Jacinda Ardern arrived at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in a black dress with a Maori cloak draped over her shoulders.
The New Zealand Prime Minister entered Westminster Abbey on Monday, accompanied by her fiance, television presenter Clarke Gayford, and wearing a fitted calf-length dress with a high neckline and a little back split.
Kiri Nathan, a Maori fashion designer, designed a feather Kkahu, a traditional cloak, just for the event.
She said that she picked the costume in order to bring a “piece of New Zealand” to the British funeral.
Ms. Ardern also donned a hat by local designer Monika Neuhauser that was influenced by royal fashion.
On Sunday, the New Zealand prime minister met with King Charles for around 10 minutes in what she characterised as a “really warm meeting.”
She told the New New Zealand Herald, “What I can share is that it was a warm conversation, that the King was deeply appreciative of the thoughts of New Zealand, and of the efforts that so many have made to come and pay their respects.”
The most important church in the United Kingdom, which was filled with 2,000 VIPs, including prime ministers, presidents, and the Queen’s family, was quiet save for the sound of songs and prayers during a burial ceremony that Her Majesty had planned herself before her death.
Outside the Abbey in central London, an estimated 2 million people are lining the procession routes and watching on large screens.
The funeral was shown live in around 125 theatres and numerous churches throughout the United Kingdom, as well as on a large screen in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, in front of the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
About a half-hour before to the funeral, the very distraught Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came with his girlfriend Jodie.
He arrived to Westminster Abbey by coach with a number of Commonwealth and international leaders, including New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau, United States Vice President Joe Biden, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The Queen was brought in her oak coffin to the gun carriage used by her parents and was accompanied around Parliament Square by her son, the King, and her family, including the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex, on a momentous event for Britain and the globe.
The Duke of York, Andrew, looked to be sobbing. Outside the Abbey in central London, an estimated 2 million people are lining the procession routes and watching on large screens.
At around 10.45 a.m., the State Gun Carriage carrying the Queen’s coffin started its funeral procession from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey, arriving just after 11 a.m.
A single toll from Big Ben marked the beginning of the liturgy in Westminster Abbey, where monarchs have been crowned and interred since 1066.
Her Majesty will be interred at Windsor beside her loving husband, Prince Philip, and her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
In spite of the massive crowds, there was complete quiet as about 200 pipers and drummers from the Scottish and Irish Regiments, the Brigade of Gurkhas, and the Royal Air Force (RAF) performed as the procession passed into Parliament Square.
The Queen’s piper played a dirge that reverberated throughout the heart of London.
The King and his siblings followed the carriage on foot, followed by the Prince of Wales, Duke of Sussex, and Peter Phillips.
Additionally, the State Gun Carriage has been used at the funerals of King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, Winston Churchill, and Lord Mountbatten in the past.