When will the royals visit New Zealand? King Charles, Queen Camilla, the Waleses plan Commonwealth tour
King Charles, Queen Camilla, and their children and grandchildren are preparing to embark on a royal tour, likely including a stop in New Zealand.
Plans for two years of royal visits are reportedly underway in an effort for the new King to help strengthen ties with several Commonwealth countries in a show of “soft diplomacy”, reports the Daily Mail.
The new King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and even the youngest royals - Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis - could be touching down in Aotearoa as part of a stop down under.
A palace source told the Daily Mail yesterday that “state visits are back in business”, despite suggestions that the British government’s Foreign Office and Royal Visits Committee have been slow to approve overseas tours.
Late last year following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s office confirmed there was a “standing invitation” in place for the royals, with a visit expected to take place early in 2023.
That timeline may have changed, but there are still several months left of 2023 that could see current Prime Minister Chris Hipkins welcome the royals to New Zealand.
The tour would mark Charles’ first state visits to Commonwealth realms since becoming King, apart from a stop in Germany in March.
Charles is reportedly planning to reschedule a visit to France with Camilla, after his initial plans were postponed due to riots in the country in March. It’s also been confirmed that the King will visit Samoa next year for a meeting with Commonwealth heads of government.
The King and Queen are also planning to travel to Kenya later in the year, while William and Kate are expected to visit Singapore and the Prince of Wales has a solo trip to New York planned for September.
Historian Ian Lloyd told the Daily Mail, “A visit by Charles to Canada and one by the Waleses to Australia and New Zealand would capitalise on the global interest in the Coronation.
“They need to do this soon before that interest wanes – and taking the Waleses’ children would prove to be a PR triumph too.”
The Commonwealth has changed since Queen Elizabeth’s time - where there were once 31 Commonwealth “realms”, today there are 14, and more could be disestablished as several nations call the system into question.
The Wales’ tour of the Caribbean last year sparked controversy, as protesters met them in Jamaica calling for reparations from the British monarchy.
Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda could all break away from the Commonwealth, and last week it was announced that the state of Victoria in Australia would no longer host the 2026 Commonwealth Games as they “do not represent value for money”.
When did the royals last visit New Zealand?
The most recent royal visit saw Princess Anne and her husband Sir Tim Laurence travel to New Zealand in February 2023.
The Princess Royal had to change her itinerary at the last minute as the country reeled from the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle. She had initially planned to visit Linton, near Palmerston North, to attend the 100th anniversary celebrations of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief.
Instead, she visited response staff at the Beehive Bunker, met with riders and volunteers at the Riding for the Disabled Association in Porirua, and visited Christchurch to lay a wreath at the Citizens’ War Memorial before wrapping up her visit.
King Charles last visited New Zealand as the Prince of Wales, with Camilla as the Duchess of Cornwall in 2019, making stops in Auckland, Waitangi, Christchurch and Kaikōura.
Prince William and Princess Kate last visited New Zealand together as the Cambridges in 2014, racing each other on America’s Cup yachts with crews made up of Emirates Team New Zealand members and several youth sailors.
William visited on his own in April 2019, marking Anzac Day at the Auckland War Memorial before heading to Christchurch in a visit focused on the royal family support in the aftermath of the March 15 mosque shootings.
Eight-month-old Prince George accompanied his parents for the 2014 trip, joining other little ones in a Plunket Parents’ Group at Government House - but his siblings Charlotte and Louis are yet to visit.