Hosting royalty in New Zealand: Paul Cotton recalls his involvement with the Queen during her visit to New Zealand in 1989-90.

AuthorCotton, Paul
PositionREFLECTIONS

The events that had marked the New Zealand centenary, the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1940, were somewhat muted by the outbreak of the Second World War. A centennial exhibition was held in Wellington at Rongotai and a section of this was to provide a terminal building for the Wellington airport for the next 50 years. It was a spectacular affair. Towers and national pavilions marked the respect paid to New Zealand by other members of the Commonwealth, although the fact that Tasmania had come separately from the Commonwealth of Australia may have suggested some yearnings for independence on the part of another small island state.

As the time approached for the sesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the mood in the country was different. The treaty itself had stepped out of the shadow of history and become a living document, part of the constitution we did not have. It had become an object of respect by all and reverence by many. Nineteen-ninety was not going to be a time for unbridled celebration. Rather a time for studied commemoration.

David Lange had not enjoyed the one royal visit that had taken place since he became prime minister. The planning of that visit had been done by the traditional team, the Distinguished Visitors Branch (DVB) of the Department of Internal Affairs. The managers of the DVB had done what they most enjoyed doing, telling their elders and betters what to do because that was the way it had always been done. It had been a visit where a high spot had been the Queen standing on a dais opening a swamp. This was something David Lange was determined not to repeat.

When the invitation came to me in New York to arrange and direct the royal visits to mark the sesquicentennial, I saw only the possibility of going home with a great job to do when the unexpected closure of the consulate became effective in a few months. I accepted with enthusiasm and when the prime minister came to New York in April for Anzac Day and the Yale speech, we discussed how and when the announcement of my appointment should be made. I discovered that Lange wanted me to set up a Royal Visits Office separate from the DVB in the Department of Internal Affairs, staff it with my own people and plan and arrange the whole show as had never been done before.

Unprecedented step

Some of the hazards of what was to come were overshadowed by the excitement of it all. Nevertheless, I believed I should be home when my appointment was made public in order to answer any criticism of this unprecedented management step the government was taking. First, however, the Queen's approval had to be sought.

The prime minister wrote to the Palace and a reply from the private secretary said 'that Her Majesty remembers Paul Cotton very well from the Jubilee Visit to Apia' (see vol 45, no 6). He added that 'The Queen, who is very well aware of the subtleties and delicacies of the anniversary which you will be celebrating next year, is very reassured by the thought that a diplomat of such broad experience will be in charge of the arrangements for her visit.' The Queen appointed me her New Zealand secretary for the duration of the visit.

With that aspect sewn up, I flew to Wellington a few weeks later. Along the way I had my first quiet moments to think ahead about the themes of a visit to commemorate a nation-founding event 150 years ago. The Queen of New Zealand was coming to live in New Zealand for a time. When she was in New Zealand, the great granddaughter of Queen Victoria should meet the great grandchildren of those who signed the treaty.

I proposed these themes to David Lange in Wellington and he agreed at once. In fact, at no time did he dissent from any of my suggestions. As the visit had by now been announced proposals came in thick and fast for events and excursions during the few days I had at home. I was rushed to Queenstown by the PR manager of the Electricity Corporation to inspect the new Clutha Dam with a view to a formal opening by the Queen. (My host for the visit managed to leave her driving license behind in Wellington. This proved awkward when it came time to pick up a rental car. I had remembered mine.)

Local dissatisfaction

The dam was certainly impressive and I could almost see a royal hand pressing a button and releasing a cascade of water onto a thousand red, white and blue balloons, but I detected a measure of local dissatisfaction with the whole construction and word was leaking out of instability of the surrounding hills that would later require years of remediation work. So thanks, but no thanks. Our aim was to please as many people as possible.

While in Wellington on this advance trip I realised that I was going to be cut off from my 'home' ministry and would have to go on the staff of the Department of Internal Affairs for the duration. A salary for the position had to be agreed, office space found separate from the DVB and an establishment decided. It was about that time that I realised how intensely annoyed were the mandarins of Internal Affairs, and in particular the permanent head, Peter Boag, who had firmly expected to be the director of Royal Visits himself. With a little drama these questions were resolved and I went back to New York to firm up my plans and put them into shape for presentation to the Palace before I finally returned home to begin work.

Our visit to London coincided with the Trooping of the Colour and before we arrived Ken Scott, the assistant private secretary with whom I was to make the detailed plans, told us that the Queen had purchased tickets for us for the event. Not tickets from a private stash. It was carefully pointed out that she had bought and paid for our tickets. We were duly grateful and enjoyed the pageantry.

By this time, I had learned that the Royal Yacht would not be available for the visits in 1990. The British were sticking with their American cousins and refused to 'confirm or deny' that the vessel or any Royal Navy escort was not nuclear powered or armed. Without this floating wardrobe it was hugely more convenient to follow my plan that the Queen should only live formally where she had a palace of her own. That limited overnight stays to the Government Houses in Wellington and Auckland.

Three visits

I also learned that there were to be three visits. Prince Edward was coming to open the Commonwealth Games in Auckland and to stay throughout till they were closed by his mother when she arrived. Princess Anne was to follow for Anzac Day in April. Altogether the royal family would be longer in the country than ever before. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh would make their longest visit since the first time in 1953-54. In fact, when in London and lunching in the staff mess in Buckingham Palace, I was introduced to Prince Charles's private secretary, who gravely enquired 'Do we have any...

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