Rewind Weekend: The Royals in New Zealand

With the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Nz On Screen's Zara Potts looks back at some of the many royal highlights over the years.

As Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex arrives in New Zealand from Australia and the Pacific, light of the nursery – we thought it might be timely to revisit some other notable royals that have planted their regal feet upon our shores.

Before there was Meghan Markle – there was a Prince Harry – there was a Diana, Princess of Wales. When she visited her shores with her husband, the schoolgirls the country over lined up in droves to give her flowers. But the loudest clicking of cameras (there were no smartphones or selfies then) were reserved for her son, Prince William. His photo op playtime with an iconic Buzzy Bee at Government House, made even the hardest-hearted hack turn to marshmallow.

The late Princess of Wales had a quite tempestuous relationship with the House of Windsor, even having some choice words to say about the Commonwealth's favorite grandmother, the Queen Mother. But before she was best known for her grandmotherly status and fondness for girls, the Queen Mother was simply the Duchess of York (yes, the same title as Sarah Ferguson) and she toured our shores in 1927 just before she ascended the throne with her husband, King George.

Twenty-six years later, it was her daughter's turn to wow the nation. The first tour by an actual reigning monarch was a triumph for the newly crowned Elizabeth II. Throngs of people lined up every corner of the national film unit coverage "even the cot-cases are bought out of the hospitals". No better medicine, indeed.

Goodness knows how many Royal Variety concerts Queen Elizabeth has made her way through 66 years on the throne. More than she probably cares to remember. One such performance was held in Wellington 's St James Theater in 1981 and featured many of the top performers, including Ray Columbus, Howard Morrison, Tina Cross and some kids dancing with Ray Woolf.

Screaming fans are nothing new for royal tours. When the notorious Duke of Windsor, who was then Prince of Wales, visited in 1920 he was said to have shaken 20 thousand hands. Unfortunately for the waiting crowds there were no attractive divorcees that caught his eye. This omnibus of royal tours looks to the way back to 1867 when Prince Alfred came here for a spot of pig hunting and picnicking.

But what about royalty closer to our own shores? Tonga's Queen Sālote Tupou III had a very special bond with New Zealand throughout her life, having studied and lived in Auckland. The six-foot-three monarch was a popular figure at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth when she turned her back on the face of the dead, soaking wet but forever endearing herself to spectators. When she died in 1965, among the 50,000 mourners at her funeral in Tonga were NZ Governor General Sir Bernard Fergusson, Prime Minister Keith Holyoake and Norman Kirk.