And now a word from Her Excellency

Or at least her office, in response to an emailed question about whether Madame Jean might be on her way back to Ottawa.

"Her Excellency is VERY aware of her constitutional responsibilities and contingency plans are in place for her to return to Canada should this be required. She is being briefed on a regular basis while continuing her heavy programme for the State visit that is creating important links and generating a lot of coverage over here."