1953 royal visit new zealand

Queen Elizabeth II’s First tour of New Zealand

December 23, 1953 - january 31, 1954.

In 1953, the newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth II made her first visit here, taking in 46 towns and cities over six weeks. Kiwis lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the young royal, and her trip highlights were of the most iconic Kiwi order — a Watties factory, butter churning, bridge jumping, and an ice cream cake with a map of the South Island.

Images courtesy of Alexander Turnbull Library

New Zealand was centre-stage on 25 December, 1953, when Queen Elizabeth broadcast her Christmas message to the Empire-Commonwealth from Government House, Auckland.

December 23, 1953

Royal limousine on queen street, auckland.

It was a drizzly day in Auckland as the royal yacht, SS Gothic, docked just six months after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Graham Stewart, a young photographer covering the “second coming”, remembers her walking down in a “cool lime green summer frock and hat”.

The skies cleared as she touched New Zealand, when the royal salute shot from cannons and church bells rang out around town.

The royal limousine drives up Queen Street, Auckland, to the civic reception on the morning of the Queen’s arrival.

In an open-topped car, the Queen and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, travelled up Queen St, where it seemed the whole city had turned out in their finery to watch and cheer.

That first day, the couple shook an estimated 300 hands.

Children wait in well-regimented rows during the youth gathering on the Domain, Auckland.

December 24, 1953

Auckland domain.

Christmas Eve kicked off with a visit to Auckland Hospital followed by a youth gathering at Auckland Domain.

Caroline Woon was there with her marching band and shared her memories with nzhistory.govt.nz: “While we were waiting, my Scots friend, also about 18, sat and explained to me why she as a Scot would not, could not, feel excited about Elizabeth as she was not, in reality, her Queen let alone Queen Elizabeth II as true Scots had never even recognised the first Elizabeth.

“Finally, Elizabeth arrived and I saw her look back at us as Philip said – and you could see what he was saying – “Who are they?” – and her reply that we were “marching teams”. Unheard of in Britain and at that time unique to New Zealand.

“I can only think that that conversation between them had the effect of unleashing some sort of latent emotion because my Scots chum emitted what can only be described as a throaty roar of patriotism, wonderful in its intensity and then charged like a wounded bull out of our designated area, trying to barge like an All Black through another block of people in front to get even closer.”

10:21pm Tangiwai railway disaster

At 10:21pm the day would take a dark twist when the Wellington to Auckland night express plunged into the Whangaehu River at Tangiwai, killing 151 of the 285 on board.

The wreckage of the Wellington-Auckland night express which plunged into the flooded Whangaehu River on Christmas Eve, 1953.

December 25, 1953

New Zealand awoke to news of the Tangiwai disaster.

At Himatangi, a small settlement by the Manawatū coast, half-a-dozen young radio technicians cancelled their Christmas plans for a very special job. It was their job to transmit the Queen’s Christmas message, from Government House in Auckland, to the world.

The anxious wait - had it been received out there? - lasted more than 100 minutes. No cups of tea, no cigarettes, as they waited to hear back from Australia, North America, United Kingdom. Success, and the young technicians gathered in Himatangi Hall that Christmas Day could finally relax.

The Queen’s Christmas broadcast began: “Last Christmas I spoke to you from England. This year I am doing so from New Zealand. Auckland, which I reached only two days ago, is, I suppose as far as any city in the world from London and I have travelled some thousands of miles through many changing scenes and climates on my voyage here.”

The Queen would finish with a message of sympathy “to my people in New Zealand”, directly addressing the Tangiwai disaster, for which she would later attend a state funeral in Wellington.

Racegoers prefer to watch the royal couple rather than the horses during the Auckland Racing Club’s meeting at Ellerslie.

December 26, 1953

At the races.

Outside Auckland’s St James Theatre where the Queen and Duke were due for a Royal premiere, wheelchair-user Anne Ballin was spotted by a police officer among the pressing crowds. Concerned that she would get hurt, the officer wheeled Anne into the foyer where she waited four hours but was not disappointed.

“It was my first glimpse of the Queen but I saw her at her best.”

Earlier in the day, the royal couple had been to the races at Ellerslie.

December 27, 1953

Sunday, a day of church and relaxation.

The Queen, escorted by E.B. Corbett, the Minister for Maori Affairs, is welcomed to Waitangi by Māori kuia.

