New Zealand’s former prime minister Jacinda Ardern will formally receive her damehood from Prince William at a ceremony in Windsor Castle in London next week.
She was appointed a Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours for her services to the state, a few months after her shock resignation as prime minister.
Ardern’s official citation listed her leadership in response to the 15 March terrorist attacks and the Covid-19 pandemic “positioning New Zealand as having one of the lowest Covid-19 related death rates in the Western world”.
Dame Jacinda was in the UK for a meeting of the prince’s Earthshot Prize, of which she is a trustee.
In a statement, she said she had not been able to attend an investiture ceremony yet having been away from home, but had received an offer to join one in the United Kingdom instead.
Dame Jacinda said she would be joined by her family and Whaea Esther Jessop from the London Māori club Ngāti Ranana, which had allowed her to wear one of its kākahu, or ceremonial cloaks, for the occasion.
“It will be a really special day – but amongst it all, it will be home that I will be thinking of. For me, accepting an honour is a way to say thank you to my family, those I worked with, and all the people who supported me to undertake a role that will forever be the greatest privilege of my life.”
rnz.co.nz
