Prince William: Visit to New Zealand and Australia - January 17-21, 2010


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A nice article where the Prime Minister of NZ, John Key, had some nice things to say about William:
Mr Key said the prince was "a very charming young man".
"He's extremely relaxed. I found him very, very personable. I wasn't sure entirely what to expect but he's very down to earth, he's got a great sense of humour.
"I think he's got a strong sense of the responsibilities that he currently commands and those that lie before him and yeah he's just a fine young man."
 
Yes, but I mean about an hour. In New Zealand, was the map and are marked with the place and time in which the points were held and there is not that
 
No thank heaven someone has said that ... not all Australians want a republic alll these so called and mostly self appointed clever clogs who believe that the past is not connected to the future and that we are too sophiscated to want links to our colonial past really give me the pip..... I love being what I am and who I am and part of that is Monarchy am Australian, so thanks for that Charlotte1
I agree bertie. I understand Australian's desire for independence but I for one like the monarchy and our historical connection to it.

It looks like his New Zealand trip was a great success and now he's finally in Australia. Yaaaay! :clap:
 
It seems like the trip is going well for William. He also appears to have been received well in NZ and Aus.
 
Polls aren’t all that accurate,
I shortened your post quite a bit but thats what I said, only in a much shorter version. :lol:I read in one of the Ozzie papers that the reason some want him to skip Prince Charles is because he is young and the young have more ideas! :cool: The monarchists may be happy now but next year the visit will be forgotten, thats what happens.
I'm glad he and some of the Ozzies are enjoying the visit though, it would have been awful for him. I don't like the lack of formality though.
 
To the consternation of republicans, Prince William's "private" visit has been receiving blanket and extremely positive coverage on all the commercial TV networks here in Sydney.
 

Watching Prince William on this trip, I find him to be a really good mix of Charles and Diana. He has a bit of Diana's way with people and yet he doesn't seem to be interested in the media attention the way his mother was. He seems to have Charles' desire to stay out of the spotlight and just carry out his duty--but he combines that with a bit more charisma than I think Charles naturally has.

Australians seem to be really turning out for William's visit, more than Republicans maybe expected. I know that William has to finish his RAF training and all, but I think the royal family would be wise to use him for foreign visits while he's still young. Because right now I think that's why people are turning out to see him--he has youth, good looks and energy and he still reminds many people of Diana.
 
It's nice to see Will in Australia & New Zealand...it would have been even nicer if Harry was there.
 
He has warm, friendly and happy smiles. It is a genuine smile and he talks to people in deferent level at ease ... imo, which I see it is opposite from British royal senior. They are so stiff and protocol.
 
I like the way they're keeping this visit low-key. It enables William to truly get to know the people and experience the culture on a more intimate level by not having it all stiff and formal.

He's getting a taste of the culture too... literally. It's interesting how they cook the food in the ground with it covered. I'll bet it's delicious! http://www.gala.de/asset/Image/bild...lliam-downunder/prinz-william-downunder13.jpg
Got something in your eye sir? http://www.spiegel.de/images/image-50377-galleryV9-clbg.jpg :lol:
I like how they do their greeting in NZ: http://www.spiegel.de/images/image-50371-galleryV9-gicr.jpg
Big crowd, camera ready http://www.spiegel.de/images/image-50375-galleryV9-gzsk.jpg
 
I think that anyone who has seen the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on walk-about would say the same thing about them, although they haven't been in the habit of bending down to children. The Duke has lifted children up so that they can see the Queen, though.

He has warm, friendly and happy smiles. It is a genuine smile and he talks to people in deferent level at ease ... imo, which I see it is opposite from British royal senior. They are so stiff and protocol.
 
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He has warm, friendly and happy smiles. It is a genuine smile and he talks to people in deferent level at ease ... imo, which I see it is opposite from British royal senior. They are so stiff and protocol.


That certainly hasn't been my experience of being in the crowds and having spoken to the Queen, Philip and Charles. All were warm, interested and friendly, and in the case of the Queen, very concerned about a 12 year old girl who was out in the cold waiting to see here only a week or so after having had my appendix removed. (My school had just changed their uniform and the tartan was the same as the Canadian Air Force and so we had had to get the Queen's permission to also use that tartan, which she gave. My headmistress requested that I wear that uniform to the airport, which also indicated to any police etc that I wasn't truanting to get a better view, seeing as the local schools were all lined up outside their schools and she drove past those schools to the centre of the town. She noticed the tartan and spoke to me about that and about why I wasn't with my school mates, and when told commented that I had better keep warm and not get too tired as she wouldn't want me to have to go back to hospital just because I wanted to see her - very personable and friendly - and that was in 1970 - the first time I spoke to her and on the three occasions since she has been just as warm as has Philip and Charles).
 
