It sounds like something out of Lord of the Rings, but sadly this bizarre state of affairs is the constitutional reality for New Zealand: The Sunday Telegraph and Daily Mail reported the excellent research by Republic yesterday that our hereditary head of state's grandsons are to start take over their grandparent's "duties", apparently because their father, who is the actual heir to the throne, is not as popular as they are (Buckingham Palace has, of course, denied the reports). Apparently Prince William is to be groomed as a "shadow King", meaning he's the stand-by option, like the shadow ministers of the United Kingdom (in New Zealand we tend to say the "opposition spokesperson on...", being more egalitarian!). This clearly explains why Prince William is coming to New Zealand in January, and not his father Prince Charles.

If this is Buckingham Palace's strategy for saving the monarchy down under, it's a very risky one. While Prince William certainly is popular amongst younger New Zealanders, who tend to show stronger support for a republic, that popularity is largely based on his celebrity chic. As Prince Charles knows (most New Zealanders old enough will remember Charles drew crowds back in the 60s and 70s, which from the picture's we've seen show a disproportionate number of young females in the crowd!), that will eventually fade with time. Moreover, this Royal tour will be devoid it seems of the sort of pomp and ceremony most people like about the monarchy, because the Palace wants to make the monarchy more "informal".