© 2011 Lydia Hinshaw
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| The Prince of Wales Hotel overlooks Waterton townsite |
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| . . . and a closer view |
The hotel itself is far out of our price range, but walking around the lobby is free and browsing the gift shop is encouraged. Tuesday we hiked up the hill to take a closer look at the place. I was particularly interested in seeing what I could find out about the man for whom it was named.
That would be Edward, Prince of Wales, who would later become King Edward VIII, the man who infamously abdicated in order to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Warfield Simpson.
Whether that made Edward a romantic hero or a selfish traitor is still debated. Many Brits have never forgiven Edward. But things turned out pretty much all right for the next 60-some years.
Edward's brother Albert became King George VI and with his wife, Queen Elizabeth, provided exemplary leadership for Great Britain during World War II.
The current Queen Elizabeth is their elder daughter.
Edward visited Canada a number of times during his life, and even owned a ranch near Calgary. In 1927, with the then-newly-constructed hotel about to open in Waterton, someone decided to name it in Edward's honor, in the hopes that that would induce the handsome young prince to stay there. The plan didn't work. He secured lodgings elsewhere.
And so all you can see of the hotel's namesake in the hotel are two photographs, one autographed during an earlier visit to Canada in 1919. The second photo shows Edward, Albert and their younger brother Henry, although there is no information with it and it may not even have been shot in Canada.
And neither picture is in a place of honor. Both are hung in a narrow hallway you might miss unless you were headed to the men's room. I wasn't; I was just looking hard for some reminders of Prince Edward in the hotel that bears his title.
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