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World video travel guide
News • New Zealand • 2011-04-28
Royal wedding celebrations Kiwi-style
Few Kiwis can forget the moment when baby Prince William first found his feet during his inaugural tour of New Zealand, so the nation will be watching closely as he takes his first steps into married life this week.
While New Zealand might be on the other side of the world from the action at London’s Westminster Abbey when the Prince marries Kate Middleton late Friday night NZ time, Kiwis will be involved in the Royal event at close quarters and from afar.
As well as the chosen few New Zealanders who will attend the royal wedding, several others will be directly involved behind the scenes.
Kiwis living in the UK, and those there especially for the wedding, are planning Kiwi-style celebrations - including a fun run in Manchester where participants will be handcuffed together in couples.
'British' New Zealand
But half a world away, New Zealanders at home will mark the occasion in a variety of ways - mostly in front of the television - enjoying private celebrations that will reflect strong links to their English heritage.
New Zealand is considered the most ‘British’ country in the world, outside the British Isles, because approximately 85% of the population is of British descent.
More than 200,000 people from the UK live in New Zealand, and around 13,000 skilled migrants are accepted from the UK each year.
Prince William’s links with the New Zealand - from his famous crawling episode on Government House lawn in Auckland in 1983 to the 2009 visit when he represented the Queen overseas for the first time - are also credited with fuelling interest in the royal wedding.
Wedding fever
New Zealand has been gripped by royal wedding fever in a way that has surprised not only the sceptics but also the British themselves.
A British newspaper reporter visiting New Zealand expressed surprise at being served coffee in cups specially printed for the royal wedding, during an Air New Zealand flight across the Tasman.
Shop windows advertising parties and royal events, and the extent of New Zealand media coverage compared to the UK, was also unexpected.
For weeks the pending royal wedding has dominated New Zealand media, and local advertising and marketing companies have explored every opportunity to capitalise on the event.
Competitions and promotions have offered prizes ranging from Union Jack cushions and bedding "fit for a princess", to free flights to London for the "wedding of the decade".
NZ TV coverage
In the countdown to Friday’s event, plans are emerging as to how Kiwis will participate in what is likely to become the most watched programme in television history.
NZ television channels will screen royal-related programmes all week, with live daily reports from London and documentaries about Kate and William, through to early evening on Friday when continuous coverage of the wedding starts at 6pm local time and runs into the early hours of Saturday morning.
Hundreds of thousands are expected to watch the ceremony - with many Kiwis planning wedding parties at home with Union Jack bunting, red white and blue decorations. Guests plan to dress up for the occasion, drink champagne and serve English-style wedding breakfasts with foods like smoked salmon canapés and cucumber sandwiches.
Monarchy New Zealand
A public "informal" celebration is being organised by Monarchy New Zealand at the Mercure Hotel in Auckland. Guests have been told the dress code is smart casual and a royal wedding cake will feature both traditional flowers and Kiwi natives like pohutukawa, kowhai and the iconic silver fern.
Some hotels throughout New Zealand, including The Langham in Auckland, have been celebrating the royal nuptials with high tea during the month of April.
In Rotorua, a royal high tea will be held at the Distinction Hotel the day after the event, because of the inconvenient time difference. The special afternoon tea and screening of the wedding is scheduled for Saturday 30 April, with all proceeds going to the Christchurch earthquake appeal.
New Zealand’s gift to the royal couple has also been confirmed as a NZ$10,000 donation to the earthquake appeal fund.
Knitted wedding party
The royal wedding has been played out in an unusual way in the Hawke’s Bay city of Napier where a group of knitters has produced an unusual version of the wedding party.
Eight staff from the Eastern Institute of Technology knitted members of the wedding party using scraps of wool and patterns from a book called ‘Knit your own Royal Wedding’.
Their tableau includes a knitted version of Prince William, Kate, the Queen, Prince Harry, Camilla Parker-Bowles, the Archbishop of Canterbury and a corgi. An angelic creation of Princess Diana knitted in white wool, hovers over the group.
NZ wool
Meanwhile the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has shown his support of the country’s woollen industry by choosing to wear a bespoke suit made from merino and washed with pounamu / NZ greenstone, to the royal wedding.
Mr Key said the suit, made by RJB Design in Auckland, was a great example of New Zealand technology.
New Zealand has been allocated prime seating in Westminster Abbey for the royal wedding with the Prime Minister and his wife Bronagh, Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand, his wife Lady Susan, and High Commissioner to London Derek Leask all sitting in the South Transept, to the right of the British royal family.
Former sheep shearer Gary Lewis, from New Zealand, and his wife Lady Davina, 24th in line to the throne, will sit with members of the royal family.
Lunch with the Queen
Mr Key said it was also significant for New Zealand that he had been granted a two-hour audience with the Queen and a meeting with Prince Charles in such a busy week for the Royals.
The NZ Prime Minister had lunch with Prince Edward and the Queen at Windsor Castle. He took the Queen some New Zealand tea and said they discussed the Christchurch earthquake and Pike River mining disaster.
"She has great passion and care for New Zealand and she wanted me to pass on her very best wishes to the people of Christchurch and the Pike River families."
Mr Key said the Queen was very interested in the Christchurch rebuild and wanted to know what she could do to help.
