With thanks to RoyalBlog.nl, you can see photos of William’s final days in Australia.

Prince William in New Zealand and Australia

Prince William wraps up his tour in the Southern Hemisphere. RoyalBlog.nl gives you the photos you want!

G’Day, Mate! Keeping Up With Wills

GPD © AP

He made it! Prince William has kicked off his New Zealand/Australia tour. See the photos here!

There is no going back. As he walked off the aircraft at Auckland International Airport, Prince William must have known it: the next significant stage in his development as a senior royal is under way.

BBC News

ITN’s coverage of Prince William’s New Zealand visit:

Queen Dropped from Victoria’s legal system

In a bid to place Australia closer to a Republican future, references to Her Majesty have been removed from the state of Victoria’s legal system.

This latest push for the removal of the monarchy is not an isolated incident. Victoria has also scrapped the title ‘Queen’s Counsel’ (QC) and ended the practice of new lawyers swearing an oath of allegiance to the Queen.

Rob Hulls, the state’s attorney-general and acting Labo(u)r premier, said:

“Having cases presented in the name of the Queen of England is an outdated colonial tradition that has really passed its use-by date. Substituting the director of public prosecutions for the Queen or Regina reflects the legal and political independence from the United Kingdom and its monarch that has been achieved by Australia.”

Hulls denied that the timing was intended as a snub to Prince William, due to make a visit at the end of January.

David Donovan, of the Australian Republican Movement, was more than a little annoyed with the royal system getting in the way of football loyalty.

“We would find it unbelievable that Prince William, who hasn’t been to Australia since he was in nappies – and who as president of the England Football Association has strongly promoted its bid for the 2018 World Cup, in direct opposition to Australia’s bid – would be able to speak to Australians on our own national day.”

The monarchists in this southernmost state are defending the system of monarchy at full-steam, however.

“The people in 1999 took a decision in which they affirmed that we should remain a federal commonwealth under the crown,” said Professor David Flint of Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy. “It’s completely wrong for governments to remove all reference to the crown as a gradual sort of thing.”

Philip Benwell, chairman of the Australian Monarchist League, defended the invitation to the Prince.

“Prince William will be King of Australia in the future and it’s therefore appropriate that he’s invited to speak,” he said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/6832692/The-Queen-dropped-from-Victorias-legal-system.html

During his first overseas trip of 2010, Prince William will be visiting New Zealand and Australia.

The prince begins his itinerary with a three-day visit to New Zealand where he will represent his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. William will open the country’s new Supreme Court building in Wellington.

The prince will continue on to Australia, where he will give an Australia Day address at Government House in Melbourne. William has also requested to visit the areas that were severely damaged by bushfires.

The Prince last visited the region as a baby during his parents’ royal tour. Princess Diana had been unwilling to leave her infant son in England, and insisted on bringing him. Much to the delight of the Australian media and the public, baby William entertained all with his chubby cheeks and wide blue eyes. Now the 27-year-old Prince returns, bringing fond memories of his mother and their happy family unit of the early 1980s.

“Prince William’s visit to Australia has come about at his own request, to enable him to begin to get to know the country and the Australian people,” said Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, the prince’s private secretary. “[His] father and brother both have very fond memories of Australia, its people, its lifestyle and its natural beauty, and Prince William wants to experience a little of that for himself, too.’

J. Marc Schmidt of Australia says that he doesn’t want a president.

“Our head of state ought to be one of us. We rejected the idea of our own president once, and with good cause, because a president is not what we need,” says Schmidt. “We need something more; a living, breathing symbol of our land.”

That said, Schmidt doesn’t want Queen Elizabeth II as Australia’s head of state, either. He thinks that Prince Harry should become an Australian citizen and become their king.

Read his article below:

Read more…