December 28, 1953

Queen’s visit to waitangi.

The area around Waitangi, in the Bay of Islands, had previously been the scene of tension between Māori and Pākehā. And it certainly would be again.

But on this summer’s day as 1953 neared its end, nearly 114 years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the sun shone and newspaper reports detailed the happy mixed-race crowd gathered in adulation.

“Symbolic of the amity between the races were New Zealand and English trees planted alongside the marae. Their branches mingled and provided on the ground below sufficient shade to protect several thousand people from the sun’s rays.”

While the unnamed author may have had sun protection knowledge ahead of his time, his racial diplomacy was somewhat lacking: “The Māori [performer] was not at his best and it was a disappointing round off to an otherwise glorious day.”

December 29, 1953

Jessie McKenzie, 100, was one of New Zealand’s few surviving original settlers and so it seemed somewhat appropriate she would meet Her Royal Highness. The Whangarei local - who had been born aboard a ship from Nova Scotia to New Zealand - was meant to meet the Queen at a Civic Reception in Waiwera. But after breaking her leg, she instead met the royals at their hotel. Local papers called the visit “the most glorious 15 minutes” in a century.

King Korokī greets Queen Elizabeth II at Tūrangawaewae.

December 30, 1953

Queen at tūrangawaewae.

History was made at Ngāruawāhia as the Queen was given the protection and goodwill of the local iwi’s gods, with the chant from the chief:

Foreboding and dreadfully envisaged was the far flung sky above! In anger it raged; In embattled array did it strive; The earth quaked; The heavens quivered! Nought stood upright beneath the shattering blast; The piercing south wind did blow! We grasped the big axe; the renowned axe; the long-handled axe; The axe that did rend asunder the great tree of the forest. We stroke forth boldly and struck the base of the sky that stands above! And it fell! It expired! Cease now, O thou east wind! Cease now, O thou south wind! The murmuring breeze will sigh o’r the land; The stormy and boisterous sea will subside; And the crimson morn will come with a sharpened air… A touch of frost… Ah, this the promise of a glorious day! The rising up. Who wielded the sacred axe? Then the gathered crowd: The tribes united! Chief: Remain united! All: Aye, forever! Aye, forever! Chief: Sneeze lustily! ‘Tis the eternal life principle! ‘Tis the world of life; ‘Tis the world of light! Let the calm be widespread! Let the sea glisten like the pounamu! And let the shimmer of summer dance across your pathway. It is ended!

It is not clear what the young Queen made of it all.

The Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Philip) attends the funeral at Karori Cemetery, Wellington, on 31 December 1953 for 21 victims of the Tangiwai tragedy.

December 31, 1953

1953 had been a big year for the Queen, losing her father and taking the throne. It ended with a bit of a whimper as the Queen and Duke spent a quiet night at the Waitomo Hotel. Members of the Royal entourage gathered in the main lounge and quietly sang Auld Lang Syne .

January 1, 1954

The first day of 1954 was spent on the road travelling from Hamilton to the quiet shores of Lake Rotoiti.

Virtually every farm gate, every road junction, and every village and town was decorated and an estimated 100,000 people turned out to catch a glimpse. “There was scarcely a moment during the long journey when the royal party was out of sight of cheering and waving people,” The Dominion reported.

“They brought babies in arms and sometimes their dogs, cats, and pet lambs as well. Even the lambs were decked out in red, white, and blue.”

The Duke of Edinburgh receives a gift during the Māori reception at Rotorua while Minister of Maori Affairs E.B. Corbett looks on.

January 2, 1954

Reception at rotorua.

A day in Rotorua for civic duties which were followed by a Māori reception at Arawa Park.

The royal couple watch children dive for coins at Whakarewarewa, Rotorua.

January 3, 1954

Royal couple at whakarewarewa.

The Queen’s mother and and father, then as Duke and Duchess of York, had visited the Te Arawa Marae in Rotorua in 1927. In fact, every royal family member to visit New Zealand had been there. But this day in 1954, Her Royal Highness broke new ground as she became the first woman ever to speak on the marae.

January 4 & 5, 1954

Two days free from official engagements as the royals relaxed at Moose Lodge, Lake Rotoiti.

