Britain’s Prince Charles yesterday received a rousing salute from an armada of war canoes when he visited the Maori King Tuheitia in New Zealand’s central North Island.
Charles wore a kiwi feather cloak as five ornately carved war canoes, or waka, paraded past on the Waikato River, each carrying about 30 tattooed warriors, who raised their paddles in salute, singing Maori chants as they went by.
The heir to the throne, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, watched from a riverbank barge as a conch shell sounded, then continued formalities with an address to King Tuheitia and a 1,000-strong crowd.
Photo: EPA
The ties between the British royals and the people of the Turangawaewae Marae, or meeting place, on the banks of the Waikato, date back more than a century.
“I am greatly honored to be returning again to the embrace of this place,” Charles said. “The people of Waikato-Tainui have extended your care, compassion and hospitality to my family on many occasions.”
Charles’ visit, which lasted an entire morning, comes after King Tuheitia refused to meet Charles’ eldest son, Prince William, during a trip last year, because the 90 minutes allotted was not long enough to complete traditional welcoming customs.
At the time, Tuheitia’s office said the Maori king was not “some carnival act to be rolled out at the beck and call of anyone.”
Tuheitia is descended from the first Maori king, Potatau Te Wherowhero, who was appointed in 1858 by various North Island tribes, which wanted a single figure to represent them in the way that queen Victoria was felt to represent New Zealand’s white settlers.
The position does not have any constitutional status or legal powers in New Zealand, but carries symbolic importance for some Maori.
Charles and Camilla are on a seven-day tour of New Zealand that New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said was intended to build a rapport with Kiwis before Charles eventually becomes king.
They are scheduled to leave for Australia tomorrow.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in