Waitārere Beach woman Renee Kortegast has an impressive collection of royal family memorabilia.
Waitārere Beach woman Renee Kortegast has an impressive collection of royal family memorabilia.
There is a high tea planned this afternoon at Waitārere Beach to celebrate the grand opening of a royal room, with guests taking on the titles of Earls, Lords and Ladies.
Renee Kortegast, 38, will be the Princess of Wales.
Renee, who is confined to a wheelchair, started collecting royal items when she was 10. Her first collection item was a painted dinner plate with a youthful Princess Diana.
She was 12 when Princess Diana died, on “31 August 1997″. Her then 5-year-old brother had come running to her room to break the news. She remembers being upset. Like many people around the world, she mourned a lady she had never met.
Waitārere Beach woman Renee Kortegast has Diana dolls among her royal collection.
But she continued to collect memorabilia of Diana and the royal family. Her bedroom began to overflow, so for the past 30 years the items were stored away in cardboard boxes. And there they remained, until the Kortegast family began building a new house recently.
The architect made sure there was provision in the house plans for a spare room to keep the royal items, but only became clear just how much stuff there was once they started unpacking boxes.
The items just kept coming out of the boxes: mugs, stamps, coins, books, tea towels, plates, cups, spoons, thimbles, books, matches, calendars, rings, coasters, biscuit tins, dolls, key rings, records, jewellery, DVDs, jigsaws, posters, tote bags, T shirts ... and four giant scrapbooks full of newspaper and magazine articles.
“It’s just my thing. I’ll probably never stop,” she said.
She had a vinyl record of Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s wedding on “July 29, 1981″. Among the music collection is a CD of Elton John’s Candle In The Wind.
“It was quite emotional because it had been stored away for such a long time,” she said.
These days it’s Prince William and Kate items, or their children. The German Shepard is called Lottie, after Princess Charlotte. There are items of the late Queen Elizabeth, but the main feature of the collection is Diana.
Renee Kortegast's dog Lottie.
One of her favourite pastimes was to traverse second-hand shops on out-of-town visits for royal items.
“I’ve developed a good eye,” she said.
She also has several items featuring Harry and Meghan. When asked why those items were relatively obscured on the bottom shelf, her reply was very dignified, but a slight roll of her eyes suggested the couple were no longer among her royal favourites.
Renee had met William and Kate on the “bumble bee” royal visit to New Zealand. The Prince said hello and engaged in conversation, but politely declined to sign a postcard.
Items of of Prince William and Kate and family form part of Renee Kortegast's collection.
“He said he would, but he just couldn’t. If he did it for me then he would have to do it for everyone,” she said.
She also had a good glimpse of the late Queen Elizabeth as she drove past during her 2002 tour on leaving Government House. She waved, and the Queen waved back.
A high tea is planned at the Kortegast house to celebrate the opening of Renee's royal room.
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air.
