Royal Visit by His Royal Highness the Duke of York

In June 1999, Capt Marc Walsh, who had been instrumental in inviting Roberts to Rwanda in 1994, asked for his assistance in working with the media during the visit by His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. Prince Andrew, who is the Colonel in Chief of the Queen's York Rangers, was making a private to Canada. During his stay, the Duke would be spending a day with his regiment. The Queen's York Rangers is one of Canada's oldest and most distinguished units, they are an army reserve armoured reconnaissance regiment which can trace its history back to 1755.

The plan called for parade inside Fort York Armoury in Toronto. The His Royal Highness would inspect the regiment, take the salute during a march past, visit the new Regimental Museum and then mingle with the soldiers on the parade floor. Media packages were prepared and contacts were made. On September 18, 1999, the day of the visit Roberts briefed the attending media on the sequence of events, and the parade format. The media were then escorted to the designated media positions. Naturally the parade went off without a hitch, and afterwards Walsh and Roberts co-ordinated a series of interviews between reporters and soldiers.

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