We all have cherished memories of significant moments in our childhood; for Anne Peri, a curtsy in front of the new monarch Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to New Zealand in the summer of 1953/1954 was a treasured moment. As a four-year-old, Anne was chosen to present a bouquet of flowers to the Queen at the welcome ceremony for the newly-wed royal couple at Waitangi Treaty grounds on 28 December 1953.

Anne lived with her parents and five sisters in Waimā, a small rural community in the south Hokianga area of Northland, approximately 60 kilometres from Waitangi. At the time of the royal visit, Anne’s uncle Hone Heke Rankin, a tribal leader, medical worker and farmer affiliated with the iwi of Ngapuhi, was Cultural Advisor, in New Zealand and involved in planning the Waitangi event. Anne says, “Hone Heke wanted to gift the royal couple with a sacred Mere, to add mana to the occasion. He suggested that a young (puhi) girl be chosen for this honour. The powers that be added that this young girl must have long hair. Hone Heke came to see my dad. I was the only one with long hair, so I was chosen”. It was also decided that flowers would be presented to the Queen, instead of the proposed Mere.

Anne was whisked off to Paihia where she joined her two grandfathers and her father at a tent city that had sprung up on a grassed domain along the Te Ti Bay shoreline, the site where the Waitangi Holiday Park is today.

Anne spent a week in training under the guidance of three older cousins who were tasked with teaching her royal protocols and drilling her in the art of how to curtsy (one step forwards and one step backwards), and how to respond to scripted questions (How old are you? And where do you live?)

She was well-versed in the expectations of her brief performance and duly presented the Queen with a bouquet of flowers. Anne says that was the moment that she had to ad-lib. “No one told me what to do after I had given her the flowers. That part was straightforward but afterwards, I decided to gap it. I looked around, saw Dad and ran back to him.”

Later the same day, Hone Heke Rankin handed the sacred Mere to Prime Minister Sidney Holland for presentation to the Queen. Both men wore Korowai.

NZ History estimates that three in every four New Zealanders witnessed the royal tour, as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip visited 46 towns and cities and attended 110 separate functions. Many members of the Connexion will recall the moment they saw the royals but few will have as close a connection as Anne Peri.