Charles tribute to Canada troops

The Prince of Wales presented new colours to two units

The Prince of Wales has praised the "courage, service and sacrifice" shown by Canada's armed forces.

The tribute came as he presented new colours to the Royal Regiment of Canada and the Toronto Scottish Regiment.

Prince Charles, on a Canadian tour with the Duchess of Cornwall, wore a Royal Regiment ceremonial colonel uniform and bearskin hat at the event in Toronto.

Canada has seen 133 of its military personnel die in Afghanistan since the conflict began in 2001.

About 43 soldiers from the regiments have been deployed to Helmand and Kandahar, but they suffered no fatalities.

The prince, who is colonel-in-chief of both units, told soldiers gathered at the Varsity Stadium: "We remember generations past and the immense courage, service and sacrifice shown by your forebears over more than a century.

"Today, both of your regiments continue in the finest traditions of your predecessors, only this time you have been deployed to other regions of the world including the Golan Heights, Sudan and, of course, Afghanistan."

Two poppies

At the start of the 11-day official visit, Charles and Camilla paid their respects to the country's war dead as the prince laid a wreath at a memorial in St John's, Newfoundland.

The couple have been sporting two poppies during the trip - the traditional British flower and the deeper red version worn in Canada.

Later, they are set to open the 2009 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, said to be the world's largest indoor farming show.

They will then fly on to Victoria in British Columbia.

On Thursday, the prince and his wife visited Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, Ontario, home of Camilla's great-great-great-grandfather Sir Allan Napier MacNab, a prime minister of Canada in the 1850s.