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WELLINGTON (Reuters) – The British prince and his British wife Meghan were greeted Sunday in New Zealand for the final leg of their Pacific tour, their first international royal tour since their wedding in May.
On October 28, 2018, Prince Harry exchanges a hongi at a welcoming ceremony at Government House in Wellington, New Zealand. REUTERS / Phil Noble
The royal couple, who have already visited Australia, Fiji and Tonga, were received at Wellington Airport by Premier Jacinda Ardern.
The official welcoming ceremony was held on the lawns of Governor General Patsy Reddy's residence.
Harry and Meghan rubbed shoulders with Maori rulers in a traditional "hongi" and were greeted by a haka, a centuries-old tribal war dance, to greet and honor them. A salvo of 21 guns was also issued.
Meghan wore a brown plaid coat and a plain black dress, while Harry was dressed in a dark gray suit. Both had poppy pins as a souvenir on their chests.
Later, Harry and Meghan went to the Pukeahu Memorial Park to lay a wreath on the tomb of the unknown warrior and visited the British memorial.
A large crowd gathered to see Queen Elizabeth's grandson, his wife and the couple spent time meeting and shaking hands with enthusiastic fans before leaving.
The two men left Australia on Sunday after the end of the Invictus Games in Sydney and were accompanied by several New Zealand athletes from the Invictus Games.
The Invictus Games are an international Paralympic competition for soldiers injured in action, founded by Harry.
On Sunday night, the couple will attend a reception celebrating the 125th anniversary of women's suffrage. New Zealand became the first country in the world where women could vote in the 1893 parliamentary elections.
Report by Will Ziebell; Edited by Michael Perry
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