In pictures: Celebrating 150 years since New Zealand's first royal visit

Thursday, 11 April 2019

Nothing creates as much giddiness in New Zealand as a royal tour.

Perhaps it's the unrivalled regal pomp of it all, or maybe it's just nice as a Commonwealth to have the royals travel so far to see the nation.

What ever it is, it started 150 years ago this week. The first-ever visit Royal visit to New Zealand was on April 11, 1869, when The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, arrived in Wellington on HMS Galatea.

Even back then, the arrival of the the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert ignited royal fever. Crowds all wanted a look at the prince as he spent a week in the capital, before heading to Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin and Auckland.

He was greeted with the haka, speeches, bunting, 150 Maori chiefs, and enjoyed lots of grand official functions, a pig hunt and quite a few afternoons shooting at pūkeko and pigeons.

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The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, was the first member of the British Royal Family to visit our shores.

Christchurch Railway Station welcomed Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, with a decorative triumphal arch.

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Christchurch people gathered outside the Clarendon Hotel in the hope of seeing the Duke of Edinburgh in 1869.

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Escorted by New Zealand's Minister for Māori Affairs Ernest Corbett, The Queen was welcomed to Waitangi in December 1953.

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The prince must have had quite the jolly time - returning to New Zealand three times between 1869 and 1870.

It set a precedent and, since then, the Royal family has travelled the 19,000km to this side of the world 50 times.

Crowds lined Wellington's Queens Wharf to catch a glimpse of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II stepping ashore in February 1963.

THE EARLY DAYS

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the only way to get to New Zealand was a three-month journey by ship. It was hardly a comfortable trip and often it would just be the royal gents who would travel.

The Queen examines blood specimens through the microscope of medical student Beverley Luscombe while visiting the histology department at the new Auckland University medical school in March, 1970.

The tone was set early on, with the arrival of royalty being greeted, usually in Wellington, with great fanfare. Celebration would be packed into every moment of the following month as the royal went from city to city.

THE 1950s: THE ARRIVAL OF THE BIG GUNS

It wasn't until 1953 New Zealanders were visited by the first-ever reigning monarch,Queen Elizabeth II and husband Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Prince Charles, Princess Diana and Prince William on the lawn of Government House, Auckland in 1983.

Hundreds camped overnight on the aptly-named Queen St, in Auckland, to get the first glimpse of the new Queen of England. The then 27-year-old packed it in, visiting 46 towns and attending 110 functions during her summer stay.

She was even pictured broadcasting her Christmas message on the radio to the Commonwealth from Government House, Wellington.

Queen Elizabeth dined with New Zealand swimmer Paul Kingsman and other Commonweatlth Games competitors during her visit to Auckland in 1990.

THE 1960s: A QUICKIE VISIT

Prince Phillip and the Queen's Mother both made individual visits in the late 1950s, but it would take another nine years for the Queen to visit again, touching down in February 1963.

Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, and son George, joined other parents and kids for a Plunket Group meeting at Government House in 2014.

The royal party arrived at the Bay of Islands in the Royal Yacht Britannia and attended the Waitangi celebrations, before sailing for Auckland and then onto Wellington, where they were hit with terrible weather, including winds of up to 50kph.

THE 1970s: THE WALK-ABOUT DEBUTS

A gumboot throwing competition was just one of the many activities The Duke and Duchess of Sussex packed into their whirlwind tour last year.

It was a bit of a royal drought for in the late 1960s, but the Royal Family made-up for it in 1970, with the Queen arriving with Prince Phillip and their children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

It was during this visit that the Queen changed the face of royal visits forever. Instead of meeting and greeting those on an itinerary and at special functions, she and the family initiated the royal walk-about, casually chatting to the public who were lined in the street to see her.

Prince Charles enjoyed this more casual approach. Then in his late 20s, he was even pictured square-dancing with some local ladies.

THE 1980s: THE ROYAL HANDOVER

The Queen firmly handed over the baton to Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1983, with the couple arriving in New Zealand two years into their marriage. The nation, like the rest of the world, instantly fell for the glamour of Diana, but it was all eyes on the cherub-faced Prince William who was 10-months-old.

It would be the only NZ visit for the couple and the picture of William playing between his parents on the lawn of Government House is iconic.

THE 1990s: THE RETURN OF THE QUEEN

Our nation's sesquicentennial celebrations in 1990 saw the return of Queen Elizabeth II, but it wasn't a totally joyous visit. During Waitangi Day celebrations, a protester threw a t-shirt at the Queen as she arrived.

Generally over the years the Queen has taken a keen interest in Māori culture. In te reo, the Queen is known as Kotuku, which means 'the white heron', a cherished bird rarely seen in New Zealand.

THE 21ST CENTURY: THE MODERN ROYALS MAKE WAVES

The Queen visited New Zealand as part of the commemoration of her Golden (50th) Jubilee in 2002, but it was Prince William's 2010 visit ignited what would truly become a different type of royal visit.

Dressed casually and with gel slicked through his hair, he joined Prime Minister John Key at a barbecue at Premier House and hung out with the All Blacks. The last few decades of strict royal protocol were well and truly over.

Two years later, Prince Charles returned with another wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. It was the first time the royals were faced with vocal disapproval, with some in the crowd in Auckland overheard shouting, 'I don't want to pay for your holiday'.

Then, in 2014, Prince William and wife the Duchess of Cambridge arrived with their first-born son George. During their 10-day visit, George had his first-ever royal engagement, attending a Plunket meeting at Government House.

Four years later, the country went crazy for William's brother Prince Harry and his celebrity new wife Meghan Markle.

With each decade, there's been undoubtedly a shift, as new royals put their individual spin on a royal visit, but it's perhaps the arrival of sixth-in-line to the throne with the Suits-star-turned-Duchess-of-Sussex that generated the most interest in recent years.

During their whirlwind, three-day visit, the newlyweds spent a day in Wellington, Auckland and Rotorua. And despite it being Markle's first royal tour, she got stuck in. She was spotted 'welly wanging', dropped some te reo into a speech and hung out with our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.