Charity for children of prisoners 'absolutely thrilled' about being included in Royal visit

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will visit New Zealand this month. Photo / Star Max

A charity for children of prisoners is "absolutely thrilled" the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will visit to hand out awards later this month.

Prince Harry and Meghan will touch down in New Zealand on Sunday, October 28 after attending the Invictus Games in Sydney and visiting Fiji and Tonga. They will visit Wellington, Abel Tasman National Park, Auckland and Rotorua.

In the capital on the Monday, the royal couple will be stopping in at the well-known Lyall Bay spot, Maranui Cafe.

There, they'll be meeting young people from a number of mental health projects operating in New Zealand, with a particular focus on supporting mental wellbeing among youth.

The cafe's co-owner, Bronwyn Kelly, said she was "pretty stoked" about the visit that she's had to keep secret for the past couple of weeks.

Kelly said it was "a cool thing to do for the couple", given its prime location on the coast.

"Hopefully it's not too windy," she laughed.

The following day, the pair will head to Auckland, where later in the day they will be visiting Pillars, a charity supporting children who have a parent in prison through special mentoring schemes.

The Government gifted $5000 to Pillars as a wedding present to Prince Harry and Meghan.

Pillar's founder and chief executive Verna McFelin said the funding went towards four awards to go to four children excelling in sport and education.

She said the couple would get to give those awards out during their visit.

"They will meet our families and whanau... and also meet the mentors."

The royal couple's visit will generate invaluable profile for New Zealand across the globe, said Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Chris Roberts.

"Harry and Meghan are 'rock star royalty', everywhere they go will be shared on social media and covered by newspapers and TV all over the world, with destination New Zealand as the backdrop," he said.

"It's a real coup for our $36 billion tourism industry that the royal couple will visit our iconic Abel Tasman National Park and several other popular visitor attractions, including Redwoods Treewalk in Rotorua. We're delighted that their itinerary will showcase our natural environment and Maori culture, and we hope the manaakitanga they experience here will encourage them to come back for a longer holiday."