Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II saying it is the end of an era and she was a role model for our time.
Ardern said she was given no formal warning about the Queen's fading health overnight and received formal notification at 5.45am this morning that she had died.
"There was a decision by the palace to be reasonably open about the Queen's status."
Ardern gave the Queen a photo of her laughing during a visit to New Zealand in the 1950s.
The picture of the Queen in the back of a car was taken by a bystander and the woman who took the photo gave the picture to Ardern.
"We framed the photo and when I presented it to Her Majesty she looked at it and she said 'I remember, as we drove around the country, she said people on the side of the road would see the prime minister and yell look, there's old Sid' and she laughed just as she did in the photo."
Sidney Holland was New Zealand's prime minister from 1949 to 1957 and the informality of people yelling out his nickname had made the Queen laugh, Ardern said.
The fact she remembered the photo so many years later demonstrated the affection she had for New Zealand, she said.
Ardern said the last time she spoke to the Queen was just after her husband died.
"She was very grateful to know people had thought of her."
The Queen's 70 years of service will rarely be equalled, Ardern said.
"You know politicians, we know that our time is always limited, and that's why you just give it your all every day because you don't know how long it will be for.
"She had to get up every day knowing that that was her life and so there was never a time where she could say after this is done I'll spend time with my children or grandchildren. She had to do both all of the time."
That was remarkable and "she lived to serve others", Ardern said.
"She had a huge compassion for people, and that's what stood out for me. Despite those years, she never ever disconnected herself from people."
Ardern said she considered herself fortunate to have had proximity to the Queen.
"Because regardless of what comes next, she was a special person in her own right."
Asked if there would be a permanent memorial to the Queen's reign, Ardern said they were still looking at that, and the Golden Jubilee had just been celebrated.
At that time the Queen asked others to plant trees in her memory and so that has occurred and there will be some living memorials to her.
Queen's Birthday will remain in some form, but some things will change under King Charles III, she said.
"She was very clear about setting out her desire that Charles be acknowledged as the new holder of the title."
The strength of the relationship under the Queen was vast due to her length of service, Ardern said.
King Charles also has an affinity for New Zealand, she said.
"He deeply respects the relationship that we have with our environment. That's something that he's very strong on."
"He is very knowledgeable about New Zealand and I think again that speaks to his love of this country and I think he'll fully expect that will be a relationship that will grow with time."
RNZ
