ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - First an Olympic upset, and now a royal disappointment.
Swine flu cast its first pall over next week's royal visit as a Newfoundland children's choir that was to perform in St. John's Monday for Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall cancelled its performance.
The young Mi'kmaq singers made national headlines earlier this week over a disputed invitation to perform at the 2010 Winter Games.
Losing the chance to dazzle royalty comes on the heels of the flap that dashed the choir's dreams of attending the Olympic opening ceremonies in Vancouver.
"It's so, so sad, especially on the heels of the Olympic disappointment," Brenda Jeddore, choral director of the Se'ta'newey Performance Choir, said Friday.
"I can see the safety aspect, I really can. But all I could think was, 'What about those children?"'
The decision to nix travel plans was made by Mi'sel Joe, chief of the Mi'kmaq Miawpukek First Nation at Conne River, N.L., she said.
About 50 of 191 children in the community have come down with flu-like symptoms and the local school has been closed since Thursday.
The choir of about 15 kids aged eight to 17 was to be part of a concert at Mile One Centre in St. John's to officially kick off the 11-day royal tour of 12 cities across Canada.
The Miawpukek First Nation have said that British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell invited the choir to perform at the opening ceremonies two years ago after he watched the children perform in Corner Brook, N.L.
But they were told last week that they won't be performing at the opening ceremonies in February.
Campbell called the matter a misunderstanding and his tourism minister offered the choir other opportunities to perform during the 17 days of the Olympics.
But the choir asked for an apology and declined to accept what it deemed a lesser billing at aboriginal and business pavilions.
Joe said the young performers decided themselves to forego the Olympics and that he supports them.
"It's devastating and they're hurt by it, but I'm glad to see them standing up for what they believe in," he said in an interview.
As much as the opportunity to perform for royalty would be "a high point in anyone's career," Joe said H1N1 is a real concern.
"Large public gatherings like that are a little scary."
The province stepped up its vaccination program for high-risk groups, opening mass immunization clinics on Friday instead of Monday as planned.
Hundreds of bundled people of all ages stood for hours waiting to get their shot in St. John's as lineups spilled outside clinic sites into parking lots.
Federal officials organizing the royal visit were asked Friday whether handshaking or other protocol would be changed to reflect growing swine flu concerns.
"We do not anticipate any deviation from normal practices," said Kevin MacLeod, who serves as Usher of the Black Rod on Parliament Hill.
He declined to say whether Prince Charles or his wife, Camilla, have been vaccinated for H1N1, calling it a private matter. But he did confirm that the royal couple travels with a British doctor and will be assigned a Canadian doctor from the Canadian Forces during their stay.
