Prince William this week hosts former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at Windsor Castle to bestow her Damehood upon her.
Prince William this week hosts former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at Windsor Castle to bestow her Damehood upon her.
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is to officially receive her damehood next week at an investiture ceremony before Prince William at Windsor Castle.
Under the click of cameras, Ardern will take on the title of Dame Grand Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit on Wednesday (UK time).
Ardern said the title was a way to also thank all those who had helped her during her time as Prime Minister.
“For me, accepting an honour is a way to say thank you to my family, those I worked with, and all the people who supported me to undertake a role that will forever be the greatest privilege of my life,” she said.
Prince William and former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern greeting each other in New Zealand in 2020.
Ardern was granted the title last year in the King’s Birthday Honours. However, she said travel commitments had meant she hadn’t been able to make it to an investiture ceremony on home soil.
“Being away from home means I haven’t been able to take part in one yet,” she said of the ceremony.
“It looked like that would be the case again this year, when in the margins of an Earthshot meeting the possibility of having the ceremony in the UK was raised with me.”
Having been “lucky” to get to know and work with Prince William over the years, she accepted the Windsor Castle investiture and will also have her family with her, she said.
Dame Jacinda Ardern is travelling to Windsor Castle a week after the Princess of Wales returned to public engagements following her cancer treatment. Photo / Kensington Palace
“But I knew there would be pieces of home I would miss. I am so humbled and thankful that Whaea Esther from Ngāti Ranana will not only join me, but is allowing me to once again share in one of Ngāti Ranana’s Kākahu for the ceremony,” Ardern said.
“It will be a really special day – but amongst it all, it will be home that I will be thinking of.”
As New Zealand’s 40th Prime Minister, she served from October 2017 to January 2023.
She came to power in a coalition government before, three years later, Labour was able to form a majority government on its own after winning 50% of the vote.
She led the country through the Covid pandemic and the horrific Christchurch mosque attacks and has been taking part in global initiatives to tackle climate change and support emerging leaders.
