Royals tour New Zealand & Australia as support for Monarchy continues to grow

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...Australia.html
http://news.sky.com/story/1243509/wi...wn-for-oz-trip

Prince William, Princess Catherine and Prince George touch down in Australia after completing tour of New Zealand

HRH Prince William and Princess Catherine unveil a new portrait of the Queen at Government House in New Zealand, with New Zealand PM John Key standing to the left.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are in Australia with their son George for the second part of their Antipodean tour.

The royal couple touched down on Australian soil to whoops of delight from waiting crowds.

Many of them had been waiting hours to see the family arrive, with a teenage girl and her mother saying they had come especially from Lebanon "to see Kate, George and, of course, William".

The visit comes as a newly published poll shows the royals are increasingly popular among Australians, with support for a republic in Australia dropping to its lowest level in more than two decades.

The Duchess carried a wriggling baby George down the steps of the aircraft and then handed him over to his father so she could accept a bouquet of flowers.

The couple travelled on to Sydney for the start of their 10-day tour, as crowds of people 10 deep surged forward to greet the royals on their arrival at the iconic landmark on the harbour.

One well-wisher, Ailsa Martin from the Bondi area, had been queuing from the early hours.

Royal selfie: Nina Kiwarkis, who is awaiting a heart and lung transplant, posed for this picture with the Duchess of Cambridge

"We've been waiting for this moment for such a long time. I can't believe they are here at last. Kate even arrived in yellow for Australia."

Australia has seen a resurgence in support for the royal family in recent times, especially among younger generations.

Adam Scott from North Sydney said: "The rest of the world thinks we are against the monarchy. But really we want it as much as places like New Zealand."

In a speech at the reception, William said he and his wife had been looking forward to the visit for a long time.

He reminded his audience of the special place Australia had in the heart of his grandmother, the Queen.

He said: "Her Majesty spoke recently of how, since her first visit here 60 years ago, she has been privileged to witness Australia's growing economy and flowering self-confidence.

"For Catherine, Harry and me, born in the early 80s, we've never known anything else - Australia and Australians have always been for us a beacon of confidence, creativity in the arts and sporting ability."

What a turnout! Scores of fans turned up at the opera house to greet the royal couple, who touched down in Sydney on Wednesday

The proud father could not resist mentioning his firstborn, saying: "I don't think I could finish these brief words to you without mentioning one other family member, George, who is now busy forging his own link with Australia.

"Catherine and I were very grateful for the many kind messages and gifts from across the country that we received when George was born."

The eight-month-old prince is expected to make an appearance on Sunday when his parents take him to Taronga zoo in Sydney, where an enclosure housing bilbys - a rabbit-like marsupial - will be named after him.

William joked: "I suspect George's first word might be 'bilby' - only because koala is harder to say. We really look forward to our time here together as a family."

The Duke and Duchess left the Opera House to screams and shouts as the "Kate effect" took hold.

High five! An unnamed teenager from New Zealand takes a selfie during William and Kate's visit to Christchurch

Interesting tour this, and one we'll be seeing much more of - with the Queen and Prince Phillip turning 88 and 93 this year, it's unlikely they'll be making many more long-haul flights to their far away realms such as Australia, New Zealand or Papua New Guinea anymore... so it's now down to the younger royals to sell the monarchist case in those countries if we are to one day see a King William V of Australia/New Zealand etc. As the polls show though, it appears to be working and support for the royals among the younger generations in those countries is growing as well as generally with support for republicanism dropping to a twenty year low.

It's a shame HRH Prince William isn't visiting at a time when the Australian/New Zealand parliaments need opening as - and you may find this interesting - the royals often will open the parliament in place of the Governor-General if they are in that country at that time. You can find pictures of the Queen online opening the Canadian parliament a few times for example. I love historical quirks like that, it makes the world so much more interesting.

Hasn't George shot up though? I didn't realise babies grew so fast.

Thoughts?

[FlyingJesus]

Ooooooh my mum and stepdad are in Australia at the moment visiting my sister and niece obv my niece is a more fabulous baby than Prince George *+*+*+*

I'm not really a monarchist (although I do like them) but even so can't really see what's to be gained by NZ/Aus going republican if they ever do. Just seems like a lot of paperwork to change something that isn't really making a difference to anyone other than royalist enthusiasts

[Sloths]

The 'unnamed guy's called Michael Horne

My boyfriend was in the Air Force band that welcomed the royals to the city so he got to meet them properly but yeah I didn't make the effort to go out and see them either of the times they were in wellington, I might have if it wasn't raining. So so many did though especially when they were walking around and about but ew they bought the English weather with them

[FlyingJesus]

Yeah apparently it's been pissing down with rain ever since my mum got to Aus (maybe before idk) and over here we've had a week of blazing sun interesting to know, are you as a Kiwi for or against the monarchy? Prob been brought up before but I'm not much good at differentiating between all the people I don't really talk to so no idea who thinks what for the most part lol

[Matt]

Saw the rain in NZ haha, it was torrential. It was a nice day today for them though. Visiting the bushfire victims in the Blue Mountains. I love how everyone over here is just wanting to see what Kate is wearing.

[Ekelektra]

It's allll over the news here and like said above a lot of it is just analysing what Kate is wearing. If they had come down here I probably would have gone to see them.

And George is so gorgeous haha.

[FlyingJesus]

Prince George is unimpressed by Australia

[Matt]

He hasn't been to the zoo yet. That'll make him happier.