This is the moment Canadian parliament broke out into God Save the King after MPs voted down a bill aiming to remove the oath of allegiance to the reigning monarch.
Canada’s Liberal government, along with Conservative MPs, found rare common ground in allying against the private member’s bill supported by Left wing and nationalist parties further from the centre.
The joint effort saw MPs narrowly vote to keep Section 128, which requires new parliamentarians swear an oath that they will be ‘faithful and bear true allegiance’ to the reigning monarch by 113 votes to 97.
As the bill was defeated, Monarchist MPs applauded the verdict and began singing God Save the King, shown in video from Canada’s House of Commons.
It comes at a challenging time for Canada, which since the death of Queen Elizabeth II has been prompted to re-evaluate its relationship to the Commonwealth of member states with ties to Great Britain.
MPs opposing the bill broke out into song after hearing it had been successfully voted down
Video shows speaker Greg Fergus repeatedly calling for order without much recognition as the opposition bloc carries on singing.
Had the bill passed, it would have seen the introduction of an amendment by which new parliamentarians swore to carry out duties ‘in the best interest of Canada’ and its constitution, without reference to the monarchy.
King Charles III remains Canada’s sovereign and head of state.
As noted by the government’s website: ‘In Canada’s system of government, the power to govern is vested in the Crown but is entrusted to the government to exercise on behalf and in the interest of the people.
‘The Crown reminds the government of the day that the source of the power to govern rests elsewhere and that it is only given to them for a limited duration. ‘
French and British monarchs have reigned in Canada since 1534.
Nonetheless, support for the monarchy is waning, with a shock poll last year showing six out of 14 nations including Canada would vote to remove King Charles as their head of state.
As many as 47 per cent of Canadians wanted change with just 23 per cent openly supporting the monarchy.
54 per cent of Canadians agreed that the monarchy was good for them in the past, but no longer makes sense.
was more divided, with 42 per cent of ns supporting a republic and 35 per cent against.
Only Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Tuvalu have significant majorities in favour of maintaining the status quo, according to the survey of 11,251 people.
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall meet and greet local schoolchildren of Assumption School on day two of their Platinum Jubilee Royal Tour of Canada on May 18, 2022 in Ottawa, Canada
King Charles III shakes hands with Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, at Buckingham Palace on September 17, 2022
King Charles had reportedly begun to make plans to visit Canada in May 2024 – before his shock cancer diagnosis was revealed in February.
A Canadian official told CBC that ‘following the announcement of a cancer diagnosis for His Majesty the King, there are no more tours planned in Canada for 2024, nor are there any tours planned with other members of the Royal Family.’
The King is currently being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer after being diagnosed with a large prostate earlier this year.
He nonetheless is said to be ‘optimistic’ about a planned two-week state trip to after his cancer treatment started positively.
King Charles could visit the country with Queen Camilla as soon as October if all goes to plan.