Ottawa (CNN) -- Royals need to connect with their public, otherwise their positions start to look untenable.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth connects with people easily, Prince Charles sometimes struggles and Diana had connectivity in spades.
The big test for William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, on their first international tour was how they would take to the crowds and how the crowds would take to them.
There was an early indication as William stepped off the plane and spotted a young boy in the welcoming party. The prince bent down, chatted and made a connection. The duchess followed shortly behind. There was no sense of great formality or aloofness. This was a new, more personal form of royalty: less detached, more open.
Their first stop was the National War Memorial -- a somber moment for William who is a military man and has lost friends in conflict. Crowds had gathered on the street, many still buzzing from the royal wedding and wanting to make their own connection with the couple, on home turf.
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After paying their respects, the duke and duchess threw themselves into a planned walkabout. Catherine immediately looked at ease, chatting to individuals, bending down again when necessary and clearly managing to connect with the public.
William did the same, although falling into the background as Catherine came close to stealing the show. For Charles, this may have been a problem, but William has never enjoyed being in the spotlight so I suspect he did not worry too much about the attention being deflected. William had his moment later, during the official welcoming ceremony when he made a few comments, partly in French, which went down a storm with the crowd and TV commentators.
The couple both seemed to enjoy their first day, so much so that they were lingering a little too long during walkabouts, at least judging by the look on the faces of some palace staff. Royal tours are timed to the minute but this royal couple seemed to have lost track of time, and the crowds liked it.
One Canadian broadcaster described the visit as a "home run" for the royals. And, it's only Day 1. Certainly the Canadian prime minister couldn't have looked happier as he walked, it has to be said, in the couple's shadow. Stephen Harper is a monarchist and his ratings won't suffer from his association with the rock stars of the House of Windsor.
Friday promises more crowd-pleasing as well as a concert on Parliament Hill marking Canada Day. I've been watching the rehearsals and it's going to be a youthful, upbeat and sometimes rocking show.
But first, William and Catherine will witness a citizenship ceremony where new Canadians will pledge allegiance to the sovereign -- currently William's grandmother, but one day, it will be him. This trip will remind William and Catherine of the duty that lies ahead for them; what they are working out at the moment is how they want to carry out that duty.
