July 18, 2000

Toronto Scots in royal parade

LONDON - Members of three Canadian military regiments will join tomorrow's lavish tribute to the Queen Mother's 100th birthday.

The gala celebration includes a royal salute, followed by a children's performance, pipe bands and a cast of hundreds of doves, chickens, racehorses, camels, Angus bulls, corgis and a 7.5-metre-high birthday cake.

In a scene reminiscent of the days of Elizabeth I, 7,000 people will be part of the pomp, a million rose petals will drop, and the Queen Mother will receive a giant birthday card signed by all the parade's participants.

Among them is the Toronto Scottish Regiment, the first Canadian regiment of which the Queen Mother - one of the world's most famous Scots - was colonel-in-chief.

She is also honorary head of the Montreal-based Black Watch of Canada, and the Canadian Forces Medical Services, who are taking part in the parade.

The regiment is an army reserve unit based at Fort York Armoury. It trains soldiers and supports the regular force.

``Many of our group are volunteers,'' said Capt. Stephen Roberts, an information officer with the Toronto Scottish Regiment. ``One is a criminal lawyer and several are police.''

The London centenary tribute is only the beginning of two weeks of travelling ceremonies for the Toronto Scottish.

After the gala, the marching unit, regimental pipes and drums and colour party will head for France, unveiling and dedicating plaques in Dieppe on Friday and Caen on Saturday.

Veterans of the regiment will join the ceremonies, and the group will later visit battlefields where Canadians fought, including Vimy Ridge. During the visit they will commemorate the 75th Battalion (Canadian Expeditionary Force) who took part in a historic battle there.

The Queen Mother, born the 9th child of Lord and Lady Glamis, grew up at Balmoral, the legendary Scottish castle of Shakespeare's Macbeth, and has a soft spot for her native land and its history.

But the organizers of the London event are stressing that it will appeal to the young of ``Cool Britannia,'' as well as traditionalists.

As part of the festivities, more than 1,000 children from the Finchley Children's Music Group will jump out of the world's largest birthday cake, and the kids' Chicken Shed Theatre Group will dance and sing for the Queen Mother during 90 minutes of entertainment and pageantry.

The event, held in the Horse Guards Parade near St. James Park, will bring together members of the Queen Mother's 320 charities, as well as leading musicians from St. Paul's choir and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Queen Mother is expected to make an informal speech, and there will be an address by Sir John Mills.

About 12,000 invited guests will attend the gala, most of them from charitable organizations.

But the event has not been free of controversy.

The media has been critical of corporate sales of boxes for $1,100 per guest, allowing the lucky few to quaff champagne and perch on pillows during the celebrations.

The BBC has also been attacked for refusing to televise the gala, and running its regular program of Neighbours instead.

But the private network ITN will give two hours of air time to the event, in a program hosted by anchorman Trevor McDonald. With London's weather the wettest it has been in many summers, that's likely to draw a bigger audience than the streets.

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