January 6, 1954

The show got back on the road, passing through Gisborne - where crowds lined the streets everywhere - and on to Napier.

There, Pani Waipu, 5, was allowed out of hospital for the first time in three years for the royal visit. The boy had a critical spine condition and had spent years suspended upside down in an iron frame. He had one wish: to meet the Queen. He was among the crowd in the front row as the Queen got to Napier’s McLean Park. His eyes never left the stage and his face lit up as he waved and waved.

James Wattie explains the production line at his cannery in Hastings.

January 7, 1954

Watties factory visit.

The day started with a trip to the J Wattie Canneries in Hastings, where Mr Wattie showed the confounded-looking Queen the workings of his cannery.

Fresh from all the excitement Hastings could offer, the Queen boarded a train for a trip through to Palmerston North, stopping along the way.

Rona Gleeson, 6, stood in her best smocked dress with a bow in her hair among a group of children at Woodville's Railway Station, waiting to see the Queen.

“We were lined up alongside the railway platform with a little Union Jack flag in hand. Every child was given one and instructed to wave it when the train arrived.

“I was with the little ones at the edge of the platform. The train was a red one as I recall, it huffed and puffed into the station and a long line of folk walked the length of the platform … then it puffed and huffed off to Palmerston North.”

Little Rona didn't realise that the woman at the centre of the long line of folk, without her crown and ermine robes, was the Queen.

“Along with most children of that time, we had seen many pictures of the coronation … the coaches, the processions, the pageantry and glitter - and that I expected, in Woodville.”

At Palmerston North, Robyn Tremaine walked to the edge of the rotunda to present a bouquet. The Queen was at the top, the young girl at the bottom. Images of Muhammad and the mountain, leapt to one scribe’s mind. The Queen looked at Robyn and Robyn looked at the Queen. Then, with a quick smile, the Queen walked down and an awkward situation was saved.

January 8, 1954

The Queen is greeted by local dignitaries in Marton.

New Zealand spread out before HRH this midsummer day as the Queen travelled from Palmerston North, to Feilding, to Marton, to Whanganui, Patea, Hāwera, Stratford, and finally New Plymouth.

Queen Elizabeth II meeting the Stratford stationmaster, Jack Scott.

Judith Foy, a young teacher, and cub leader in Hāwera, told nzhistory.govt.nz: “The streets chosen [for the visit] had some very unsightly buildings and the powers that be who arrange these things decided something had to be done to cover these sights from royal eyes. Every school child set about making paper flowers in red, white and blue crepe paper. These were gathered and hung on these.”

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh watch butter being taken from a churn in the Bell Block Co-operative Dairy Factory, New Plymouth.

January 9, 1954

New plymouth butter.

The day began with more rural New Zealand - a visit to the Bell Block Dairy Factory - before the Queen and Duke flew to Paraparaumu Airport.

Crowds of children welcome the royal couple at the civic reception in Pukekura Park, New Plymouth.

Cabbage tree leaves, kiwi, a farewell in te reo and the New Zealand and Union Jack flags decorate the royal route out of New Plymouth.

Crowds lined the roads to Wellington and holiday-makers in Raumati and Paraparaumu turned out in bathing trunks. A crowd of 2000 mobbed the Royal Daimler on Hutt Rd. In Wellington, Lambton Quay was decked with flowers and bunting and a crowd singing Tipperary and A Bicycle Built for Two .

As the procession made its way to the Town Hall - “too swiftly, many thought”, the Evening Post noted - the crowds followed for a second, or even third glimpse.

January 10, 1954

The official programme said the Queen and Duke would attend a service at the Cathedral Church of St Paul then head straight to Government House, but there was a secret engagement. They were spotted going into the grounds of Parliament, where they were rehearsing for the upcoming opening. A large crowd gathered outside in the pouring rain for 40 minutes before the Queen came hurrying down the stairs to the waiting royal Daimler. All they got was a wave through the window as the car sped away.

January 11, 1954

A red carpet stretched from Wellington’s Opera House doors and across the footpath for a civic reception. Crowds eagerly awaited in the driving rain opposite and a tall, smiling policeman walked up and down edging them back before Her Majesty’s arrival.

Earlier, the Queen and Duke visited the Ford factory in Lower Hutt and the Duke was particularly interested in the engine assembly.

“What do you take away when you are finished,” he asked one worker, smiling.

