MONTREAL - Ever wonder what it's like in that royal bubble when the heir to the throne and his wife come to call?

For one thing, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, come with their own crowd. Not your typical well-wishers, though. Their shadows are a small army of security, their own staff, Canadian government officials, assistants and media.

"The analogy is the graceful swan swimming on the water and yet the little feet underneath are swimming up a storm," says Kevin MacLeod, the Canadian secretary to the Queen and the visit co-ordinator.

And if you're among those little feet, scurrying to keep up with the fast-moving entourage? First tip - bring food. And comfortable shoes.

That's because otherwise you won't eat and you'll run like a marathoner.

Not that the prince does any better. He's like some regal Jack Bauer, the hard-driving anti-terror agent on TV's "24," who is never seen eating or making a pit stop.

"They have a very good breakfast and a very good dinner," says MacLeod. They want to get from one event to the other and meet people.

And they did plenty of that during their 11-day visit, which wrapped Thursday.

Organizing a trip like the one just ended is no small thing. You don't just throw together a schedule and point the royals at it. They have things they want to do, issues they want to address.

Like Jack Bauer, Charles gets from one end of the city he's visiting to another in record time - thanks to motorcycle escorts and enough flashing lights to put any self-respecting pinball arcade to shame.

Forget pulling out of your parking space - or going anywhere - when you see a royal motorcade coming. Turn that steering wheel and you'll find a leather-jacketed motorcycle cop planting himself in front of you and raising his hand to signal it's OK for the cavalcade to pass.

It prompts lots of gawking from the sidewalks. Cellphone cameras are raised. People wave, even to the media and the Mounties.

The royal motorcades usually number around a dozen ...[next page]