1970 new zealand royal visit honours

Royal family shares throwback photo from 1970 New Zealand tour

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Princess Anne, Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles during their tour of New Zealand in 1970. Photo / Getty Images

Fifty years before it became the site of anti-mandate protests, the steps of Parliament in Wellington were host to the Queen and members of the royal family as they toured the country in 1970.

A historic image of Her Majesty, her late husband Prince Philip, a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne all standing on Parliament's steps, flanked by thrilled Kiwi fans, has been shared to Instagram, collecting over 75,000 likes.

The caption reads: "The Queen is joined by The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales and The Princess Royal on the steps of the Parliament Building in Wellington, New Zealand following the State Opening of Parliament."

Part of the countdown to the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend in June, the black and white image is one of 70 that has been chosen to represent a year of the Queen's seven-decade reign.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Royal Family (@theroyalfamily)

The Queen is the first British Royal to reach a Platinum Jubilee, having ascended the throne on February 6, 1952.

READ MORE: • The Queen as you've never seen her before: Candid 1953 home movie shot in New Zealand surfaces

Her family's time in New Zealand in 1970 was scheduled for the bicentenary of Captain Cook's 1770 expedition to Australia. Part of their tour included a visit to Ship Cove in Marlborough to watch a reenactment of Cook's landing there, from the Endeavour.

The family also took in a sea lion performance at the Marine Parade Pool in Napier, viewed a model train in Picton and met Hori Paki who was 104 and believed to be New Zealand's oldest man at the time.

The Queen first visited New Zealand in the summer of 1953-1954, embarking on a 38-day tour that took her and her husband, Prince Philip, to 46 towns or cities and 110 functions, with three-quarters of the country estimated to have spotted a royal wave.

In 1963, on Waitangi Day the royal couple sailed into the Bay of Islands on the royal yacht Britannia, visiting ports around the country, including Nelson, from which the Duke - whose flagship Duke of Edinburgh Award programme helped thousands of young people master valuable life skills - visited the Outward Bound School at Anakiwa.

The Queen and Duke, along with Charles and Anne, were back seven years later for the James Cook bicentenary, where they debuted the royal "walkabout".

The royal couple would return for the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch four years later, three years after that to mark the Queen's Silver Jubilee - thought by some to have come closest to matching the excitement of a quarter of a century earlier - and, in 1981, a short visit followed a Commonwealth Heads of Government conference over the ditch.

It might've been brief, but the 1981 tour left the country with the endearing memory of Ginette McDonald's Lyn of Tawa addressing the royals directly at the Royal Variety Performance.

The next most prominent visit came in 1990, when New Zealand marked 150 years since the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Auckland hosted the Commonwealth Games, with the Queen, Duke and their son Prince Edward in attendance.

The last New Zealand visit by the pair was in 2002, with the only glitch relating to an errant Daimler.

The Daimler, only used for visits by head of state, suffered a flat battery.

As the royal couple waited on their now stationary Australia-bound aircraft, airport workers had the ignominious task of pushing the incapacitated car out of the way.

• Additional reporting Cherie Howie

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The Royal Visit 1970

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Radio coverage of the 1970 royal tour of New Zealand by Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and Princess Anne. Commentary of the Britannia arriving at the Wellington overseas terminal by Marama Martin and Dougal Stevenson. Description of the scene as the royal family disembark and begin their informal tour of New Zealand. A series of news reports and commentaries of the 1970 royal tour. Extracts of a speech given by the Prime Minister, Keith Holyoake to which the Queen replies at the overseas terminal.

Edited extracts from Sound Archives ID 200131

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The royal visit. 1970-03-12.

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The 1970 royal tour of New Zealand by Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and Princess Anne. This recording is made up of several news excerpts re: the royal tour plus other news topics of the day. Ex-2ZB news reports of the arrival of the Britannia at Wellington and an excerpt of the Queen's speech. Carol Gamble reports...