“Nothing, Your Royal Highness,” the worker replied, “they won’t let us.

Prime Minister Sidney Holland hands the Queen the vellum copy of her Speech from the Throne at Parliament, Wellington, 12 January 1954.

January 12, 1954

Opening parliament.

About 36,000 children and their parents packed Athletic Park in Newtown, Wellington to see the Queen. Gwen Parsons was an 8-year-old pupil at St Patrick's in Kilbirnie. The whole school turned out for the visit.

“They drove in, in the back of an open jeep, and waved. We were all very excited and thought it was great. I wouldn't turn out to see her now for all the tea in China,” she said years later.

The Queen, wearing her coronation robes, enters Parliament Buildings, Wellington, to open the special session of Parliament.

Later in the day the Queen, in her Coronation dress, an ermine stole, the Order of the Garter and a tiara, opened a session in Parliament. Lasting just seven minutes, it would go down in history as the shortest session of Parliament ever held in New Zealand.

January 13, 1954

The Queen laid the foundation stone for what would become Wellington’s Anglican cathedral. The Dominion opined: “This is indeed an occasion for rejoicing. The spiritual import of it reaches far beyond the reaches of Wellington itself to the Church throughout the country, and to all the people.” It was also noted money still needed to be found to build the rest of the Cathedral.

January 14, 1954

Upper hutt welcome.

The royal car is greeted by crowds in Upper Hutt.

The Queen, a well-known lover of horse-racing, headed out to Trentham, Upper Hutt for the Royal Wellington Cup.

Jockey Jack Garth rode five-year-old Golden Tan to the front at the post to take the win. In the birdcage, the Queen picked up the cup and turned it around in her hands for a few admiring moments before, smiling, presenting the trophy, to the horse’s owner.

“Three cheers for her Royal Highness and the Duke of Edinburgh,” the club president called, and the vast crowd responded. Garth was later asked what the Queen had said to him. “I can hardly remember what she said,” he admitted. “It was all so wonderful.”

January 15, 1954

After days in the relatively-cosmopolitan capital, the royal couple headed to Wairarapa. Helen Turner remembered the couple arriving in Masterton: “As a pupil at Wairarapa College at the time, and although it was the school holidays and summer, we were asked to don our winter uniforms, which were obviously considered tidier than our summer uniforms.”

A Blenheim family with a good ‘possie’ in the main square whiles away the time until the Queen’s arrival with a game of cards.

January 16, 1954

The South Island beckoned, first by plane to the Air Force base in Woodbourne and then car to Blenheim and Nelson.

Some 5000 children from far and wide gathered in Nelson’s Trafalgar Park. The royal car made a sudden stop when a little girl in blue - Rosalie Marritt of Hampden St School - stepped forward with a bouquet of pink carnations. Her Majesty took the bouquet and said, “Thank you, my dear”, and the procession moved on.

A huge crown dwarfs the royal couple as they walk down the steps in front of Nelson Cathedral.

On the Cathedral steps, as the mayor spoke, a shaggy black and white sheep dog jumped onto the balcony, causing hilarity among the crowd. Then as the mayor called for applause for the Queen, the shaggy dog sprang into view as it leaped onto the Duke’s chair. The dog was awarded with a pat on the head from the Duke as he left.

January 17, 1954

The South Island’s West Coast was fizzing with excitement to such an extent that, in preparation, one side of the road from Hokitika to Greymouth was resealed, nzhistory.net.nz says. That side of the road was for years after known as “Lizzie’s Side”.

The Queen speaking at an open-air function in Greymouth.

Pat Jamieson: “I was 11 years old and the Queen and Duke were driving down High Street in Greymouth. The crowds were very thick and I wiggled to the front just as their car was passing, the Queen smiled at me and I was hooked. An instant avid royalist. I then ran alongside the car for about half a mile at which time the Duke of Edinburgh looked across and said, ‘If you run much further, you will burst’. Well I was just totally blown away. That evening practically the entire population was gathered outside Revington’s Hotel where the royal couple were staying, calling ‘We want the Queen’. Then as soon as everything went quiet this little 11-year-old stood and yelled at the top of her voice. ‘I want the Duke’. The Royal Couple came out onto the balcony and waved and the crowd went wild, especially me - I was totally convinced the Duke only came out because I called for him to do so.”

