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Download AudioRepresentatives of the Kingitanga are heading for the United Kingdom tonight to mark 200 years of the birth of Tāwhiao, and to support the work of the Prince’s Trust.
That’s a body set up by the Prince of Wales in 1976 to promote self-reliance and entrepreneurship among young people.
It set up a branch in Aotearoa in 2018, and Archdeacon Ngira Simmonds, the chief executive of the Office of the Kingitanga, says the Kiingitanga has embraced the kaupapa.
While King Tāwhiao was denied an audience with Queen Victoria when he travelled to London in 1884, the royal houses are now working together.
“We believe our journey to mana motuhake will be found through a crown to crown relationship. That’s the level of partnership we are wanting to achieve, so we are always striving to look to support kaupapa that help us on that journey and we see this as a step towards that,” Archdeacon Simmons says.
The Kiingitanga delegation also includes former Te Arataura chair Rukumoana Schaafhausen, who’s on the Princes Trust Aotearoa board, and King Tuheitia’s wife and daughter, Makau Ariki Atawhai and Puhi Ariki Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō.
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