Gumboot throwing and rain fitting combo for Super City
Harry’s command of Pasifika greetings impresses guests at evening reception
First it was the Duchess of Sussex speaking te reo — now Prince Harry has been applauded after rolling out a long list of Pasifika greetings. The royal couple attended a reception hosted by Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern at the Auckland War Memorial Museum last night.
After being welcomed the Duke of Sussex took to the stage where he opened his speech, albeit slightly hesitantly, with the Pasifika greetings.
“Prime Minister, honoured guests, ladies and gentleman. Talofa lava, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, fakaalofa lahi atu, kia orana, tena koutou katoa.
“This is definitely the first time I’ve spoken most of those languages so you’ll have to excuse my pronunciation,” the Prince joked.
But the crowd loved it and clapped enthusiastically.
His wife Meghan was applauded after starting her speech in te reo at a reception on Sunday night hosted by the Governor-General to celebrate the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand.
Conservation and gumboots
The day’s first official engagement was at Redvale, on the North Shore,
where the couple dedicated 20ha of native bush to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy, a conservation initiative by Commonwealth nations.
At the North Shore Riding Club, about 100 members of the QEII National Trust — which oversees the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy in New Zealand — and children from nearby Pinehill School gathered.
Prince Harry said: “For those of you who do not know, the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy — or QCC — is a unique network of forest conservation projects.”
The QCC aims to help protect native forests.
The Duke said the QCC was a cause close to the hearts of himself and his grandmother, the Queen.
New Zealand had been one of the first countries to join the initiative and since then had registered more than 4500 covenants.
Pinehill School pupils sang a waiata and helped the Duke and Duchess plant native trees.
Meghan planted a kowhai, a nod to the kowhai flower motif included on her wedding veil, which featured the signature flowers of all the Commonwealth countries.
Prince Harry planted a puriri, which is indigenous to the northern North Island.
The couple’s competitive streak came to light as they joined the children for a gumboot throwing contest.
Pillars of strength
After a private lunch, the royal couple visited the Pillars charity premises in South Auckland, which provides mentoring programmes for children with a parent in prison.
In May, when Harry and Meghan were married, the Government gifted $5000 to Pillars, due to the couple’s interest in programmes that support vulnerable children.
Pillars, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, is NZ’s only charity dedicated to supporting children of prisoners. More than 23,000 Kiwi kids have a parent in prison.
About 200 people, including children, their families and Pillars supporters, waited excitedly in the auditorium for the royal couple to appear.
When they did, the Duchess — wearing a soft pink Brandon Maxwell dress and Burberry coat — was handed a bunch of flowers by a young girl in a white dress.
Sir Pita Sharples welcomed the couple and Ardern.
Harry said thousands of children were affected and without the right support they were much more likely to spend time in prison.
“But now children can have stability in times of turmoil.” He urged them to use this opportunity to create exciting futures for themselves. “Couldn’t be happier to support such fantastic work. Kia kaha!”
Public walkabout
By 4pm, the royals were downtown at the Viaduct, ready for a public walkabout that could have easily been cancelled because of heavy rain throughout the day.
But the rain held off and people were treated to handshakes and chats with the royals and Ardern.
At one stage, the crowd broke into song, singing the Ma¯ ori version of the national anthem.
And of course there were gifts — including a knitted teddy bear, a teething ring, a jar of Marmite and a prized All Blacks onesie.
Evening reception
Guests who attended the reception were in their late teens to mid 20s and had made significant contributions to their communities.
Prince Harry told them he and his wife had “enormous respect” for them. “Your generation is quite literally changing the world. Don’t ever stop fighting.”
He said New Zealand was a place he and the Duchess had visited separately before and it was a joy to return as a couple.
“We’re meeting little Kiwis, we’re meeting big Kiwis, being treated to your fantastic food, culture and sporting activities — well if you can call welly-wanging or gumboot throwing a sport!”
After the speeches, the royal visitors were treated to an energetic Pacific dance performance.