January 18, 1954

The South Island got eaten, initially by the Queen but finished off by the local children. Granted, it was not the actual South Island, but it was near enough. A Christchurch firm had supplied an ice cream cake crowned with a map of the South Island, complete with miniature lakes and mountains, the railway system, and each stop on the tour marked out. The pair were so delighted that, after their luncheon, the cake - map unimpaired - was sent to the train station where the crowd of about 200, half of them children, got to finish it off.

January 19, 1954

Finally, came Christchurch’s time to shine. At the Cathedral, 1200 made it inside while another 5000 listened to the service through a public address service outside.

The Queen said: “It is abundantly clear that the people of Christchurch lack none of the enterprise and industry of their stout-hearted forebears who founded this beautiful city and who played their part in developing the country in which it stands.”

It was unclear if the “enterprise” she was talking of was the display that day at the Disabled Servicemen’s Vocational Training Centre of an armless man who, for 15 minutes, showed the royal couple how he could shave, eat a meal of meat and vegetables, drink from a cup, and type a letter.

January 20, 1954

Anne Roberts, 10, in a cool blue dress, stood with 7-year-old Michael Hard on Brougham St, Christchurch, as the royal procession moved towards them. As she clutched a bouquet of carnations and roses, it looked for a moment as if the car wasn’t going to stop. Anne stretched out one hand and asked the queen, “wait a minute”. Her Royal Highness obliged.

January 21, 1954

It was on this day that complaints emerged that then-Prime Minister Sidney Holland confirmed he had received complaints about the speed the cars carrying the Queen and Duke through crowds. People were miffed they didn’t have enough time to lay eyes on the Royals.

Holland responded: “I have given instructions that for the remainder of the tour every effort should be made to slow down as much as possible to give people every opportunity of seeing our Royal guests.”

That day the Queen - in a fitted coat of soft pervenche blue grosgrain over a frock of matching blue and white spotted silk, with a pleated panel on the front of her skirt - went with the Duke, in a dark brown lounge suit, to the trots at Addington.

January 22, 1954

Crowds turned out early to catch the Royal couple all the way along the drive to Burnham Military Camp. Every lamppost along Riccarton Rd displayed some sort of show of loyalty as the Queen and Duke headed towards the deep south. But first was a weekend of rest at Longbeach.

January 23, 1954

As the royal cars passed through Rakaia, Her Royal Highness spotted little Heather Ashford, 5, clutching a bunch of gladioli. The car stopped, the window came down, and the Queen lent out to get the flowers from the young girl, who was held aloft by the local vicar’s wife.

January 24, 1954

A Sunday, the day of our Lord, and the 30 worshippers at the tiny historic chapel at Longbeach had a very special guest. For the Queen and Duke, there was a reason to take special note. The chapel was then almost a century old. It had been the first church on the Canterbury Plains when it was built in 1855.

The most famous and fêted railway station visitors were touring members of the British royal family. Here, the young Queen Elizabeth II poses on the observation platform of her royal car at Timaru.

January 25, 1954

There was no award given for the newspaper headline of the tour but, if there had been, it surely would have gone to that day’s Dominion . “The Queen Wears Coat,” it proclaimed. Evidently, as the Queen’s train neared Dunedin, onlookers were decked out in scarves and overcoats despite being amid a summer’s month. “When the Queen alighted in the city she wore a light coat over her summer suit.” You read it here first, unless, of course, you read it then.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are welcomed by local children at Palmerston.

Yvette Williams in mid-air during a long jump at Carisbrook Park, Dunedin, in front of Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

January 26, 1954

The collective sigh reached around the 33,000 spectators at Carisbrook. A royal “oh” was even uttered from the Royal lips. This was when New Zealand long-jumper Yvette Williams jumped a record-equalling 20 feet, six inches but got a “no jump”.

12,000 children greet the Queen at Forbury Park, Dunedin.

January 27, 1954

Sir Edmund Hillary had, the year before, already climbed Mt Everest but a New Zealand Himalayan expedition was heading out again and two of its members - Colin Todd and Brian Wilkins - were at a Royal reception of sports people at Dunedin.

Some sportsmen at the reception gave the Duke a copy of New Zealand from N to Z, which was described as a “popular and pleasant piece of frivolity” about inter-island rivalry written by Carl Smith of Dunedin.

