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Fri, June 13, 2003
Prince Andrew visits Toronto, dedicates rose garden to Queen, opens school
By STEPHANIE LEVITZ
TORONTO (CP) - Prince Andrew celebrated the lessons he has learned from life as a royal on Friday, telling monarchists young and old to value the power of leadership, responsibility and respect.
The prince, the third child of the Queen, spoke of the lessons of faith, power, failure, etiquette and the nature of public service that he has learned from his mother. "We live in a new age where the age of deference has been superseded by the age of reference," the prince said at a luncheon speech to the Empire Club at a posh downtown hotel.
"Perhaps we are in danger of losing sight of one or two fundamental building blocks of democracy if this is misunderstood. Respect is one of these blocks. It is not only our respect for the faith, service and responsibility of our monarch but also her respect for us."
Attendees of the luncheon expressed delight at the prince's remarks, with several noting that the speech was much better than they had thought it would be.
"The monarchy seems very far removed from our daily lives," said Nadia Mattiuzzi. "But when you think about the elements of leadership, responsibility and service and how he applied those traditions to what we face every day, it makes it relevant."
Earlier in the day, hundreds of monarchists jostled for a good viewing spot outside the Ontario legislature as Prince Andrew dedicated a rose garden planted in honour of the Queen's Golden Jubilee, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of her reign.
"The garden was very conveniently planted," joked Prince Andrew. "I'm not sure how you inaugurate a rose garden - at least if you're planting a tree there is some soil to throw."
Planted by the Toronto Monarchist League, the garden lies next to a circle of shrubbery planted to honour the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.
Women and men of all ages mobbed the prince as he exited the legislature, climbing on the steps - and each other - to snap pictures.
Stopping to chat with two young girls, he admonished them for not being in school and then dictated that their homework for the evening was to write a paper on what they had experienced that day.
Leadership and responsibility were the lessons that the prince also tried to instil at his last visit of the day, the opening of Greenwood College School, a private school that focuses on students learning as much from books as from the outdoors.
To a group of students in Grades 7 and 9, the prince spoke warmly of the lessons he learned over two semesters as a student at Lakefield College, outside of Peterborough, Ont., and the value of learning by experiencing, not just watching.
"If you don't actively take any risk at all in your life you are not going to grow and develop," the prince said.
The prince left for Montreal later Friday to attend a dinner. On Saturday he was to address the graduating class of Lakefield College before flying to Victoria for an education conference.
Prince Andrew last visited Canada in May, when he travelled across the country on an unofficial visit, meeting with children, members of the armed forces and opening several hospitals and schools. He is fourth in line for the throne of England.