Duke and Duchess of Cambridge: Tour of New Zealand - April 7-16, 2014

[wartenberg7]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

What is the point of this tour again? To me it seems like another of their holidays with activities like whine tasting, rugby coaching, sailing etc etc. Is this qualified as 'work' or 'representing a country'?...

Your question, what this visit was about, has been answered before. I just would like to add that Royals just cannot perform visits these days they might have done in the 1950s, waving while passing by, interacting only with dignitaries, holding speeches or listening to them, attending one lavish banquet after the next one etc.
If they have an engagement playing rugby it´s because they show interest in activities what "real" people do and not because they only want to play rugby or somethin´right this minute - it is even expected of them! Or visiting a winery means supporting the wine industry in New Zealand etc etc.
People of today want the Royals to document their interest in them and their activities, to respond and relate to everyday activities of ordinary people´s life, to take part other than just taking a look.

"Representing a country" in the common and usual sense would hardly be accepted today in the long run! Representing the way the older Royals did or still do will possibly die out with them. It was very fitting in the past and had its justification when times were different. But the people of today seem to expect something different, especially from young Royals!

In that respect, William and Catherine have performed a great job so far!

[Skippyboo]

Those pictures with the puppies were adorable. I am loving George's facial expressions. The default seems to be the Queen's grumpy face.

[Dman]

Originally Posted by Skippyboo

Those pictures with the puppies were adorable. I am loving George's facial expressions. The default seems to be the Queen's grumpy face.

Yeah, I think he's been practicing his great-grandmother's "Miss Piggy" face.

Video:
Royals farewell NZ-
http://www.3news.co.nz/Royals-farewe...8/Default.aspx

[Muhler]

So, what's the word on the street in New Zealand, now that the visit is over?

Has it changed peoples view on W&K? The BRF?

Is it a kind "okay, the show has moved on, let's change the channel"?

A "if anyone mention George, William or Kate one more time, I'll scream!"?

A general relief "no major screw up, now we can relax and get back to normal life"?

Or have people become addicted and follow the Australian part with just as much interest?

I think you know what I mean?

[AdmirerUS]

I went and looked at Twitter. #RoyalVisitNZ
Some people clearly are in withdrawal.
Some are grumps and some still chatting.
Duchess-Spotting ‏@DuchessSpotting 36m Lots of royals coverage in today's @DomPost (Wellington). #royalvisitnz #missthemalready pic.twitter.com/FXqcf8tf5a

A fair amount of mentions of friendship bracelets (ignore the underlining - the Wysiwyg seems to be cranky), puppies, George making a dour face, etc. General residual happiness/glow prevails.

[roseroyal]

Meant to say I saw some photos Of William and Kate with the big police dogs in an article today. Scary!
But I guess that's the point.

[RoyalDaisy]

Originally Posted by Muhler

So, what's the word on the street in New Zealand, now that the visit is over?

There are 2 important future outcomes which could measure the success of this tour.

1. In about six months - do a poll on monarch as head of state (sorry cant remember the last result in NZ because my head is full of the great pro-monarchy results in aus, and I am also tired (nearly 04:00 am));

2. Tourism information. Did the cost of the tour deliver more return than the usual £5-10m usually spent? That will be know again, in about 6 mths time

So, 6 months and you will know.

There are other aspects such as either making people happy or boring them rigid but thats a lot to do with how the media (over)played it.

From a royal point of view, it is a success I should think.

[SElizabeth]

Originally Posted by Wartenberg7

People of today want the Royals to document their interest in them and their activities, to respond and relate to everyday activities of ordinary people´s life, to take part other than just taking a look.
"Representing a country" in the common and usual sense would hardly be accepted today in the long run! Representing the way the older Royals did or still do will possibly die out with them. It was very fitting in the past and had its justification when times were different. But the people of today seem to expect something different, especially from young Royals!
In that respect, William and Catherine have performed a great job so far!

Wartenberg7: Your comment sure is right on.......I am a royalist I can say and not ashamed of it. Being history buff and reading and buying over 300 books on history over my time...........I am of the firm belief that there is nothing wrong with a royal family ***as long as they support and help the people of their country, , All the people******what goes wrong is when a royal person thinks because of an accident of birth(that is what happens when your Born into a royal family, accident of birth nothing more)that they are above or entitled to all the riches and perks at the expense of others. I can see that in the attitude of some royals today(nameless) and if and when their countries go republic it is their fault for not doing the job and taking on the responsibility of the people as a whole. I read somewhere that QM of Denmark can trace her family's history back 900 years, wow, omg, that is fabulous yet time will tell.
It doesn't make sense to me when so many call for a republic and know nothing about living in a republic, thinking that a republic will Fix all their problems and they won't have to worry about broken governments, broken promises, cost of everything going up and up, education for their children, and the list could go on forever..........that is so very shortsighted and narrow minded way of thinking.