“This will put New Zealand into true perspective,” the Duke was told then, as an afterthought: “Perhaps it would be better if his Royal Highness reads it after he leaves us.”

January 28, 1954

The Queen’s yacht, the Gothic, was already tied up in Bluff, ready to take Her Royal Highness towards home this day in 1953. Dunedin’s goodbye line-up of people had stretched 11km from the city earlier in the day and 223km on in Invercargill the southern province was ready to embrace them.At each town they passed through, the entire population seemingly turned out and the crowds thickened as the cars neared Invercargill.

A huge crowd in the main street of Invercargill as the royal entourage arrives at the Grand Hotel.

At the Grand Hotel, as the royal couple got out of the car, the crowd surged but the couple got in safely. The other cars in the procession had to wait to get through till the Duke and Queen appeared on the balcony to rapturous applause. They came out again and waved at 8pm then, to a still-large crowd, as dusk turned towards night at 9.45pm.

January 29, 1954

A bumble bee met an unruffled Queen in Invercargill as she addressed the large crowd at a civic reception at Queen’s Park.

As it hovered within inches of her face, Invercargill Mayor Adam Adamson flew into action, newspapers reported. “[He] made a wild sweep with his hand while the crowd held its breath. The motion of the mayor’s hand was sufficient to frighten the bee away and there was a gasp of relief from the crowd. At no sign during the incident did the Queen show that there was anything amiss.”

Also that night, the Queen transmitted a national broadcast to New Zealand in which she said her and her husband had enjoyed “every minute” of their stay.

January 30, 1954

The Queen, along with the Duke, sailed out of Bluff. It was said 75 percent of New Zealand had seen the couple during their 40-day visit. They had travelled more than 2000 kilometres by car, 1200km by plane and 960km by train.

January 31, 1954

Leaving new zealand.

The SS Gothic made an unscheduled visit to Milford Sound.

The royal visitors’ last sojourn in New Zealand waters was spent in Milford Sound.

Queen Elizabeth II would visit New Zealand another nine times during her long reign over the Commonwealth - in 1963, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1981, 1986, 1990, 1995 and 2002.

Museum of New Zealand

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Queen Elizabeth II – Her coronation and first visit to New Zealand in 1953

New Zealanders celebrated two royal events in 1953. In the middle of the year, their new monarch Elizabeth II was crowned; six months later she came to Aotearoa New Zealand in person.

A royal year

Many souvenirs were made to mark these happy occasions, some were unique and hand-made, others were mass-produced, but all were mementos of the beginning of what was called ‘the new Elizabethan age’.

In June, Elizabeth II was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Pakistan, and became the Head of the Commonwealth.

The coronation on 2 June was especially memorable for New Zealanders, as it coincided with news of Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenza Norgay reaching the summit of Mt Everest. The Acting Prime Minster of New Zealand described the conquest as ‘a most fitting gift for her Majesty’s Coronation’.

Touring New Zealand

At the end of December 1953, Queen Elizabeth arrived in New Zealand. She and her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, stayed for almost six weeks, travelling through Aotearoa New Zealand as part of a six-month tour of the Commonwealth.

Their itinerary took the couple to 46 towns and cities. This was the first time a reigning monarch of New Zealand had visited – the previous five royal visits had been made by brothers or sons of monarchs.

Crowds flocked to see them. It is estimated that almost three out of every four New Zealanders turned out to catch a glimpse of their new Queen.

This photograph shows spectators watching Queen Elizabeth II’s cavalcade driving through the Basin Reserve in Wellington. It was taken on the last day of the Queen’s stay in the capital, before she and the Duke of Edinburgh flew to the South Island.  Queen's visit, December 1953-January 1954 ... , 16 January 1954, by Leslie Adkin. Te Papa (A.008487)

Royal visit badge , maker unknown, about 1953. Gift of the Guard family, 1993. Te Papa (GH004728)

This bottle top is from a collection of about 250 bottle tops collated by Toby Stevenson when he was aged 7–11 years old, between 1965–1969. Toby recalls his interest was sparked by two Queen Elizabeth II coronation bottle tops that had been kept by his grandmother. She gave them to him and he proceeded to collect bottle tops wherever he could.  Bottle top , about 1954, maker unknown. Gift of Toby Stevenson, 2011. Te Papa (GH021674/1)

This scrapbook was compiled by 10-year-old Cathryn Riley for the Royal Tour of Queen Elizabeth II to New Zealand in 1953-54. Cathryn was invited to see the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh at a special Children's Function at Athletic Park on 12 January 1954. She kept this detailed scrapbook with tickets, newspaper cuttings and other ephemera from the Royal Visit.

