what it was like to serve them.

Two weeks ago, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry touched down in Sydney for a 16-day trip through the Pacific. The arrival of everyone's favorite royal couple (sorry William and Kate) coincided with a Kensington Palace announcement that Markle is pregnant with her first child, but that little bump did not seem to slow down the duo's jampacked itinerary. Their trip to Australia, Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand, where the couple stopped at Wellington 's Maranui Café to meet with representatives of mental health projects. New Zealand's second-oldest surf club, is co-owned by Bronwyn Kelly and Katie Richardson.

Just a few hours after the duke and the duchess of Sussex had left the cafe, Slate caught up with what he was doing for the royal couple.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Rachelle Hampton: I'm assuming you've had a bit of a day! Could you take me through it?

Bronwyn Kelly: Oh yeah, it was a bit of an early start this morning. We got ready for the event, which we were hosting, which was about mental health specifically for youth. At about 7:30 the street was all cordoned off and it was filled up with royalists. We had a big coffee cart outside because obviously, it was very important to keep people caffeinated. We understand how important that is.[[Laughs.]Then we just had a million-well no, sorry, that's an exaggeration-we had a lot of media and a lot of police coming through the building.

It was very exciting. Then they pulled up in their face and they got out, they went out of their way to a lot of the onlookers, and came up. We introduced ourselves, my business partner, Katie Richardson, and I, and then they went off to a cup of tea and then they went around with these groups and had their discussion.

What were your impressions of Harry and Meghan?

In the room itself, we had quite a few media [government officials] inside, plus all these participants from this group, and it was all very slightly tense, slightly anxious, quite quiet. Then once again Prince Harry and Meghan, the duchess, came alive, they were very nice, very smiley, very engaging, and they came out of it. the whole room seemed to be happier environment.

I can imagine there was a lot of nerves building up to the visit. What exactly is the planning process like?

We're out of about a month ago. To start with, we did not really think it was going to happen because it was so far-fetched that a member of the family was going to come to your coffee. But then a couple of weeks, when we realized that it was going to happen, we were going to be a street party to really get into the hype of it, the enjoyment of it. There were a few tears at times, of excitement and joy, so it was quite cool.

You said a few tears?

Yeah, one of the participants this morning, we were so crying.

You said you were so surprised, so exactly how did it go?

From what I understand, the staff of the family, and they actually came to Maranui Café and just really loved the vibe and the atmosphere and the location. Maranui itself is right on the beach in Lyall Bay. We can see the airport on one side and you've got this sweeping out of the ocean right in front of us. I think it was quite simply this, beachlike feel, and I thought it was kind of what they were looking for.

What was your reaction when you first found out?

Disbelief. When they said a very important couple coming from England, I thought, Oh my gosh, Beckham and Posh, but of course it was the other important couple. It was very exciting when it got finalized. My business partner, Katie, and I, we did not actually tell anyone for a long time because we did not believe it was going to happen. It was just so fairy tale-like.

I heard you had code names for Harry and Meghan while you were keeping the visit a secret?

When you think of the most important people in Britain, you think, Oh, Posh and Becks. And so that's what we nicknamed them: Posh and Becks.

What logistics, other than code names, did you have to plan for the visit?

All the staff had to be fully vetted, including me and actually payroll here. Luckily those all came back fine. We had a lot of police on the beach, a huge amount of police force, and the bomb squad was going to be quite amazing. It just goes to show that New Zealanders, or the police and everything, take it very seriously. But it was a bit bit embarrassing because we had not swept everywhere and there's a lot of sand since we're off the beach.

Did you change the menu or have anything special?

It was a morning tea, and my business partner, Katie Richardson, she's one of the baking whiz in the kitchen, she creates menus. New Zealand style, New Zealand flavors, Whittaker's chocolate, and New Zealand produce.

Were you a big royalist before this?

I used to really like Princess Di. Growing up I thought she was awesome. I once saw Princess Di and Harry and William when they were just little toddlers: They were at a museum in Paris, and I was like, Wow, that's amazing, Princess Di. And now I've got Harry and shaken his hand, however many years later. That's my whole royal story.

Oh, wow, that's really full circle in a way. To see him and his wife, who's pregnant.

Yeah, it was amazing, really.

Could you give me a little background on the Maranui Cafe?

The building is quite unique. It's a heritage building. It's quite old in New Zealand-it's well over 100 years old, which probably sounds pretty new. It operates as a surf lifesaving club, the Maranui Surf Life-Saving Club. We opened the club in 2003 and we opened a coffee, so we've been here for a while. It has a really nice way to get you out of the countryside, retro, quite colorful, and we have a lot of local artists doing work for us. A local artist named Mark Ussher has designed the tabletops and a lot of artwork on the walls, which is really cool.

Do you think there's anything else I should know about the visit?

Well, there was this one thing that Meghan did that I thought was very nice: So obviously we made a lot of beautiful food for them. After their meeting, they went to school and kids local school kids. And Meghan and Harry, they were all down and shook hands, and then they came up and they were really sweet. I thought it was really generous of her to even think of that. It was unnecessary but very nice.

That's really sweet! Was there any other gesture or something that really stuck out for you?

Just that they were very nice, and they actually paid attention to everyone's names. We had some nametags and Harry, in particular was like, "Oh hey, Bronwyn, it's nice to meet you." And my coffee manager, Tom, is actually from Britain and of course, you know, he was extra chuffed. Harry at one point was like, "Tom, Tom, come over here for the photo," and he's like, "Oh my gosh, Prince Harry just said my name." It's quite sweet. It was very cool.