Princess Anne has landed in Wellington this morning, after her trip to New Zealand saw some last-minute schedule changes due to Cyclone Gabrielle.
The Princess Royal, daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II, has visited the National Crisis Management Centre - the Beehive Bunker - today to meet with crisis response staff dealing with the impacts of the devastating cyclone that hit several regions in the North Island this week.
Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence left the United Kingdom on Sunday night (local time).
They will be in the country for four days; the trip was initially planned to mark the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals’ 100th anniversary celebrations at Palmerston North’s Linton Military Camp.
But the royal couple has arrived in the wake of Gabrielle, described yesterday by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins as New Zealand's biggest weather event in a century, which has battered the North Island with flooding, landslides, power cuts and destruction of property and infrastructure.
Anne was due to arrive at Linton Military Camp today to visit the Army contingent, of which she is colonel-in-chief.
But the New Zealand Defence Force has said in a statement that the engagement will no longer take place as the Army’s focus is on the storm response.
The Princess Royal will lay a wreath at the Pukeahu National War Memorial in Wellington today, and visit the Riding for the Disabled in Porirua, as she is a patron.
The National War Memorial’s Hall of Memories is reopening for her visit after being closed for three years due to earthquake risk.
She will visit Christchurch on Friday.
Hipkins first announced the visit earlier this month.
“Princess Anne is travelling to Aotearoa at the request of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief, to attend its 100th-anniversary celebrations at Linton Military Camp in Palmerston North,” he said in a statement.
“It’s terrific that Her Royal Highness will be able to connect with past and present members of the Corps and acknowledge the importance of signallers within New Zealand Defence Force operations over the last 100 years. The Princess Royal last visited New Zealand in 2010. I look forward to welcoming Princess Anne back to Aotearoa.”
