Canada came to be at war when in 1914 King George V declared that the British Empire was at war with its German counterpart. At the time, Canada had in Ottawa a royal viceroy in the form of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn; though well intended, the Prince donned his Field Marshal's uniform and, without ministerial advice, went to military training grounds and barracks to address the troops and see them off on their voyage to Europe. This was much to the chagrin of the prime minister at the time, Robert Borden, who saw the Governor General as overstepping constitutional conventions. Though Borden blamed the military secretary of the day, Edward Stanton, he also opined that Prince Arthur "laboured under the handicap of his position as a member of the Royal Family and never realised his limitations as Governor General." Arthur's wife, Princess Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught, also helped in the war effort, forming volunteer groups to make supplies for Canadian soldiers overseas; for Christmas in 1915, she sent a card and a box of maple sugar to every Canadian serving in Europe and she had a knitting machine installed at Rideau Hall, on which she made thousands of pairs of socks for soldiers. Princess Patricia, the Connaughts' daughter, became so active with the military that Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was in 1914 named in her honour; the Princess personally chose the infantry's colours, designed its badge, and was appointed as its colonel-in-chief at the cessation of hostilities in 1918.