Royal Mission Accomplished
Photo credit: Philippa Stevenson, Tamahere Forum
A secret royal rendezvous that was off the media grid
yesterday was the perfect place for Hamilton children’s author Sharon Holt to
accomplish her own secret mission. The author has been sending the royal couple
her Te Reo Singalong books over the past year and has always received a letter
of thanks from staff. The last reply also included the couple’s official Christmas
card.
“When I heard that the royals were coming to Hamilton in the
same week as the release of my new Matariki book, I decided to find a way to
get a signed copy of the book into royal hands,” says Sharon.
On Saturday morning, she travelled to each of the Hamilton
royal visit venues to decide on the best place to achieve her goal, settling on
the Pacific Aerospace driveway where fewer than 50 people were gathered.
Dressed in her trademark ladybug outfit in the hope of drawing a bit of royal attention,
she waited with the other hopefuls. The group saw Prince William up close as he
arrived at the venue and Kate’s waving hand was spotted alongside a hint of
green as her car sped past on its way to Rainbow Place. Sharon took photos and
videos, but there was no opportunity to deliver her book.
Whilst waiting for the Prince’s royal entourage to leave
Pacific Aerospace again, Sharon wondered out loud where the royal couple would
meet before heading to Cambridge together. That’s when she heard about the
rumoured rendezvous taking place at nearby Tamahere School.
“It made sense,” says Sharon, “as it’s a logical
intersection point between Airport Road and the main highway heading to
Cambridge.”
Sharon decided to take her chances and drove to the school
to see if the rumours were true. A policeman at the entrance to the road
leading to the school was a sure sign she was on the right track. “I told him I
was here to present my Matariki book to the royal couple so he told me where to
park. When I saw all the children and parents lined up and waiting, I felt
really excited to be in on a secret that the media didn’t know about. But I
still had to figure out how to get the book to Prince William.
When it was clear that all the good spots were taken, Sharon
enlisted the help of a school parent she knew. “My friend handed the book to a
girl at the front of the crowd and asked her to pass it to Prince William when
he arrived,” says Sharon, who then went off to find a place to watch events
unfold.
As the crowd waited for the royal cars to arrive, Sharon had
time to reflect on her busy week sending hundreds of pre-ordered Matariki books
out to teachers and parents. She and her husband had spent the previous three
days packing and sending more than 1500 books to customers. “I was really happy
that so many people wanted the new Matariki book, but this one book for the
royal family was my big focus that day,” she says.
When Prince William arrived at the school, it wasn’t long
before Sharon’s dream was realised. As he stepped out of the car and walked
across the carpark, Prince William headed straight for the little girl waving
the book. Sharon watched as he took the book, looked at it and spoke to the
girl before giving her a high five. “I was so excited that I shouted out ‘he’s
got my book, we did it’.”
Kate arrived soon after and the couple spent another minute
or so with the children before getting into one car and travelling to
Cambridge. It was “mission accomplished” for Sharon and time to drive back to
Hamilton instead of braving the Cambridge crowds.
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