Historic Royal Visit to Waitangi

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall’s historic visit to Waitangi

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will visit the Waitangi Treaty Grounds tomorrow during their week-long trip to New Zealand.

It will be the first visit to Waitangi by a member of the Royal Family since the Prince went 25 years ago.

The visit will commence with a pōwhiri at Te Whare Runanga during which the Prince will speak from the mahau (porch) of the meeting house. Following the pōwhiri there will be a tree planting ceremony before Their Royal Highnesses are given a tour of the grounds and Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi.

The Treaty grounds will be open as usual and people are encouraged to arrive before 12pm.

Afterwards the Prince will travel the short distance to the Queenstown Resort College’s Tai Tokerau campus and meet some of the students involved in the Prince’s Trust New Zealand Enterprise programme. The programme has a focus on working with young Māori students, and has a partnership with Air New Zealand to provide scholarships for young people from around the country to engage with their courses.

The Prince will also visit Paihia Fire Station to meet some of the volunteer firefighters and the public are encouraged to be at the site from 3pm to meet him.

The Duchess will travel to Kerikeri Primary School and see the school’s involvement in the Enviroschools programme and Garden to Table, where children grow vegetables and fruit and then learn how to cook them.

Earlier this year, the school attained the Enviroschool Bronze reflection for activities including having a garden, pig buckets and a recycling programme. The Duchess will also meet a specially trained dog who works with children.

Following their visit to the Bay of Islands Their Royal Highnesses will travel to Christchurch. The Prince of Wales will also visit Kaikōura on Saturday.

There are no public engagements on Thursday.

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