On September 8, the Queen of England, Elizabeth II, passed away. She was 96 years old.
A ceremony celebrating his 70th anniversary of reign (Platinum Jubilee) was held in June this year. His reign was the longest in the UK and the second longest in the world after the 72 years of Louis XIV of France.
Queen Elizabeth is also the monarch of New Zealand, a constitutional monarchy that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
New Zealanders also expressed their condolences after receiving news of his death in the early hours of September 9th.
Prime Minister Ardern expresses 'deep sadness'
When the news of Queen Elizabeth's death broke, Prime Minister Ardern was still asleep and was woken up by a police officer sent to her and heard about the Queen's death.
Prime Minister Ardern informed the nation at her morning press conference that Queen Elizabeth had passed away.
"New Zealand woke up to the morning news of the death of Queen Elizabeth.
On behalf of the New Zealand Government and people, I offer my deepest condolences to the Royal Family and to King Charles III.
The last few days of the Queen's life were a perfect example of her dedication to her people until the very end.
I believe we all received the news of the Queen's death with deep sadness, but also with gratitude for a life dedicated to serving her people.
He has been with us every step of the way during his 70-year reign, the longest in British history.
During that time, she always demonstrated her dedication to people and needless to say, she fulfilled her duties as Queen.
She was always courageous, passionate and humorous, and her smile remains in my memory fondly.
He was a very special person.”
Will he miss the United Nations General Assembly?
Prime Minister Ardern was scheduled to fly to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly on September 17. However, she said on national television shortly after the Queen's death that she may miss the General Assembly if the Queen's funeral overlaps with the scheduled date.
"Together with the Governor-General, I will make it my priority to represent New Zealand at the funeral and pay tribute to the Queen."
The Queen's funeral is set to take place on the 19th. Prime Minister Ardern is expected to miss the United Nations General Assembly. She also suggested that other nations' leaders may prioritize the funeral over the UN General Assembly.
"There will be leaders who will want to prioritise attending the funeral and paying their respects to the Queen."
He commented,
The United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to meet in person for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
New Zealand officials pay tribute to Queen
37th Prime Minister Helen Clark (New Zealand's second female Prime Minister)
"The Queen was in many ways a country woman. She loved horses, horse racing and lots of corgis. I remember visiting Windsor Castle and coming out of the hallway to go from the drawing room to lunch and being surprised by a sea of corgis appearing out of nowhere. I carefully dodged the corgis as they roamed the carpet. It was a fond memory."
The Queen's dedication to her people will be remembered forever. When she became Queen, she said, 'I will serve until I die,' and that was true. She fulfilled her role as Queen until she passed away.
Lockwood Smith, former New Zealand High Commissioner to the UK
"When you meet the Queen, there are all sorts of formal rules, like how far you should bow and so on, but once you meet her and the staff leave, she's just a really real, personable person. She has a knack for putting people at ease, she talks to them in an intimate way, she's very insightful and very caring."
35th Prime Minister John Bossier
"One of my great memories was having lunch with the Queen at Buckingham Palace with my wife. We talked about the world, but nothing serious, just about every aspect of life. It was a lovely time."
Governor Cindy Kilo
"My final conversation with The Queen was over Zoom. After all, she is in her 90s. Zoom is a relatively new technology, but she seemed very comfortable speaking to us and was able to quickly put the conversation at ease and get the conversation flowing."
The Queen's death has led to a period of national mourning in New Zealand, with flags flying at half mast and memorial books being placed across the country, and a state funeral is due to be held in New Zealand following an official funeral in the UK.
