Prince William and Kate Middleton thank New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern for her ‘support’
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The Prince and Princess of Wales thanked outgoing New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for her support as she led the Commonwealth nation, particularly after the death of Queen Elizabeth.
William and Kate took to their Kensington Royal Twitter account to share their thanks to the politician, who announced last week she was stepping down as leader saying she “had nothing left in the tank” and carried out her final public commitment. today.
The message, signed ‘W & C’, read: ‘Thank you, Jacinda Ardern, for your friendship, leadership and support over the years, especially at the time of my grandmother’s death. I send you, Clarke and Neve our very best wishes.’
The message concerned Clarke Gayford, the prime minister’s partner and long-term fiancée, and their daughter Neve Te Aroha, who was born in June 2018.
Prince William (pictured receiving a hongi greeting from Jacinda Ardern in 2019) thanked Jacinda Ardern for her support after announcing he was stepping down.
Prince William, his wife and Ardern have met several times since she took office in 2017.
Their last official meeting came during bleak times for the couple, when Jacinda traveled to the UK to attend the late Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on September 19.
For the occasion, the politician wore a black dress with a custom-made Kākahu feather, a traditional cape, made for the occasion by Maori designer Kiri Nathan.
The outfit, he said, was chosen because he wanted to bring a “piece of New Zealand” to the British funeral.
The Prince and Princess of Wales shared a heartfelt message, addressed to the New Zealand Prime Minister, on their Twitter page.
The New Zealand Prime Minister in a Maori cloak during her latest public engagement, in which she visited the North Island Maori settlement of Ratana today.
Ms. Ardern also wore a royal-inspired hat, made by local designer Monika Neuhauser.
The Kiwi leader met with King Charles for around ten minutes in what she described as a “really warm meeting” before the ceremony.
“What I can share is that it was a warm conversation, that the King was deeply grateful for the thoughts of New Zealand and for the efforts that so many have made to come and pay their respects,” he told the New Zealand Herald at the time.
Jacinda also met William, 40, last July when she visited this side of the ocean for the first time since the Covid 19 pandemic, which saw her introduce particularly strict travel restrictions.
Pictured: Ms Ardern wearing a custom-made feathered Kākahu, a traditional cloak, crafted for the occasion by Maori designer Kiri Nathan, during the late Queen’s funeral in September 2019.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is pictured with her fiance, Clarke Gayford, addressing the Queen’s funeral last September.
The Duke of Cambridge met the New Zealand Prime Minister at his royal residence, Kensington Palace in London at the time, and an image of the meeting was published.
In April 2019, 40-year-old Prince William traveled to New Zealand on a solo visit where he commemorated Anzac Day.
On his arrival he was greeted by the Prime Minister with a traditional Maori greeting called a hongi.
During the visit, he also met with survivors of the Christchurch terror attack, which had occurred just a month earlier and claimed the lives of 51 people at two mosques in the city.
Attending the Anzac Day service, the Prince of Wales did not deliver a speech, but the Prime Minister spoke of how the event was a reminder of shared values in the aftermath of the terror attack.
“Let’s recommit ourselves to always remembering our shared humanity, which unites us more than divides us,” he said.
‘Our sense of independence is as strong as our sense of responsibility towards others and not just as nation states but as human beings.’
Prince William laid a wreath on behalf of the Crown and then The Last Post was played before WWI and WWII planes flew overhead.
While there, he reflected on his own grief and loss following his mother’s death in 1997, saying: ‘I myself have had reason to reflect on grief, sudden grief and loss in my own life.
“I’ve realized that of course pain can change your perspective, you don’t forget shock or sadness or pain, but I don’t think pain changes who you are.”
The Duke of Cambridge, who rarely speaks about his mother’s death, revealed at the time how much of an impact the loss, which occurred when he was just 15, had on him.
He said: ‘Pain, if you allow it, will reveal who you are. It can reveal depths you didn’t know you had.
‘This is what happened here. An act of violence was designed to change New Zealand, but instead a nation’s grief revealed just how deep its wells of empathy, compassion, warmth and love really are.”
Prince William and Jacinda Ardern during their solo visit to New Zealand in 2019, where they took part in ANZAC ceremonies and visited the two mosques where a gunman killed 50 people in March of that year.
The Prime Minister and Prince William met at Kensington Palace when she visited over the summer, on her first trip to the UK since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jacinda Arden was among the officials present at the mosque at the time, who welcomed Prince William on his visit.
William and Kate have always loved the country, and its Governor-General, Dame Cindy Kiro, said last September that they were “desperate” to visit the country once more.
“The Prince of Wales said that he and the Princess of Wales would be desperate to get to New Zealand as soon as possible,” he said.
But, of course, they have small children and we will have to see what happens.
“I can tell you that I think everyone loves New Zealand, and it’s good to be Governor-General of a country that everyone loves,” he added.