Scrapbook, 'The Coronation Royal Visit' , Cathryn Riley; compiler; 1953-1954; New Zealand. Gift of Cathryn Riley, 2014. Te Papa (GH024283)

This badge was created to commemorate the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to New Zealand in 1953-54, and was worn by a young boy who saw her on tour in Devonport, Auckland. Royal Tour badge , 1953, New Zealand, maker unknown. Gift of Tony Mackle, 2011. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (GH021362)

Imperial links

At the time, the tour celebrated and confirmed the ongoing importance of British culture and tradition to New Zealanders. People waved Union Jacks, not the New Zealand flag. Red, white, and blue floral displays were the order of the day.

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Part one of two from this full length archival film.

Part two of two from this full length archival film.

The Royal Tour of New Zealand 1953 - 54

Short film (full length) – 1954.

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"So the Queen comes to New Zealand. 12,000 miles from the motherland she is not among strangers. She has come to her New Zealand home." When the Queen and Prince Philip began the first tour of NZ by a reigning monarch (soon after her coronation), a National Film Unit crew followed the journey, before condensing 40 days and 46 stops into a mere 25 minutes. Along the way the newly crowned Queen wears her coronation gown to open Parliament, and witnesses geysers, long-jumpers, Māori canoes, plus masses of enthused Dunedinites refusing to keep behind the barrier.

It’s the final lap in the royal journey, and at every vantage point they wait to see her. Even the cot-cases are brought from the hospitals. No better medicine. – Narrator

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The National Film Unit

Archives New Zealand

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Queen Elizabeth II tours NZ

A DigitalNZ Story by Zokoroa

A pictorial remembrance of Queen Elizabeth II's ten royal tours to NZ from 1953 to 2002 - the first reigning British monarch to visit Aotearoa.

Queen , Queen Elizabeth II , Monarchy , Government , Royalty , Parliament

Queen Elizabeth II (born 21 April 1926) became New Zealand’s sixth British monarch on 6 February 1952, following the death of her father, King George VI.  She was the first reigning British monarch to visit New Zealand, which occurred over the ‘royal summer’ of 1953-1954. The Queen and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, have visited New Zealand ten times, with their last tour taking place in 2002 during her Golden (50th) Jubilee. Queen Elizabeth is the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum (70th) Jubilee, an historic milestone which she reached in 2022. Seven years previously, she had surpassed the record of her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria (1819-1901), who had reigned for over 63 years from 20 June 1837- 22 Jan 1901. It was announced by Buckingham Palace on 8 September 2022 that Queen Elizabeth had passed away that afternoon at Balmoral Castle aged 96. 

23 Dec 1853 - 30 Jan 1954: First visit to NZ from a reigning British monarch

Queen Elizabeth II (born 21 April 1926) became NZ's 6th British monarch since 1840 Treaty of Waitangi on 6 Feb 1952

Auckland Libraries

The Queen's Commonwealth tour from Nov 1953-May 1954 included the West Indies, Australasia, Asia & Africa

The Royal Tour of New Zealand 1953 - 54

NZ On Screen

Queen Elizabeth's Christmas message included the news of the Tangiwai train disaster on Christmas eve

Queen Elizabeth reads the Christmas message, 1953

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

The Queen also opened 31st NZ Parliament on 12 Jan (a role usually carried out by her Governor-General)

Queen Elizabeth II at Parliament Buildings for the ceremonial opening of Parliament, Royal Tour 1953-1954

Alexander Turnbull Library

6–18 February 1963: The Queen attended celebrations at Waitangi & also opened Parliament

The Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council was established as a gift to the Queen

Queen Elizabeth II and the arts council charter, 1963

12–30 March 1970: The Queen participated in the James Cook bicentenary celebrations & also opened Parliament

Māwai Hakona 1970; Gisborne; royal visit and Cook bicentenary celebration.