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Related items

The 1970 New Zealand Royal Visit Honours were appointments by Elizabeth II to the Royal Victorian Order , to mark her visit to New Zealand that year. The Queen was accompanied by the Prince of Wales (now Charles III ) and Princess Anne on the tour, and attended celebrations connected with the bicentenary of Captain James Cook's first voyage to New Zealand . The honours were announced on 21 and 26 March 1970. [1] [2] [3]

The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour.

Royal Victorian Order

Knight grand cross (gcvo).

• Sir Arthur Espie Porritt Bt GCMG KCVO CBE – governor-general of New Zealand

Commander (CVO)

• Patrick Jerad O'Dea MVO – of Lower Hutt
• Commissioner George Colin Urquhart BEM QPM – of Wellington
• David Claverly Williams – of Wellington

Member, fourth class (MVO)

• Bryan David Crompton – of Days Bay
• Colonel Henry Noel Hoare – of Wellington
• Eric Mark Horan – of Lower Hutt
• Douglas Alexander Johnston MVO – of Wellington
• Peter John Hope Purvis MVO BEM – of York Bay
• Squadron Leader Geoffrey Wallingford AFC – Royal New Zealand Air Force ; of Wellington

In 1984, Members of the Royal Victorian Order, fourth class, were redesignated as Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO). [4]

Member, fifth class (MVO)

• Chief Superintendent George Claridge – New Zealand Police ; of Wellington
• Squadron Leader Daniel John Cotton AFC – Royal New Zealand Air Force ; of Raumati Beach
• Desmond James Cummings – of Wellington
• Walter James Wynn Williams – of Upper Hutt
• Francis Eamonn Wilson – of Lower Hutt

Royal Victorian Medal

Bar to the royal victorian medal (silver) (rvm).

• Harold Eugene Symonds RVM – of Lower Hutt

Silver (RVM)

• Detective Senior Sergeant Bruce Fergus Scott – of Auckland
• ^ "Royal visit honours list" (PDF) . New Zealand Gazette . 4 June 1970. p. 985.
• ^ "Royal tours" . New Zealand History . Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 11 July 2014 . Retrieved 27 September 2018 .
• ^ "The Royal Victorian Order" . Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood . Retrieved 12 March 2024 .
• Sword of Honour
• New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal
• New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993

• 1970 awards
• 1970 in New Zealand
• Monarchy in New Zealand
• Use dmy dates from September 2018
• Use New Zealand English from September 2018
• All Wikipedia articles written in New Zealand English
• Pages using Template:Post-nominals with customized linking

Queen Elizabeth's 1970 Visit To New Zealand And Australia Forever Changed Royal Customs

The history of the British monarchy dates back over a thousand years. During that millenia the kingdom's monarchs fought many wars, restructured their government, and developed their own traditions. It is arguably those traditions that have made the British royal family one of the most recognizable figureheads in the world. But, it was not until the 20th century that some of these customs began to change.

Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne in 1952 and became the first woman to rule the United Kingdom since her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria over a century earlier, (per  All That's Interesting ). Over her decades-long reign, Queen Elizabeth II became a beloved figure amongst her subjects and many others from all over the world. Part of the reason for this was her willingness to occasionally break with royal tradition and attempt to modernize the monarchy. One day in 1970, her ability to do this would change the face of British royal customs forever.

Queen Elizabeth II Started The Royal Walkabout

As a royal figure, the queen and the royal family did not really intermingle with their subjects, with the exception of their public appearances. Until the latter part of the 1990s, the general population would only see the royals above them on a balcony or maybe through a car window if they were lucky, according to Insider . However, a couple of decades before, Queen Elizabeth II laid the foundation for what would become a new tradition.

In 1970, the queen took a tour of Australia and New Zealand, and while on this trip she decided to break protocol. Instead of keeping her distance from the people that had come to catch a glimpse of her, she decided to meet them on foot instead. This practice was reportedly initiated to help the royals connect with more of the ordinary folks instead of the other politicians or other officials they normally interact with. According to Harper's Bazaar, since the first royal walkabout more than 50 years ago, this custom has been practiced by others in the royal family, including Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, and the iconic Princess Diana .