[URBAN NOTE] On the visit of Prince Harry in Toronto's Seaton Village

[rfmcdonald]

The National Post's Laura Hensley reports on the appearance of Prince Harry in Toronto's Seaton Village, not more than twenty minutes to my west, visiting his apparent girlfriend.

American actress Meghan Markle has lived for years on a sleepy residential street of a middle-class Toronto neighbourhood without anyone really noticing.

She has walked her dogs in a nearby park. She has dined at her favourite restaurants and hung out in popular Trinity Bellwoods Park. But when reports broke that her rumoured boyfriend, Prince Harry, was visiting the TV star this week, her quiet neighbourhood in west Toronto suddenly became grounds for a media stakeout.

On Wednesday it emerged that the prince was in Toronto, after initial reports speculated the trip had been cancelled because his plans were leaked to the press.

The London Daily Telegraph reported that Harry actually had been in the city since last Friday and was staying with Markle in her home in Seaton Village — a name with important historical links that are probably well known by the prince.

Seaton Village is named after John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton who distinguished himself at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The prince served with the Blues and Royals, a regiment of the Household Cavalry whose battle honours also include Waterloo.

Residents of the Bathurst Street and Dupont Avenue area knew something was up when two dark SUVs were seen parked in front of the house over the weekend.