The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive in New Zealand late tonight at the start of the most hyped tour of Australasia since Captain Cook’s.
Over the next three weeks media madness will hit both NZ and Australia as every move the royal couple and of course baby George make will be syndicated not just to us in Blighty but all over the globe.
While the Queen’s visits Down Under have always had an air of formality about them, the Cambridge style, with its trademark mixture of duty and photogenic fun, will be evident throughout.
There will be typical royal events including visits to war memorials, schools, exhibitions and civic receptions.
On a serious note they will visit the Blue Mountains outside Sydney where they will meet families that were affected by last year’s disastrous bushfires.
They will also experience 50mph white water rides, yacht racing and take part in a cricket match.
Joining in is something the Cambridges are never afraid to do as we saw in Canada in 2011 when they took part in dragon boat racing and a year later in Tuvalu when they donned grass skirts to join locals in a traditional Fatele dance of welcome.
To be fair each generation of royals has made a massive impact on their first Australasian tour. Back in 1927, the future Queen Mum scored a PR coup by donning waders and a floppy hat to go fishing in New Zealand. The newly crowned Elizabeth II spent several months in both countries on her 1953-4 tour.
The 1983 visit of William’s parents saw Di-mania. It was a global sensation and the couple scored a major PR coup by taking nine-month-old William with them. Like the Cambridges they stayed at Government House in New Zealand and baby William was filmed by the media on his first royal ‘crawlabout’ on a tartan blanket in the garden.
What we will see of baby George during the visit remains a mystery. He will be based at government residences in Wellington, Sydney and Canberra with his new nanny Maria Borrallo. One likely royal engagement for George is on Wednesday when the royal attend a Plunket Parents’ Group, which allows parents and their children to share their experiences.
What Kate will wear is as usual an endless source of speculation. She will of course want to showcase the best of British fashion, and her favoured UK designers, McQueen, Jenny Packham and Alice Temperley, are expected to feature high among the 30-odd designs she will need during the visit. Whatever the fashion choices, if their other two tours are anything to go by, their third will be a roaring success.
Queen’s jewel gesture to Kate
It has been reported that the Queen has allowed her granddaughter-in-law access to her priceless jewel collection for the tour, just as she did for Diana in 1983.
Possible items Kate might borrow include the Queen’s wattle brooch given to her by the people of Australia on her 1953-4 tour and a fern brooch given to her by the people of New Zealand during that same visit. The Queen Mother was given a diamond and ruby hibiscus brooch on her 1958 tour of New Zealand and that’s another possibility.
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