Meghan’s tribute to victims of mosque massacre
THE Duchess of Sussex rubbed noses in a hongi with New Zealand’s high commissioner yesterday as she paid her respects to the victims of the Christchurch terror attack.
Meghan and her husband Prince Harry shared the traditional Maori greeting with Sir Jerry Mateparae and his deputy David Evans. The couple laid floral tributes at the High Commission in London before signing the book of condolence.
They wrote: ‘Our deepest condolences... We are with you.’ Beneath their signatures was the Maori word Arohanui – much love.
Heavily pregnant Meghan wore a capestyle black coat, Aquazurra heels and earrings featuring a crossed feathers logo that were given to her by New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern during the royal visit in October. The duchess told commission staff she was ‘just devastated’ by the deaths of 50 people in shootings at two mosques in Christchurch last Friday.
Miss Ardern told her parliament yesterday that the white supremacist charged
‘Deepest condolences. We are with you’
with the murders could be tried in a closed court to stop him grandstanding his farRight views. In an emotional address, she vowed she would never say the gunman’s name in a bid to deny Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, the notoriety he was craving.
‘I implore you, speak the names of those who were lost rather than the name of the man who took them,’ she said. ‘He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist. But he will, when I speak, be nameless.’
She said she hoped that any trial, at which Tarrant has indicated he will represent himself, will be held in camera to deny him further publicity.
‘I will do everything in my power to stop him from sharing his views,’ she said.
Miss Ardern also expressed her frustration at the length of time it had taken social media companies to remove shared videos of the massacre, which Tarrant livestreamed on Facebook.