Oh, yes, William and Catherine are doing a wonderful job..........so I am enjoying this trip viewing them from afar. Catherine has shown lots of self confidence and self assurance in herself this time around. She is still a young woman, wife with a baby in a demanding role and she is starting to blossom brightly. Love the interaction between her and William which shows that they aren't afraid to express their devotion to each other in public which makes us love them even more. Everybody loves a love story!

[Muhler]

Thanks AdmirerUS & RoyalDaisy.

So people in general seem pretty pleased with visit and how it turned out.

Considering the international news coverage, also here in DK (which is about as far from New Zealand as you can get), I'd say the money spend on the visit seems to have been worth it in regards to publicity.
Personally I don't think it will lead to an increased influx of tourist, not outside the Commonwealth countries, but the positive coverage was there.

[wartenberg7]

Originally Posted by SElizabeth

...I am of the firm belief that there is nothing wrong with a royal family ***as long as they support and help the people of their country...what goes wrong is when a royal person thinks because of an accident of birth(that is what happens when your Born into a royal family, accident of birth nothing more)

That´s, at least, what we "enlightened", realistic and democratically bred people of today use to think...
But if you´re religious (like the Queen of Great Britain, f. instance), you believe that there IS something like a godly plan/ fate or that we are all here to perform a specific task during our course on this planet (and it doesn´t mean being a Royal is more "worthful" or important than a nurse, a secretary, a lawyer, whatever...!)
Otherwise part of her title "... by the grace of god..." wouldn´t make sense. Of course one could say "Oh, that´s just a tradition without substance".
But I think that the Queen takes this very seriously and being anointed at the coronation was not just an old man pouring some oil upon her!
I believe this feeling of being called by God is the foundation of her enduring will to serve without ever complaining.

[Pranter]

The Jacobites as a general rule think the rightful heir to the throne is a different blood line so I figrure that they would view that a bit differently as far as the 'Godly plan' goes.


LaRae

[wartenberg7]

I stated how the Queen might think of her destiny to be monarch.
Perhaps they think they were lawful heirs to the british throne; but obviously "fate" prevented them from being monarchs...
You could be a butcher from Philadelphia, a baker in Copenhagen or a fisherman from Timbuktu and still have the idea to have any rights to a throne. But if you´re really rightful is another question...

Haven´t the Jacobites been ruled out by parliament, and not by a royal dynasty, not to succeed to the british throne, because they were catholics?! As far as I know this act (of settlement?) still exists. In that respect the descendants of this Jacobite dynasty obviously are no lawful heirs!
But perhaps they can claim the throne of Scotland after the September-referendum if a majority votes to seperate from Britain. We´ll see how much support they´ll get from the Scots...

[HereditaryPrincess]

She posed for thousands of photographs and looked picture perfect in almost every one.
But there was one image from her three-week tour of Australia and New Zealand that particularly captured the Duchess of Cambridge's heart.
And unsurprisingly, it features a very cuddly looking Prince George.

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge's favourite photo of royal tour | Mail Online

[CyrilVladisla]

Originally Posted by HereditaryPrincess

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge's favourite photo of royal tour | Mail Online

A future King with his smile bright!
A little boy, his mother's delight!

[XeniaCasaraghi]

I live in a republic and would have it no othe way. With that being said, royal tours clearly serve a purpose and in no way are vacations. They are told what to do where to go and when to go, it is all scheduled and for a purpose, to promote their country, their family, their Queen and the country they are visiting.

[Sun Lion]

Today's newspaper travel magazine "Escape" has the New Zealand "hideaway", (used for the "rest day" by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after arriving there), as their cover story.

The writer stayed the night after the Royal Couple were guests.

Some interesting things in the article I hadn't picked up on before were that the sound of the surf can be heard there - described as "thunderous" and "pounding" - and that it is part of a working sheep farm.

The chef is a "forager" and incorporates a lot of the farm's produce in what he cooks - and the kitchen is open, allowing guests to see their meals being prepared.

Another thing - the next door neighbour is James Cameron of "Titanic" fame.

Article is now online - though on my tablet the photos don't come out well.

Also, Wharekauhau is pronounced "Farra-cow-how" - just in case you want to hop on the phone and make a booking.

[Sun Lion]

The cot and bedding used by litle Prince George in New Zealand is being reported as having been donated - anonymously - to a family in need, through Plunket.

(A car seat - brought for PG, but not actually used by him - has gone into the hire-pool.)

[JessRulz]

The official gift list for the New Zealand tour:

http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/site...ersion%202.pdf