Prime Minister John Key says the Queen was in "sparkling form'' when he had an audience with her during her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Bearing gifts of cheeses and preserves, the PM congratulated Queen Elizabeth II on her 60-year reign and thanked her for all she had done for New Zealand.
"She was in sparkling form. She's got incredible stamina, I mean it's four days of relentless engagements for the jubilee and yet she looked in fabulous form and I actually remarked to her that she looked very relaxed and very good and she obviously thoroughly enjoyed the event,'' Mr Key told Newstalk ZB today.
The Queen expressed concern for the future of ChristChurch Cathedral during the meeting.
Mr Key said the Queen has received an enormous amount of correspondence from people in Christchurch over the fate of the Anglican cathedral.
Mr Key said the Queen is clearly not an engineer so was not offering advice on whether the demolition is the right move, but was interested in what is driving the issue.
She asked him to send her best wishes to the people of Christchurch, suggesting at the same time she may not make it our way again. "One thing she's certainly made clear to me is that it's obviously a very long way now and she's passing over the more long distance travel for the younger royals.''
Mr Key said Prince William and Kate Middleton told him they are keen to visit New Zealand.
His encounter with the Queen was relaxed, unlike his first meeting with the monarch.
"It was nerve-racking the first time I had a private audience with her obviously - you'd be a pretty unusual person if you weren't nervy about that. This is my fourth or fifth one now and she's got to be the best person in the world at putting people at ease, making people relaxed.''
Mr Key said he had passed on the best wishes of the country to Prince Philip, who is recovering from a bladder infection that forced him to miss the celebrations.
