PM brings a taste of Kiwi for royal family

Prime Minister John Key. Photo / Greg Bowker

New Zealand's gift for the royal wedding is a donation to the Christchurch earthquake appeal but John Key has revealed the Queen and Prince Charles will receive some traditional Kiwi fare.

The Prime Minister was to present the Queen with manuka honey and Twinings tea, which has been signed by Stephen Twining, at Windsor Castle where he and wife Bronagh were to meet her overnight (NZ time).

The Queen will have no doubt tasted the tea before as Twinings is a royal warrant holder - an honour bestowed on companies which have served the royal family for more than five years.

But the batch of tea being given by Mr Key is marketed and manufactured in New Zealand under licence from Associated British Food.

Mr Key had already sent the Queen a New Zealand-made kilt pin, which was made for his cancelled UK visit in September.

Prince Charles will receive a merino blanket when he meets Mr Key at Clarence House on Thursday.

Prince William and Kate Middleton have asked for donations to charities as their wedding present.

Mr Key has pledged $10,000 to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal as New Zealand's gift.

Mr Key said his wife would wear a New Zealand-made blue dress to meet the Queen, but details of the dress she would wear to the wedding were still secret.

He said Mrs Key was nervous about meeting the Queen. "She's never met the Queen before. It's a combination of nerves and excitement.

"It's a relatively intimate group so I'm sure there'll be a lot of discussion."

He said he was sure the Queen would want to talk about the Christchurch earthquake and Pike River disaster, as Prince William had visited victims and their families in February.

He would also discuss the Commonwealth heads of Government meeting in Australia which she will attend at the end of the year.

"We'll talk about rugby I think. I'll tell her the All Blacks are in great form."

Mr Key is to meet Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron this morning and will talk to him about public service cuts in the UK.

"Just getting a sense of how they think their programme is going, where they believe the sensitivities are, lessons that we might want to learn. It's always interesting to see other political parties facing similar issues."