By Dan Karpenchuk, wires Updated Sun Jul 3, 2011 4:20pm AEST


Related Story: Wills and Kate welcomed in Canada
Royal newlyweds Prince William and Catherine's first official foreign trip turned grim when Quebec republicans welcomed them to Montreal shouting "down with the monarchy".
Dozens of Quebec separatists gathered outside a Montreal children's hospital, the royal couple's first stop in Quebec on the third day of their Canadian tour.
Many of the protesters carried placards in French and in English, referring to the royals as parasites.
"We will never bend, Willy go home", "French Quebec" and "parasite go home" were among the phrases shouted by protesters.
The group pounded on buckets as the couple entered the hospital without acknowledging them, drowning out a much larger group fans, many of whom cried out "we love you Kate".
At the hospital the couple spent one-on-one time with children in the cancer care centre.
They were then whisked to the Quebec Tourism and Hotel Institute where they were shown how to cook lobster souffle.
Earlier on Saturday, the couple planted a ceremonial tree at the Ottawa residence of the governor-general symbolising their everlasting "love and marriage" and unveiled a massive painting at the Canadian War Museum.
Members of the Quebec Resistance Network - a fringe pro-independence group that disrupted a 2009 visit to Montreal by Prince Charles - have promised larger demonstrations when the couple visits Quebec City tomorrow.
As a member of the Commonwealth, Canada's official head of state is the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by a governor-general.
But a poll released on the eve of the royal visit found that one-third of Canadians want to cut ties with the British monarchy.
In Quebec, where 83 per cent of the population speaks French and only 10 per cent speak English, disaffection with the royals runs as high as 60 per cent, according to the Angus Reid survey.
The Canada visit is the royal couple's first official foreign trip as newlyweds.
On Friday Prince William, second in line to the British throne, and his wife celebrated Canada Day among hundreds of thousands of adoring fans in Ottawa, with fireworks and musical performances.
The Duchess of Cambridge smiled broadly and exchanged polite banter as she shook hands with the crowd for longer than the intended hour.
The Quebec leg of their trip, however, includes no major public events, apparently an attempt to reduce possible confrontations with anti-monarchists or separatists like the one that embarrassed William's father, Prince Charles, when he visited in 2009.
Quebec separatists clashed with riot police outside an army hall at the time, delaying the arrival of the Prince of Wales.
- ABC/AFP