Kiwis meet the royals

Not many Kiwis can say that they have met the Queen, and even less have met Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Ezekiel Raui, 20, of Te Rarawa as of last night can claim that he has met all three.

Raui was honoured alongside fellow New Zealander Alexia Hilbertidou with a prestigious Queen’s Young Leader’s Award at Buckingham Palace.

Raui was chosen for his work in encouraging young Maori men to get into leadership roles and speak more openly about mental health.

When talking to The NZ Herald from London he said that the Palace was ‘breathtaking’ and meeting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was ‘Phenomenal and more importantly, energizing.’

The Queen admired Raui’s traditional attire as he received the award to which he responded with an explanation about how it is traditional Maori attire "and is a reminder that no matter how far from home I am they will always be there to support me."

The Duke and Duchess also told Raui how excited they were for their trip down under and how they are "really keen on focusing on fostering Pacific communities while trying to take in the sites as they go."

The other Kiwi recipient was Alexia Hilbertidou.

Alexia is an entrepreneur and founder of GirlBoss New Zealand. She was honoured with a Queen's Young Leader's Award for her work to encourage female leadership in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem), leadership and entrepreneurship in New Zealand.