Royal Bank of Canada To Acquire American Guaranty & Trust

(September 6, 2006) TORONTO and MONTPELIER, VT - Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and National Life Group today announced that Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) will acquire American Guaranty & Trust (AG&T), a member of National Life Group, pending regulatory approvals and other customary conditions. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“The acquisition of AG&T allows RBC to provide U.S. trust solutions to high net worth clients, complementing our well-established international trust capability and rounding out our wealth management offering in North America and abroad,” said Michael Lagopoulos, President and CEO, RBC Global Private Banking.

The acquisition, which is not material to RBC, is expected to be completed by September 29, 2006, pending regulatory approvals. With more than 30 employees based in Wilmington, Delaware, AG&T currently administers more than 1,000 personal trusts and holds more than $1.3 billion in trust and investment accounts for its clients.

As a result of the deal, Lee Cheney, currently AG&T President and CEO, will become the head of RBC’s U.S. trust business, reporting to Michael Moodie, head of RBC Global Private Banking in the U.S. and Caribbean.

“This acquisition builds on our growing presence in key U.S. markets and allows RBC to better deliver domestic, international or integrated planning solutions to our clients depending on what's best for their needs,” Moodie said.

"We are very pleased with the prospects of this change and look forward to continuing our record of superb trust services to our clientele," Cheney said. "We also believe that RBC presents us with exceptional growth opportunities."

The acquisition extends RBC Financial Group's growing U.S. financial services platform. “This deal demonstrates RBC’s commitment to expanding in global high growth businesses where we have significant competitive advantages. It also reinforces RBC’s commitment to strategically expand its businesses in the U.S.,” added Lagopoulos.

“We have been proud of our association with American Guaranty & Trust over the past decade and are pleased that our advisors and agents will continue to have access to their well established and highly respected trust capabilities," said Ken Ehinger, Senior Vice President of National Life Insurance Company. “But we have concluded that our own interests - and those of our clients - are best served by focusing on the development, sale and service of life insurance, annuities and mutual funds. Our success will continue to be built around those core businesses."

In addition to Global Private Banking offices in New York, Miami, San Francisco and Houston, RBC’s U.S. operations include RBC Centura, a regional bank in the U.S. Southeast; RBC Dain Rauscher, a full-service securities firm; RBC Insurance, a national provider of insurance protection and asset accumulation solutions; RBC Capital Markets, with corporate and investment banking operations in New York, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Houston and other select U.S. locations; and RBC Builder Finance, a Houston-based provider of construction loans with national reach.

About Royal Bank of Canada Global Private Banking

Global Private Banking is Royal Bank of Canada's international wealth management operation, including private banking, trust services, discretionary investment management, global custody and international full-service brokerage. Royal Bank of Canada Global Private Banking locations are selected for the flexibility and security they provide our clients and for the integrity of their financial and regulatory systems. With a network of 30 offices in 21 financial centers around the world, RBC Global Private Banking provides international financial services for private and corporate clients resident in more than 150 countries. For more information, please visit www.rbcprivatebanking.com.

About Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada (TSX, NYSE: RY) uses the initials RBC as a prefix for its businesses and operating subsidiaries, which operate under the master brand name of RBC Financial Group. Royal Bank of Canada is Canada's largest financial institution as measured by market capitalization and assets, and is one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies. It provides personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment banking, and transaction processing services on a global basis. The company employs approximately 70,000 people who serve more than 14 million personal, business and public sector clients through offices in North America and some 30 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.rbc.com.

About National Life Group

National Life Group is a growing and diversified family of financial service companies made up of its flagship company, National Life Insurance Company which was founded in Montpelier, Vt. in 1850, as well as Sentinel Asset Management Inc., Equity Services, Inc. and National Retirement Plan Advisors Inc. all of Montpelier; and Life Insurance Company of the Southwest of Dallas, Texas. Companies in the Group offer a comprehensive portfolio of life insurance, annuity and equity products to help individuals, families and businesses meet their financial goals.

About American Guaranty & Trust

Chartered in Delaware in 1914, American Guaranty & Trust offers complete personal trust and custody services though a unique strategic partnership with professional advisors across the country. For more than 90 years its focus has been to provide clients with effective, flexible, dependable, and fairly-priced personal trust services. AG&T is a leader in offering Delaware Trusts, a preferred wealth-building and preservation tool. The company’s investment services were originally founded in Wilmington, Delaware by members of the E.I. du Pont family.

For more information, please contact:

Media

Beja Rodeck, RBC Financial Group, 416-974-5506, beja.rodeck@rbc.com

Brian Vachon, National Life Group, 802-229-3882, BVachon@nationallife.com

Investors

Dave Mun, RBC Financial Group, 416-955-7808, dave.mun@rbc.com

Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking statements under certain securities laws, including the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and in any applicable Canadian securities legislation, and RBC and National Life of Vermont ("NLV") intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor created thereby. The words "may," "could," "should," "would," "suspect," "outlook," "believe," "plan," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "forecast", "objective" , "prospects" and words and expressions of similar import are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, and inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements, including statements about the proposed acquisition of AG&T by RBC will not be achieved. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of important factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to the possibility that the proposed transaction does not close when expected or at all because required regulatory or other approvals are not received or other conditions to the closing are not satisfied on a timely basis or at all, that the RBC and NLV may be required to modify the terms and conditions of the proposed transaction to achieve regulatory approval, or that the anticipated benefits of the transaction are not realized as a result of such things as the strength of the economy and competitive factors in the areas where AG&T does business; the impact of changes in the laws and regulations regulating financial services and enforcement thereof (including banking, insurance and securities); judicial judgments and legal proceedings; RBC's ability to complete the acquisition of AG&T and to integrate it with RBC Global Private Banking successfully; reputational risks, and other factors that may affect future results of RBC and AG&T including changes in trade policies, timely development and introduction of new products and services, changes in tax laws, and technological and regulatory changes . We caution that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. RBC, NLV and AG&T assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.