grand River Transit.If you'd rather leave the car in Cambridge, route 51 travels down Hespeler Road past the Cambridge Centre every 15 minutes, he said.
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