--- title: Canadian Indigenous Leader Refuses to Meet Royals description: Canadian indigenous leader snubs British royals Prince William and Kate Middleton by declining to meet the couple on their tour of Canada canonical: https://time.com/4512895/princess-kate-and-prince-william-snubbed-by-canadian-indigenous-leader/ author: Suyin Haynes article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-29T13:25:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:37:09.878Z og:title: Canadian Indigenous Leader Refuses to Meet Royals og:description: Canadian indigenous leader snubs British royals Prince William and Kate Middleton by declining to meet the couple on their tour of Canada og:url: https://time.com/4512895/princess-kate-and-prince-william-snubbed-by-canadian-indigenous-leader/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4750efa8ab69d01b/6988a80b97cdff035c6adf96/grand-chief-stewart-phillip.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Grand Chief Phillip speaks to First Nations leader before signing the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion during an announcement on oil sands pipelines, with special relevance for the Kinder Morgan and Northern Gateway proposals in Vancouver og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Canadian Indigenous Leader Refuses to Meet Royals twitter:description: Canadian indigenous leader snubs British royals Prince William and Kate Middleton by declining to meet the couple on their tour of Canada twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4750efa8ab69d01b/6988a80b97cdff035c6adf96/grand-chief-stewart-phillip.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Princess Kate and Prince William Snubbed by Canadian Indigenous Leader > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=4e1b4e38-6af4-4073-a514-82b6038eb350&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Suyin Haynes](https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Sep 29, 2016 1:25 PM UTC  Grand Chief Stewart Phillip speaks to First Nations leaders before signing the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion at the Musqueam Community Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 22, 2016. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip speaks to First Nations leaders before signing the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion at the Musqueam Community Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 22, 2016. Ben Nelms—Reuters by [Suyin Haynes](https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Sep 29, 2016 1:25 PM UTC A Canadian indigenous leader has repeatedly snubbed British royals the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge by declining invitations to meet the couple on their first official tour of Canada. The action comes from Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, and is reported to be a protest against the Canadian government, according to [CNN.](http://us.cnn.com/2016/09/28/world/prince-william-kate-middleton-canada-indigenous/index.html) Phillip did not join the Cambridges at scheduled appearances at British Columbia University and at a reconciliation ceremony in Victoria earlier this week. On their [eight-day trip](http://time.com/4500903/prince-william-kate-middleton-canada/?iid=sr-link6) to British Columbia and the Yukon, with both their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte, Prince William and Princess Kate were greeted by Canadian Prime Minister [Justin Trudeau](http://time.com/4506987/justin-trudeau-prince-george-high-five-canada-royal-tour/?iid=sr-link9) and have attended [traditional cultural performances and workshops](http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/william-and-kate-win-over-skeptical-yukon-moose-hunter-im-glad-i-didnt-miss-it). In a statement to CNN,Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said that his non-attendance meant “no disrespect”, but that cancelling the meetings was “a matter of principle”. \[[CNN](http://us.cnn.com/2016/09/28/world/prince-william-kate-middleton-canada-indigenous/index.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4512895/princess-kate-and-prince-william-snubbed-by-canadian-indigenous-leader/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4512895/princess-kate-and-prince-william-snubbed-by-canadian-indigenous-leader/"},"headline":"Princess Kate and Prince William Snubbed by Canadian Indigenous Leader","datePublished":"2016-09-29T13:25:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:37:09.878Z","description":"Chief cancels meetings to highlight struggles faced by Canadian indigenous communities","url":"https://time.com/4512895/princess-kate-and-prince-william-snubbed-by-canadian-indigenous-leader/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Royal Family","kate middleton","Canada","Prince William"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4750efa8ab69d01b/6988a80b97cdff035c6adf96/grand-chief-stewart-phillip.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Suyin Haynes","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4750efa8ab69d01b/6988a80b97cdff035c6adf96/grand-chief-stewart-phillip.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Grand Chief Phillip speaks to First Nations leader before signing the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion during an announcement on oil sands pipelines, with special relevance for the Kinder Morgan and Northern Gateway proposals in Vancouver","caption":"Grand Chief Stewart Phillip speaks to First Nations leaders before signing the Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion at the Musqueam Community Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 22, 2016.","creditText":"Ben Nelms—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4512895/princess-kate-and-prince-william-snubbed-by-canadian-indigenous-leader/","name":"Princess Kate and Prince William Snubbed by Canadian Indigenous Leader"}}]}] ```