He seems very personable, and boasts a genuine interest in others.
 
I think it's great that he has been so well recieved. Perhaps the commonwealth may hang on after all.
 
I like the way they're keeping this visit low-key.
Not quite "low-key". The media can't get enough. As I said earlier it's received blanket coverage. Who would have thought? :D

ETA... To gauge the level of public interest there are more telling and subtle indicators... On the TV news coverage of William's activities around Sydney Harbour yesterday it was quite noticeable that the new Labor State Premier never left William's side. When the spin doctors and minders ensure the Premier is never further than two feet away and is in every photo and TV camera frame, you know that someone very popular with the general public is in town. Ah, the allure of Royalty; not even Labor Party pollies (socialist, republican, blah blah) can resist.
 
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I think it's great that he has been so well recieved. Perhaps the commonwealth may hang on after all.


The Commonwealth is in danger from total disinterest amongst the people of the member nations and has nothing to do with the desire among many Australians for us to become a republic.

There are many republics within the Empire with India being the largest in terms of population.

If and when Australia becomes a republic the other member nations will get to have a vote on keeping us but other than that there will be no change to the status of the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth has over 50 nations. Most of them are republics now.

However, for most people the Commonwealth has very little meaning - sure the Commonwealth Games happen every four years - this year in Delhi but there is a possibility of some countries not attending due to fears of terrorism, with England (and I assume the other countries that constitute the UK - at the Commonwealth Games Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and each of the Channel Islands all compete separately) - having talked about not going and the Australian government has said that it will assess the situation closer to the time.

Other than the Games we don't hear about the Commonwealth much. Even when the Heads of Government meet and the Queen attends, unless the meeting is in Australia itself we usually don't hear much about it. I head more about CHOGM on this board than I do anywhere else, usually with people commenting on what the Queen is wearing and not about what matters were discussed.

For the smaller and poorer nations it might have meaning but for many Australians it means very little, if they are aware of it at all.

In our NSW History course where we teach about Australia in International Organisations the Commonwealth doesn't get a mention but SEATO, ANZUS and the UN do. That is the mandatory course that all students must study.
 
There seems to be a myth around that all Royals except for Diana have been cold and stiff. Diana was certainly gifted in terms of relating to people; but Windsors, considering that many of them have the reputation of being rather shy, do very well.


That certainly hasn't been my experience of being in the crowds and having spoken to the Queen, Philip and Charles. All were warm, interested and friendly, and in the case of the Queen, very concerned about a 12 year old girl who was out in the cold waiting to see here only a week or so after having had my appendix removed. (My school had just changed their uniform and the tartan was the same as the Canadian Air Force and so we had had to get the Queen's permission to also use that tartan, which she gave. My headmistress requested that I wear that uniform to the airport, which also indicated to any police etc that I wasn't truanting to get a better view, seeing as the local schools were all lined up outside their schools and she drove past those schools to the centre of the town. She noticed the tartan and spoke to me about that and about why I wasn't with my school mates, and when told commented that I had better keep warm and not get too tired as she wouldn't want me to have to go back to hospital just because I wanted to see her - very personable and friendly - and that was in 1970 - the first time I spoke to her and on the three occasions since she has been just as warm as has Philip and Charles).
 
Watching the Australian Open and who should be given a rapturous applause by the 15,000 capacity arena? why HRH Prince William (Roger Federer (1) vs. Victor Hanescu).

The crowds came out in force today to see HRH in Melbourne. He is such a congenial young man who I hope again visits at some later stage.
 
William appears to be doing a good job working the crowds. He seems to be a real "people person".
I love this picture of the woman touching his face - Woman Touching William's face
 
Watching the Australian Open and who should be given a rapturous applause by the 15,000 capacity arena? why HRH Prince William (Roger Federer (1) vs. Victor Hanescu).

Here's a gallery of William at the Open tonight, including pictures of him meeting Roger Federer and Serena Williams.
 
:previous:
A summing up from the Mail...

"Heading home to England last night on a commercial flight, St James's palace aides declared themselves quietly delighted at the way the five-day trip - which included the prince's first official foreign trip to New Zealand on behalf of the Queen - had gone.

While it is unlikely to spike republican guns in the long term, William's mission to win over the hearts and minds of the people of both nations has proved an unqualified success and enabled him to take another important step forward in his apprenticeship as a future king.
"

I'd think the St James's Palace aides would be more than "quietly delighted". My guess is the overwhelmingly positive and saturation media coverage that William received while in Sydney and Melbourne and the enthusiastic public reception would have taken them by surprise. My take would be that the trip has been more successful than they could have initially imagined.


 
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