Duchess shows how to put the boot in
Cheers of ‘‘go Harry’’ and ‘‘go Meghan’’ echoed across an Auckland clearing as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex vied to win a gumboot-shaped trophy.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were at the North Shore Riding Club in Auckland yesterday morning to dedicate a 20ha section of native bush to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy.
The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy, a conservation initiative, was launched in 2015 to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s long service to the Commonwealth.
The pair, who are expecting their first child in the northern hemisphere’s spring, also took part in a gumboot-throwing or ‘‘welly-wanging’’ competition – with the duchess taking home the prize.
Their Royal Highnesses were welcomed to the riding club, and to Auckland, with a powhiri by local kaumatua, as hosts scrambled to shelter them with umbrellas during a rain shower.
The duchess was dressed in dark colours, sporting black J Crew jeans and a Karen Walker blazer.
About 100 members of the QEII National Trust, which oversees the QCC in New Zealand, and children from nearby Pinehill School attended the private dedication ceremony.
Prince Harry said he and his wife were delighted to dedicate the native bush.
The Commonwealth Canopy aimed to help protect native forest and was a ‘‘unique network of forest conservation projects’’, he said.
New Zealand was one of the first countries to join the initiative, and since then had registered more than 4500 covenants.
‘‘When you think that each of those covenants is enabling the protection of important areas of biodiversity on private land – that is a huge achievement and one that deserves recognition.
‘‘As I learned in the car, there are no incentives; farmers are doing this because it’s the right thing to do.’’
Pinehilll School pupils helped the duke and duchess plant native trees.
‘‘We would love to think that one day Baby Sussex might return to New Zealand to check in on the trees his or her parents planted on their first Royal visit to New Zealand,’’ QEII Trust chairman James Guild said.
After the North Shore event, the duke and duchess went to Pillars, a south Auckland charity which supports the children of prisoners. New Zealand’s wedding gift to the royal couple was a $5000 donation to the charity.