Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall,
will visit New Zealand next year as part of the Queen's
Diamond Jubilee celebrations. REUTERS/Olivia Harris
Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, are
to visit New Zealand next year as part of the Queen's Diamond
Jubilee celebrations.
Buckingham Palace has announced family representatives will
make official visits in 2012 to all 15 countries outside the
United Kingdom of which Queen Elizabeth is sovereign.
The Prince of Wales will also visit Australia, Papua New
Guinea and Canada.
In what is likely to be the most high-profile part of the
itinerary, William - the Queen's grandson and second in line
to the throne - will travel with Catherine to Malaysia,
Singapore, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
The tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu has not had a royal visit
in decades. When the Queen and her husband toured it in 1982
they were carried shoulder high by islanders into the capital
Funafuti as they sat in canoes.
Prince Harry, William's younger brother, will meanwhile make
his first solo trip overseas on behalf of the Queen, touring
Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas.
Prime Minister John Key welcomed the news of Prince Charles'
visit.
"I am pleased New Zealand will be able host the Prince of
Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall as part of the Queen's
Diamond Jubilee celebrations,'' Mr Key said.
The Prince of Wales last visited New Zealand in 2005. This
will be the Duchess of Cornwall's first visit here.
The time of the visit and the places the pair will visit is
yet to be formalised.
The Queen, 85, and her husband Prince Philip, 90, will remain
in Britain but will travel as widely as possible throughout
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the palace
said.
The world tour adds to events at home in Britain marking the
jubilee, including a massive pageant on the River Thames
involving up to 1,000 boats and the lighting of beacons
across the country.
Elizabeth is the second-longest-reigning monarch in British
history, after her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria,
who reigned for more than 63 years.
She became queen when her father, king George VI, died on
February 6, 1952, while she was in Kenya on an official
visit.
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