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Dutch Princess Margriet honours Canadian general who liberated her nation in WWII

May 13, 2022 | 2:54 PM

OTTAWA — Princess Margriet of the Netherlands paid tribute to the Canadian who negotiated the surrender of the Nazis in her nation in 1945.

The princess was born in Ottawa, her family having escaped the Netherlands during the Second World War.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greeted the princess with a fist bump at the National Military Cemetery in Ottawa, which was blooming with tulips — a flower that has come to symbolize the relationship between the Netherlands and Canada. 

Together, Trudeau and Princess Margriet unveiled a plaque in honour of Gen. Charles Foulkes, who commanded Canada’s troops in Italy in 1945.

A small group of onlookers watched the intimate ceremony from a distance, hoping for a glimpse of the princess. 

The princess laid a bouquet of flowers on Foulkes’s grave before taking a tour around the ceremony with the prime minister. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2022.

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press