The Māori Queen Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po has met with Prince William at Windsor Castle and King Charles III at Buckingham Palace this week in her first encounters with the British royal family since her accession to the Kīngitanga in 2024.
The 29-year-old paramount chief travelled to London for the 50th anniversary celebrations of The King’s Trust, the youth charity founded by then-Prince Charles in 1976. She was accompanied by a delegation including four young Māori entrepreneurs supported by The King’s Trust Aotearoa New Zealand.
The Windsor Castle meeting on Wednesday was the first time a Māori monarch has met a member of the UK royal family at the castle. Kīngitanga spokesperson Rāhui Papa said the encounter built on a relationship spanning more than a century and eight royal reigns.
“The connections being reinforced today are testament to the history and continue to provide opportunities and benefits for Māori communities” Mr Papa said.
The pair discussed environmental leadership, indigenous perspectives and global social challenges. A statement released by the Kīngitanga afterwards said Te Arikinui had used the audience to advance an indigenous worldview on environmental stewardship.
“Te Arikinui affirmed her belief in the power of indigenous knowledge and intergenerational stewardship to help solve the world’s environmental and social challenges” the Kīngitanga statement said.
The following day Te Arikinui was received by King Charles at Buckingham Palace in her first meeting with the British monarch since being anointed leader of the Kīngitanga following the death of her father Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII in August 2024.
Mr Papa told reporters the discussion turned to her father’s passing and the future of the Treaty relationship. He said the conversation between the two monarchs had been deeply personal.
“Te Arikinui is focused on strong relationships between peoples as Aotearoa New Zealand approaches the 200-year anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 2040,” the Kīngitanga statement said.
Mr Papa described the private discussion between Te Arikinui and King Charles as “heartfelt”.
The Kīngitanga movement was established in 1858 during the reign of Queen Victoria. Its founding leaders sought formal recognition of Māori sovereignty and unity among tribes facing land confiscations and colonial expansion. Te Arikinui is the seventh Māori monarch and the second queen of the movement.
The visit also commemorates a historic pattern of Kīngitanga visits to the British Crown including King Tāwhiao’s 1884 mission to seek an audience with Queen Victoria to petition for the recognition of tribal sovereignty. Both Prince William and Te Arikinui share a focus on environmental causes and supporting young people. The Kīngitanga has signalled that the relationship between Te Arikinui and the future British king is intended to endure across both their reigns.
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