Manitoba couple attends Queen’s funeral, despite some criticism

A Manitoba couple from Ebb and Flow First Nation travelled to London to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II.

Matthew Houle and Pearl Baptiste-Houle arrived in London on Saturday morning to attend the funeral of the Queen in person.

It was a milestone event they say they couldn’t miss.

“My wife is a royalist. She’s a follower of the Queen. That’s why we came, for her,” said Houle.

“She was my Queen,” added Baptiste-Houle.

This is not the first time they’ve gone to England for a Royal event. The couple went to London for both William and Kate’s wedding, and the birth of their son Prince George.

Baptiste-Houle has been following the Royal Family for a long-time, falling in love with them when Princess Diana entered the family. From there, she says the love grew.

“I love the Royal Family…” she said. “It was my choice to come. I’m not political, I wanted to be here, I am here, and I have no regrets.”

Criticized for attending the funeral

Baptiste-Houle says a lot of people were upset they went to London for the Queen’s funeral.

“If people don’t like it, fine,” she said. “But don’t go being negative because I want to be here. If they don’t like it, then don’t listen. You don’t need to talk about me or say stuff about me.

“We recently had the Pope come to Canada. People went and again there was division and negativity, but people went. So, I think it is the same thing here.”

Now, as King Charles ascends to the throne, the Manitoba couple says it’s important for the King to take a stand on issues in Canada, including colonialism and the recent discoveries of mass graves at former residential schools across the country.

“Hopefully here he will take a side and help the people of Canada, and other countries that need help in dealing with their government,” said Houle.