Tiny Tı¯rau swells with pride
‘‘I can still picture the dress she wore, a white one with green flowers . . . it was the most wonderful welcome I’ve ever seen. ’’
When Queen Elizabeth II visited Tı¯rau, the small Waikato town had a population of 600.
She was greeted by a crowd of 10,000.
Amid a festive atmosphere on New Year’s Day 1954, the monarch drew her loyal subjects from across the region for a fleeting visit that saw two trees planted before she was on her way again.
While the popularity of the Royal household has ebbed and flowed since that first
Coronation Tour visit that began in 1953, the Queen – who had visited New Zealand on 10 occasions – has always remained a popular and welcome visitor to these shores.
In part her popularity can be attributed to her work ethic.
Her first trip saw her visit 46 towns and cities, taking part in 110 separate functions, across locations in Rotorua, Hamilton, Waitomo, Huntly, and Ngāruawāhia.
It was an old-fashioned sense of duty that decades years later, still struck a chord with Christina Gardiner.
Gardiner, a sprightly 77 years old when she spoke to Stuff in 2018, was a 12-year-old resident of Rotorua’s Whakarewarewa Maori Village when, on January 3, 1954, she was among the crowd eager to see Queen Elizabeth.
They weren’t expecting the Queen, however.
‘‘We were told at school that Princess Elizabeth and Philip
Mountbatten were coming, and then we were told she was not coming when we expected because her dad had passed away and by the time she gets to us, she’ll be Queen Elizabeth II.’’
Gardiner’s eyes lit up when she recalled the reception the Queen received at Rotorua’s Arawa Park on a stifling hot day.
‘‘I can still picture the dress she wore, a white one with green flowers ... it was the most wonderful welcome I’ve ever seen,’’ she said.
‘‘As a kid I’m watching her and thinking gosh, this heat. As time went on I understood she was Queen and couldn’t afford to let her guard down. She took it all in her stride with dignity. I’ve admired her ever since.’’
Gardiner shared another anecdote about the Queen’s visit too, one that involved Rangitı¯aria Dennan, better known as Guide Rangi.
‘‘Rangi said to her, you must be tired, all that travelling. Can you get rid of some of them [dignitaries] and we’ll go to my place. She took the Queen home to have a rest, take your shoes off, you’re at home, so she was a bit late coming to Arawa Park,’’ she said.
‘‘She enjoyed her rest at Rangi’s place and she enjoyed her cup of tea. The press wasn’t supposed to get hold of that, but it’s how it is when you have visitors. She may be the Queen but Guide Rangi just said take a step back, she’s coming back with me. Just the Duke and the Queen. That’s hospitality at its best.’’
That first visit is also remembered by Diane McNally, daughter of Hamilton’s only locksmith, Horace Price.
It was December 30, 1953, and there was a problem at the Hamilton Hotel.
In anticipation of the Royal arrival, the door to her room had been locked – and no-one could open it.
‘‘The lock had broken on her suite,’’ McNally said. ‘‘He had to fix the lock before Her Majesty could stay the night.’’
She made a strong impression on another Hamilton resident during that visit too, Margaret Hellen, then a 17-year-old who attended a civic dinner and youth fiesta at Hamilton’s Bledisloe Hall.
‘‘The Queen stood in a balcony, high up. She looked beautiful.’’