| AUCKLAND - Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh were met by a throng of well-wishers at Auckland International Airport. Although numbers were down slightly from Queen Elizabeth's inaugural visit in 1952 when over 40,000 turned out, organisers were happy with the showing.
In all seven primary school children, a teacher, a farmer and one rather unusual well-wisher - Freddie the dancing goat enthusiastically greeted the Queen upon her arrival. There was no official Maori greeting given to the Queen. Instead a scratched 45 of "Poi E" was played over the loudspeaker system. Helen Clark's air brush artist also met with the Queen, giving apologies for the Prime Minister's absence who was otherwise engaged, meeting a long-lost university buddy from Taumaranui. The children waved miniature American Flags, the closest approximation to the Union Jack available in New Zealand schools, while their teacher smoked several Rothmans cigarettes (by appointment to Her Majesty) behind a refuelling truck. The farmer, Barry Hadden of East Manurewa, commented that he hadn't seen the Queen since their 1983 tour. He stated that while his goat was named after the lead singer of the group and danced comically to "Bohemian Rhapsody" he really had no affection for the royals. "I only really liked that song he sung with Bowie," explained Hadden. "I reckon that Brian May's aged a bit, too," he added.  Freddy the dancing Goat! |
| Dancing goat greets Queen |
Friday, 01 March 2002 12:00
