ABSTRACT
On first reading, the 1901 royal tour was an imperial mission designed to strengthen ties between the motherland and the far-flung settler societies of ‘Greater Britain’. Wherever the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York travelled, the welcomes had a single dominant theme: loyalty to the Crown and affection for the royal family. However, in New Zealand, careful examination of royal visit ephemera reveals a second narrative about separation between the metropolitan centre and the self-styled ‘Britain of the South’. Ceremonial venues and performances demonstrate that New Zealand colonists were alert to their own distinctiveness and set themselves apart from their fellow Britons. The 1901 royal visit shows that, while most New Zealand colonists perceived themselves as British, theirs was a nuanced identity that incorporated ambivalence and conscious difference.
