Prince Philip is awarded the Order of New Zealand
At a small ceremony earlier today held at Buckingham Palace Her Majesty, The Queen (who also serves as Queen of New Zealand) awarded Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh her husband of 65 years with New Zealand’s highest honour, the Order of New Zealand.
It was announced that His Royal Highness would receive the honour along with the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours List which is released annually in June on the advice of the government of New Zealand. During the presentation and photos Sir Lockwood Smith, former Speaker of the House of Representatives of New Zealand and current High Commissioner to the United Kingdom was present.
The soon-to-be 92 year old prince was made an ‘additional member’ of the order which is made up of no more than 20 ‘ordinary members’ (upon the death of a member, their place may be given to another deserving person) and a given number of additional and honorary members.
Currently, the Order of New Zealand has 16 ordinary members including The Right Honourable Jim Boulger, former Prime Minister of New Zealand (35th); nine additional members including Sir Peter Jackson, legendary film director and one honorary member Sir Shridath Ramphal former Commonwealth Secretary-General.
The order was created in February of 1987.
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