Upper Hutt City Library

Visit, HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip, 1970

Massey University

The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles & Princess Anne, opened 36th NZ Parliament

Visit of Queen Elizabeth II, opening of Parliament and visit to Wellington Hospital

30 January – 8 February 1974: The Queen attended the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch & also opened Parliament

Canterbury Museum

Princess Anne & her then husband, Captain Mark Phillips, & Prince Charles accompanied the Queen & the Duke

Princess Anne greeting equestrian riders, New Plymouth

The Queen also opened Parliament and attended the New Zealand Day events at Waitangi

New Zealand Day at Waitangi

Māwai Hakona 1974; at Waitangi for New Zealand Day; Royal Yacht in background.

22 Feb – 7 March 1977: Visited as part of a Commonwealth tour to mark the Queen’s Silver (25th) Jubilee & opened Beehive

Palmerston North City Library

Queen Elizabeth II with Scouts

Royal visit, 1977

South Canterbury Museum

The Queen also officially opened the new Beehive on 28 Feb

Queen Elizabeth II opening the Beehive, 1977

Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

12–20 October 1981: The Queen visited following a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Melbourne

Air Force Museum of New Zealand

JSPRO52-17-81

JSPRO52-13-81

The 1981 Royal Variety Performance was held at the Theatre Royal at Drury Lane in front of the Queen

Royal Variety Performance Show 1981

22 February – 2 March 1986: The Queen visited as part of a tour to Nepal and Australia, & also opened Parliament

Queen Elizabeth in Napier 1986

Hawke's Bay Knowledge Bank

Brownies marching for the Queen

Christchurch City Libraries

Children at QEII Park

1–16 February 1990: The Queen closed the Commonwealth Games in Auckland & also opened Parliament

The Queen also participated in events marking the sesquicentennial of the Treaty of Waitangi

Queen Elizabeth II at Waitangi, 1990

Sesquicentennial demonstration, Queen Street, 1990

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

1–10 November 1995: The Queen attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Auckland

PD211-14-95

Queen Elizabeth the Second and supporters, Wellington.

22–27 February 2002: The Queen's last visit to NZ was as part of the commemoration of her Golden (50th) Jubilee

In 2022, the Queen celebrated her Platinum (70th) Jubilee. She'd surpassed 63-year reign of Queen Victoria in Sept 2015.

On 8 Sept 2022 , Queen Elizabeth passed away at Balmoral Castle aged 96

NZ marked the passing of Queen Elizabeth II with a State Memorial Service & one-off public holiday on Mon 26 Sept

Source :  'Royal tours', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/queen-elizabeth/royal-tours , (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 4-Feb-2022  

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This map details the route taken by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh during their 1953-1954 royal tour. Descriptions of the attractions at various stops nationwide are listed on either side. Of Palmerston North: "Thursday, 7th January .... Royal Train arrives at Palmerston North for civic reception at 5.30. 8.15: Civic dinner. Stay night at Grand Hotel, Palmerston North... Friday, 8th January 10.10: Royal Train proceeds north from Palmerston North." The top reads, "To the Girls. Wishing you all the best for Xmas & New Year From Evans Family.

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Royal visit, 1953–1954

Queen Elizabeth II was the first British royal to visit New Zealand since her uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, in 1934 and 1935. Her father, who visited when he was Duke of York, planned to return while king, but the outbreak of the Second World War and then illness prevented him. Elizabeth was to come in his place, but the death of her father in 1952 meant the world tour went no further than Kenya. The following year, however, after her coronation, Elizabeth II became the first reigning monarch to visit New Zealand. She and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, arrived on 23 December 1953 and departed on 31 January 1954. It is estimated that three in four New Zealanders saw her, as the Queen visited forty-six towns or cities and attended one hundred and ten separate functions.

The royal couple stayed three days in Dunedin, where the Octagon was decorated with a floral arch of a quarter-of-a-million blooms, and other floral displays, created by women's organisations, adorn all the shops. Among the events were a civic reception held by Mayor L. M. Wright; a sports meet at Carisbrook attended by 35,000 spectators; a concert featuring English music associated with the royal family performed by the pianist Richard Farrell (1926–1958) with the National Orchestra; and a visit to the Truby King Harris Karitane Hospital, which was located in Andersons Bay.

Royal visit farewell ball

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