The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have kicked off their six-day New Zealand tour. The royals arrived on Sunday morning at the Royal New Zealand Air Force Base Whenuapai, just north of Auckland. Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy and Auckland Deputy Mayor Bill Cashmore greeted them at the airport before they headed off to rest before the tour began.
The tour will see them meeting Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and visit both Auckland and Christchurch. This is their third joint tour to the country together; they last visited in 2015.
It began on Monday morning in Auckland – which is 13 hours ahead of London – with Their Royal Highnesses when the couple attended a service of remembrance at Mt Roskill War Memorial. The Prince of Wales laid a wreath during the service in honour of all New Zealand forces who fought and died in World War One.
This park also recognises those from the tiny Pacific nation of Niue who fought alongside the New Zealanders. The Niue Memorial there “recognises 150 Niueans who lost their lives with the 3rd Māori Contingent during WWI,” according to Clarence House.
The couple also spoke to guests at the memorial including former members of the armed forces.
Charles and Camilla then went to the Wesley Community Centre where the Duchess helped make Christmas decorations while Charles tried his hand at screen painting. As he watched and helped a print be put on a shirt, he joked, “This will be a disaster.”
The Prince of Wales next spent time with the staff of Critical Design where he learned about their recycling and how they used recycled goods to make new products. His Royal Highness was also given gifts from the crew and got a chance to get his hands dirty. He was able to try his hand at creating new products out of recyclable goods.
The next event saw the couple reunited at Waimauku where the Prince and Duchess celebrated sustainable produce with local farmers and the community. They then toured the vineyard and gardens and heard about the ‘Paddock to Table’ approach done at the winery.
Their Royal Highnesses moved on to the Hunting Lodge Winery where, among other things, they did a wine tasting and made their own blends.
Next, they attended the presentation of the Queen’s Colour at RNZAF Whenuapai where they both did the traditional Maori greeting ‘Hongi’ with Maori members of the New Zealand Air Force.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe event included Maori performances and the actual presentation of the Queen’s Colour which is the highest honour the monarch can bestow.
Royal visit New Zealand will continue throughout the day. You can follow along on Twitter with the hashtag #RoyalVisitNZ
