PM Jacinda Ardern meets Prince William, curtsies before Queen’s coffin in ‘deeply humbling experience’

Senior journalists Andrea Vance and Iain McGregor are in London.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has paid her respects at the coffin of the late Queen – and had an audience with a grieving Prince William at Windsor Castle.

She was among the first of world dignitaries to attend the lying in state at London’s Westminster Hall and curtsied as she passed by the flag-draped casket. She said it was a “deeply humbling experience”.

At her side was Governor-General Cindy Kiro, and her partner Clarke Gayford bowed as he joined them in the silent tribute.

Dressed in black for the occasion, and wearing a head piece as is convention, Ardern said it was humbling experience to know that people waited hours in line to come in and personally acknowledge the Queen.

“To see them doing so with such patience and in such a quiet and reverent way was very humbling to see. Each of these activities today has reminded me of just the sincerity in which everyone is grieving here in the UK, but also of what a historic occasion it is, that we are a part of as well.”

Even amongst the thousands of people in the ancient hall, Ardern said it was “an intimate moment”.

VIPs do not joined the public line – which reached 8km in length on Friday and was paused. People file past in two rows, with the public slightly closer to the coffin.

As she walked through a side entrance, Ardern witnessed a changing of the guard. Royal bodyguards and other royal military units – including the Household Cavalry, the Grenadier Guards and the Coldstream Guards – are taking turns watching over the coffin. They now do 20-minute shifts after a guard fainted on Thursday.

“We paused and took a moment of silence, just to observe and reflect, as everyone who was in the hall was doing so as well,” Ardern said. “That hall is completely silent. I even felt aware of the sound of my own footsteps. You could almost lose sight of the fact that there were hundreds of people around the hall because it is utterly silent.”

Ardern and Gayford will attend the funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday. As a realm prime minister, she has also been invited to join 800 guests at a committal service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, before the Queen is buried in a private family affair.

The congregation will be made up of King Charles III, others in the royal family and members of the Queen’s household, past and present. Ardern said it was “a relatively intimate affair…and very humbling to be a part of”.

Earlier, Ardern met with Prince William and his wife Princess Catherine. Protocol dictates that she can’t share much about the conversation. “In this role, I’ve come over time to observe that no matter what roles or duty you have in life, you are still, at the end of the day, human.

“And this is obviously a very public grieving process…but also deeply personal to them. So it does, even to the very end, feel like a real public duty in order to share the Queen with everyone.”

This was a real sacrifice, carried out with dignity and grace, she said.

Ardern shared condolences on behalf of the nation.

“She served for a long, long, time and had a long, long life. But it’s nonetheless extremely sad when you lose someone who has been such a constant in your life, let alone your grandmother. I felt my job today was simply to convey New Zealand’s sadness.”

Tomorrow, Ardern will be part of an audience with the King, alongside other realm country leaders. She will tell him how profoundly sad New Zealanders are, she said. “He’s lost his mother. And you can see in his public commentary, the fact that he’s deeply saddened by that loss, but also having to transition immediately into the weight of responsibility that comes with his new role.”

She will also meet with British Prime Minister Liz Truss. The conversation would be heavily dominated by the death of the Queen, but would also touch on trade and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she said.

King Charles telephoned Dame Cindy on Thursday.

“The new King wants to convey his deep affection for New Zealand … he said it’s very close to his heart.” He wanted New Zealanders to know he was “very committed to the country, the Governor-Gerneral said. “He looks forward to a chance to come, but he doesn’t know when that will be.”

Dame Cindy was grateful for the call. “I think it’s an enormous achievement, the fact that he gave both the Prime Minister and myself time and what has an immensely busy schedule.”

Ardern landed in London on Thursday, one of hundreds of world leaders and royals flooding into the capital.

Royal dress code dictates that she must cover her head for the funeral, so before she left Wellington she scrambled to arrange for a hat to be made “by a friend of a friend”. Her black dress must also have full-length sleeves, the Prime Minister said.