Princess Anne to visit Canada's oldest regiment in New Brunswick this weekend
CTV
Princess Anne will be in New Brunswick this weekend to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the 8th Canadian Hussars.
Princess Louise, the mare that was once the mascot of the 8th Canadian Hussars, never met the calvary regiment's horse-loving colonel-in-chief. But this weekend the cherished horse will be present in photos and in memories as the colonel-in-chief, Princess Anne, visits to mark the 175th anniversary of the regiment based in southern New Brunswick.
Princess Anne, sister to King Charles and a former Olympic equestrian rider, was appointed to her role with the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) regiment in June 1972, when she was just 21. She has visited the unit several times and maintained a close relationship with it.
On this visit she is scheduled to take part in events from Friday through Sunday in Moncton, N.B., and Sussex, N.B., meeting with regiment members past and present and taking in a commemorative concert, a parade and a gala dinner.
James Lockyer, the regiment's honorary colonel, said the unit has a record of service and sacrifice. "Its formation back in 1848, as a response to expansionist American ideology flowing from the Revolutionary War, and then picking up again during the Civil War, was quite remarkable," he said in an interview.
"These were townsfolk, craftsmen, artisans, farmers who came together to defend New Brunswick at that time, and then subsequently, Canada. We are the oldest, continuous serving army regiment in Canada."
During the regiment's deployment in the Second World War, about a night after taking Coriano Ridge, in Italy in 1944, mechanics who were working under cover of darkness to recover tanks heard a screaming sound, he said, recalling the incident that brought Princess Louise to the regiment.
The mechanics who went to investigate found a three-month-old injured foal circling its dead mother. They brought the horse back to the unit's doctor, who though not a veterinarian, treated it.
