Royal visit provides morale boost for Slave Lake community

Alison Jones left Edmonton at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, drove 250 kilometres north to Slave Lake and stood for hours in the hot sun, just for the chance to see the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in person. Her efforts paid off handsomely.

"I can't believe Kate shook my hand," Jones said after coming face to face with the royal couple. "The long night with no sleep was totally worth it."

Jones was one of just hundreds of royal watchers who filled the parking lot of the Northern Lakes College hoping to catch a glimpse of Will and Kate during the couple's brief stop in Slave Lake.

"We really needed an upbeat event like this because we've been struggling and working hard," said Slave Lake resident Harry Bartlett. "Having them come to our town is exactly what we need."

After a short tour of portions of the town ravaged by May wildfires, the royal couple met privately with firefighters, town officials and about 50 residents who lost homes in the fires.

Though the couple's stop in Slave Lake was a last-minute addition to their itinerary - only confirmed on Tuesday - a crowd of nearly 1,500 people had packed the college's parking lot by early afternoon. When Will and Kate finally emerged just before 2:00 p.m., the crowd was ecstatic.

"It means so much that they took the time out of their day to come and see us," said Slave Lake resident Sherry Halvert. "I shook hands with both of them and I just said, 'thank you so much for coming to our town.'"

Many of those on hand to greet the royals were wearing "I love Slave Lake" t-shirts, among them Yolande Klyne, who had a chance to speak to Prince William.

"He said that he was very sorry we lost our home and complimented our shirts at one point," Klyne said.

Despite the disaster that brought the royal couple to town, the public portion of the visit was largely a celebratory affair; seen by many as a chance to showcase the resiliency of a community that has already come so far after losing so much.

"For morale it's huge," Klyne said. "And hopefully being in the media spotlight is a big shot in the arm for the town."