Belgium’s royal family visited a school in Montreal North Friday morning as part of a stop on their whirlwind five-day tour of Canada.
The visit to École Le Carignan was coordinated through the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation.
The Canadiens organization, along with the borough of Montreal North, built an outdoor skating rink back in 2010 at the school as part of its community outreach program to encourage physical activity in schools.
When King Philippe and Queen Mathilda entered the small gymnasium Friday, the students cheered and waved.
They sang two songs in French, while the royal couple looked on with smiles on their faces.
Officials from the Montreal Canadiens hockey team — including owner Geoff Molson — accompanied the royal couple on their visit.
After greeting the children inside, everyone bundled up and headed to the outdoor arena.
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Many of the children assembled to welcome the king and queen, and admitted they didn’t even know Belgium had a royal family before they were informed they would be visiting the school.
“I know that kings and queens are from the Middle Ages and they wear crowns,” said 10-year-old Alejandro Sanchez.
“I’m very excited to see them, on a scale from one to 10 it’s a 10 right now.”
The school’s director, Pascale Beaudry, admitted she also didn’t know Belgium had a royal family until the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation reached out to her to co-ordinate the visit.
“We are all very excited here,” she said.
“We want to show what Montreal North has to offer.”
The school is considered to be one in need in the area — 83 per cent of students live in difficult financial circumstances.
The visit marks the last full day the couple will be in Canada.
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Their Friday schedule is non-stop, with visits planned all afternoon to the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, the Caisse de Dépôt, McGill University, the Musée Grevin and the Rialto Theatre before finishing the evening with a dinner at the Queen E.
The visit was coordinated through Canada’s department of foreign affairs.
Global News reached out to get an estimate of the cost of the visit, and is awaiting a response.