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Royal tour, day 14: Harry and Meghan tour New Zealand

THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Pacific tour continued today in New Zealand, with the royal couple touring a national park and enjoying a beach barbecue with local schoolchildren.

Meghan and Harry have now completed their last engagement for the day heading to Courtenay Creative in Wellington for a Halloween themed event.

And last night Meghan delivered another passionate public speech — but did she break royal protocol?

TODAY’S ITINERARY

• Visit Maranui Cafe at Lyall Bay in the morning

• Travel to Abel Tasman National Park by chopper

• Beach barbecue with schoolchildren

• Return to Wellington for an evening event at Courtenay Creative.

MEGHAN STEPS OUT IN WHITE DRESS

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have attended a Halloween themed event at Courtenay Creative — but didn’t seem to get the memo about wearing a costume.

Instead Meghan wore an above the knee (!) white suit dress by Maggie Marilyn with a navy Winser London coat over her shoulders.

The costumes and makeup at Courtenay Creative were done by young Wellington artists as part of the centre’s Things That Go Bump In The Night exhibition.

The couple braved the windy and wet conditions as they made their way into the event, with one aide’s attempts to shield Meghan from the rain going hilariously awry.

The couple were greeted by Lord of the Rings Urakhai Orc soldiers at the door, with photos and video showing Harry and Meghan enthusiastically interacting with everyone in costume.

The Duke of Sussex wished the group a “Happy Halloween” as he and the Duchess of Sussex posted for a group picture.

JACINDA’S BIZARRE GIFT FOR ROYALS

Kiwi leader Jacinda Ardern has revealed the gifts she presented to Harry and Meghan when they arrived in New Zealand yesterday.

The Prime Minister presented the Duchess with a set of Boh Runga earrings. But it was the gift she gave Prince Harry — a Shapeshifter CD — that was a little more bizarre.

“(This is) because it includes a track titled Dutchies, which is the song that the All Blacks enter onto the field with, including at Twickenham,” the Kiwi leader said at her weekly post-Cabinet press conference today.

She also gave him a Stars vinyl album.

In return, the Duchess gave the Kiwi leader a community cookbook.

Ms Ardern said they had important discussions about issues around the Pacific, including climate change, children’s issues and mental health.

She also noted the royals didn’t get a chance to meet little Neve, as it was past the baby girl’s bed-time when they met.

Ms Ardern noted the pair were particularly passionate about mental health. “What I can share is that I came away being even more certain that they are very genuine in their passion in this area and are very focused on it,” she said.

‘OUR LITTLE BUMP’

Harry gave a shout-out to his unborn child while chatting to locals inside the Abel Tasman National Park.

As rain fell, Harry and Meghan took shelter inside a marquee that had been set up on the grass next to the beach.

Addressing the crowd of locals, Harry said: “The weather forecast was a lot worse than this and we are really fortunate to be here. The rain is a blessing and a reminder of our connection to the land … From my wife, myself and our little bump, it’s a blessing to be here … We bring you greetings from my grandmother.”

Harry’s clearly enjoying the scenery today - check out this photo, uploaded to the Kensington Palace official Instagram account, that he took himself:

Under a marquee, a kaumatua (elder) from the local iwi (tribe) Barney Thomas spoke in Te Reo Maori, wishing the couple well with their pepi (baby). Meghan smiled as the words were translated for her.

He also explained why Meghan was seated behind Harry for the welcome.

“The middle represents the god of war and we don’t want to put our women into that space. We want to be inclusive but especially Meghan, because she’s expecting, we don’t want to put her at any risk,” he said.

- with AAP

CHOPPER RIDE

The royal couple flew to the National Park by chopper earlier today, after their morning visit to the Maranui Cafe. The appearance came with a quick clothes change — including hi-vis vests:

EARLIER TODAY

First stop today was the Maraniu Cafe in Wellington, where Harry and Meghan arrived to cheers from a waiting crowd of hundreds this morning:

Inside the cafe, they attended a meeting with local youths working on various mental health projects throughout Wellington and Harry was full of praise, according to the AFP.

“I take my hat off to you guys,” he told members of Voices of Hope, which aims to prevent youth suicide. “Everyone needs someone to turn to right?”

Meghan, sipping from a cup of tea and wearing a grey Club Monaco trench coat, added: “You’re all doing really excellent work.”

One of the Voices of Hope founder’s told Stuff, “[Harry] was very interested, they both asked a lot of questions”.

“I talked about my own personal experience, about feeling a lot of shame, and he was really interested to understand why I felt so ashamed about it.

“They’ve had their own experiences with mental health, and Harry has been very open about this,” Genevieve Mora said.

MEGHAN’S KIND ACT

Inside the cafe, Meghan made sure no food went to waste, asking that cakes laid out on tables for the couple were instead taken outside and given to local schoolchildren:

Here the kids are, enjoying their surprise morning tea:

And Meghan was all reassuring smiles when one youngster — identified as Houghton Valley School pupil Joe Young, 5 — seemed to get rather overwhelmed in her presence:

A PROTOCOL-BREAKING SPEECH

Last night, Meghan delivered a passionate speech about women’s suffrage at a reception on the royal couple’s first night in New Zealand.

New Zealand was the first country in the world to give women the vote, a fact which Meghan told attendees made them “universally admired”.

But the royal family is forbidden from discussing politics, a strict royal protocol that Meghan appears to have broken with this speech — and not for the first time.

“Suffrage is not simply about the right to vote but also about what that represents — the basic and fundamental human right of being able to participate in the choices for your future and that of your community; the involvement and voice that allows you to be a part of the very world that you are a part of,” she said.

“And women’s suffrage is not simply about the right to vote for women, but also about what that represents: the basic and fundamental human right of all people including those members of society who have been marginalised — whether for reasons of race, gender, ethnicity or orientation — to be able to participate in the choices for their future and their community.

“So bravo New Zealand, for championing this right 125 years ago for the women who well deserve to have an active voice and acknowledged vote and for all the people that this effort has paved the way for globally, we all deeply thank you.

“In the words of your suffragette, Kate Sheppard, ‘All that separates, whether of race, class, creed or sex, is inhuman and must be overcome.’”

Harry and Meghan left Australia after attending the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday night — an event that saw them both give impassioned speeches about the Games’ importance.

LIFTING THE LID ON A ‘ROYAL REBRANDING’

If you’ve been charmed by the royals’ exhaustive Australian tour, then everything is going according to plan: tonight’s Four Corners, in an episode titled “Windsor Inc”, will look at “the sophisticated corporate campaign to future-proof the Crown”.

The episode, airing at 8.30pm tonight on ABC, charts how the royals have rebuilt their reputation and changed the way they manage “The Firm”.

The new-look royals are the result of “one of the most spectacular rebranding exercises in modern times”.

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