Royals on whirlwind tour with youth focus
The royals are here! After a successful visit to Australia, Fiji and Tonga, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are now in New Zealand to finish up their 16-day tour.
The couple spent 10 days on official engagements in Australia, winding up with the Sydney closing ceremony of the Invictus Games for war wounded that Prince Harry founded.
Harry and Meghan took a Royal New Zealand Air Force plane for the flight to Wellington, arriving yesterday afternoon.
So when and where can you catch a glimpse – or perhaps even meet – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex? If you want your own chance to chase after the royal Daimler, as people did during the Queen’s 1954 visit, fling yourself off a bridge to impress the royals with your diving skills like the children of Rotorua that same year, or nick a tree freshly planted by a royal hand – this happened in 1990 – this is your chance.
Prince Harry and Meghan will be here for four days. There will be opportunities for the public to see the couple in Wellington, Auckland, and Rotorua.
Wellington
Flying in to Wellington with our medal-winning Invictus Games team yesterday, they were welcomed at Government House with a powhiri and haka, and a 21-gun salute.
The general masses’ first official chance to see – and if they’re lucky, shake the hands of – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was at the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. They laid a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Warrior and went for a public walkabout.
Afterwards the couple returned to Government House to celebrate the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand with Governor-general Dame Patsy Reddy.
Today, kicks off with a visit to Wellington’s Maranui Cafe at 10am to discuss mental health projects with an emphasis on youth wellbeing.
Tasman
Harry and Meghan will then pop across Cook Strait for a walk in Abel Tasman National Park and a barbecue. They will also plant a tree. This will definitely be your best bet to recreate the drama of Southland’s pin oak, planted by the Queen then stolen by an apparently still-at-large-thief. Back in the capital in the evening, the couple will face the ghouls and goblins of newly opened Courtenay Creative – meeting artists in fantasy makeup, costume and virtual reality.
Auckland
Tomorrow, the Duke and Duchess will be in Auckland engaging in a ‘‘welly-wanging’’ contest, which we believe means throwing gumboots. They’ll do this at the North Shore’s Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy between 11.45 and 12.45.
Next stop is Pillars, a charity supporting children with a parent in prison, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Our Government donated $5000 to Pillars as a wedding present to the royal couple. Between 4pm and 4.20pm they’ll be downtown strolling at the Viaduct. At 7pm, they reconnect with the prime minister at a reception at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Rotorua
After travelling to Rotorua on Wednesday, the couple will experience a formal powhiri at Te Papaiouru Marae from 11.30am and lunch.
In the afternoon they meet kiwi chicks at Rainbow Springs, followed by a public walkabout at the Government Gardens.
Prince Harry and Meghan’s final excursion will be with a group of local mountain bikers later that afternoon.
That evening they return to Auckland to depart New Zealand the next day.