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Constitutionally, there’s nothing to stop us from shopping around for another royal family

As noted last month, there are a series of loopholes in Canadian law that technically make it possible for us to pick anyone as our king or queen. Removing the monarch altogether is a near-insurmountable task requiring the unanimous consent of all 10 provinces. However, the Canadian constitution only refers to the “office of the Queen,” and does not specify who has to sit in that office. For a sufficiently motivated government employing creative lawyers, the path is clear to easily swap out our reigning British monarch with a king or queen of our choosing.

Photo by Christopher Pike/Ottawa Citizen

The Japanese monarchy has already had resident Canadian members

Here’s something the British royal family would never, ever do: Send one of its inner circle to Canada for their post-secondary education. All the Queen’s children and grandchildren got their education in the U.K., and the closest we’ve come to educating a possible heir was a six month period when Prince Andrew went to an Ontario boarding school. Conversely, some very high-up Japanese royals have spent years studying in Canada. Prince Takamado, who was seventh in line to the throne, spent three years studying law at Queen’s University. His daughter, Princess Ayako, studied at both Camosun College and the University of British Columbia.

Photo by Consulate-General of Japan in Calgary

Parts of Western Canada arguably get just as much love from Japanese royals as British ones

The House of Windsor haven’t been slouches when it comes to visiting the left side of Canada, but there still remain parts of the country that have seen way more Japanese blue blood than British. The University of Victoria hosted a visit from Emperor Akihito in 2009. To date, the highest-ranking British royal to set foot on the campus is Prince Edward. Just outside Edmonton, meanwhile, Princess Nori (a daughter of Akihito) planted a cherry tree at the Devonian Botanic Gardens — and rumour has it that the tree only bloomed when the princess was pregnant. Princess Ayako recently visited the University of Lethbridge, a location so off the beaten track that most Canadian prime ministers don’t even make it there. As the Japanese embassy proudly notes on their website, the first foreign country ever visited by the current emperor was Canada. The young prince was on his way to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, so he decided to stop in Toronto and Ottawa enroute. And the aforementioned Prince Takamado died of a heart attack suffered while playing squash at the Canadian embassy in Tokyo. The prince, who was famous for pursuing an informal life, was friends with Canadian ambassador Robert Wright. To date, no British royals have died in the presence of their Canadian besties.