INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Canadians have had some time to digest the prospect of taking in a family of royal exiles.And, as every day has passed since the big Sussex
announcement, new questions have arisen about how this could all possibly work.In the quiet corner of Vancouver Island where the duchess has
been holed up for more than a week now, there certainly remains a warmth to the feeling for them."If the royal couple opts to live here
part-time, let's welcome them by leaving them alone," wrote columnist Charla Huber in Victoria's Times Colonist newspaper.Image:Meghan
Markle with members of the Vancouver Downtown Eastside Women's Centre Pic: DEWC VancouverThis protective hug in the face of intense global
media interest is only part of the story in Canada though.On the radio talks shows, they have moved on from discussions about how the couple
should be welcomed to the bigger topic of whether Canada still needs the monarchy at all.The same opinion poll that found more than 70% of
Canadians are unwilling to pay to support the couple contained other revealing details.Two-thirds of Canadians said the royals were losing
or had already lost relevance.Nearly half said the country should not continue as a constitutional monarchy for generations to come.In
French-speaking Quebec, there was a Gallic shrug about the whole thing: more than half of people there said they didn't care about the
royals coming.It is evident too that Canadians want to see no favouritism extended to royals in how they might be able to live and work in
the country.The duchess stands a good chance of obtaining residency with a university education, a work history as an actor in the country
and the assistance in established US-Canada trade agreements.Her husband has none of those things on his side.Mutterings have also begun
about who might lay claim to the tax dollars they will owe from their newly financially independent lives.Harry explains why he had to walk
away from royal life - but it's not the deal he wanted.Tax authorities in the UK, US and Canada might be weighing up what an American and a
Brit are earning and where.The key question: "What locale is the centre of their family and economic life?" asked a business report in the
Globe and Mail.Sorting out that, plus security arrangements, work permits and tricky constitutional questions will take time.Doing it in the
full glare of an impatient media will add extra pressure.As one Canadian columnist wrote this week though: "It took courage to seek a life
for themselves beyond the clutches of their imperious in-laws."For their sake, let's hope it works."
