William and Kate arrive in Yellowknife
Prince William and Kate arrived Monday evening in Yellowknife, the fourth and most northerly stop on their Canadian tour.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had departed from Prince Edward Island, where they embarked on a whirlwind tour that included a dragon boat race and a beach luncheon.
Crowds gathered outside the airport in the Northwest Territories capital as the royal couple's plane arrived around 7:40 p.m. MT.
Shortly after landing, the couple spoke to two small children, Amelie Wood, 8, and Marco Esteban, 8, who greeted them with flowers on the tarmac.
A handful of dignitaries also met the royal couple on the tarmac, including Premier Floyd Roland, Commissioner George Tuccaro, Yellowknives Dene First Nation chiefs from N'dilo and Dettah, N.W.T., MP Dennis Bevington and Yellowknife Mayor Gordon Van Tighem.
They were then whisked away in a convoy of SUVs as Kate rolled down the window and waved to the crowd.
Shaun Dean, a spokesman with the N.W.T. government's protocol office, had warned royal onlookers to expect — at best — only a brief glimpse of William and Kate disembarking from the plane.
"There's not any sort of pomp and ceremony associated with that. It's actually very brief; it's just going to be 10 minutes," Dean told CBC News.
"They come down off the airplane, they shake a few hands and get into the motorcade and leave right away."
William and Kate's first public appearance will be Tuesday at Somba K'e Civic Plaza in downtown Yellowknife, starting at 11:40 a.m.
Dean said he expects 3,000 to 5,000 people will pack the park for the morning festivities, which will include aboriginal dancing and a street hockey game involving local youth.
A youth parliament session at the territorial legislature, slated to begin at 1:05 p.m. MT, is by invitation only.
William and Kate will then travel by float plane to Blachford Lake, where they will spend the afternoon meeting the First Canadian Ranger Patrol Group and touring the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning.
As for whether the couple will make any unscripted appearances in Yellowknife, Dean said he does not know.
"Of course, if bureaucrats had their way, nothing unscripted would happen," he said. "But they're their own people, and they'll do what they do."
