Last week’s announcement of a royal visit to the Maritimes has stirred up a lot of excitement, particularly in the town of Pictou, N.S.

The town will welcome Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, on May 19.

While stops at larger centres like Halifax and Charlottetown are expected, some are wondering why the tiny town of Pictou was chosen.

“It’s the birthplace of New Scotland,” suggests Pictou Mayor Joe Hawes. “The original Scottish settlers came over, they came over on the Hector. We have a replica of it and it’s here in Pictou.”

“Prince Charles has obviously very Scottish roots and, hopefully, it’s because they want to see where the immigrants landed,” says innkeeper Anne Emmett.

Prince Charles could end up following in his sister’s footsteps; Princess Anne made a lucky contribution to the Hector when she visited Pictou in 1991.

“They decided they’d put a horseshoe on the hull of the Hector and she drove the final nail into the horseshoe, very gingerly, I might say,” says amateur historian Raymond Gregory.

Olive Pastor, with the Monarchist League of Canada, was instrumental in getting a highway near Pictou dedicated to the Queen’s Jubilee, but she never imagined a member of the Royal Family would drive over it someday.

“Well, when I was wanting it done, it was taking so long, I didn’t know if it would, but they all worked well and got it done and we have beautiful signs for it,” says Pastor.

As for possible activities during their Pictou stop, Hawes says the royal couple might enjoy a tour of the Northumberland Fisheries Museum and could even adopt a lobster.

“Maybe we can have Charles and Camilla and put them into the ocean and there’ll be some royal lobsters in the harbour,” he says.

There is also speculation the Royals may be travelling to Prince Edward Island on the ferry, but for now, it’s just a theory.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh