Jacinda Ardern never got to meet the Queen's late husband, Prince Philip, but she's had more frequent conversations with Her Majesty since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
This morning, the Prime Minister revealed a recent conversation with the Queen in which she recalled fond memories of a poolside Christmas in New Zealand.
That memory came just months before recent footage from 1953 emerged of the now-94-year-old and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, playing around a pool, as well as some festive celebrations.
Adrern this morning said she thought it was "a curious memory" before the footage was released last week, days before Prince Philip died aged 99.
The vision was released by the family of the then-Governor General Sir Willoughby Norrie.
"Since Covid, her [the Queen] contact with New Zealand has been fantastic. On two occasions she's just called to check in on New Zealand and the conversations have been really lovely and wide-ranging," Ardern shared this morning.
"She has a genuine interest as to how people are doing and from time-to-time she shares these lovely memories of New Zealand."
When asked by Breakfast host John Campbell if she could share some of those conversations, Ardern said the new footage sparked her memory of one talk.
"One of the things that struck me recently — TVNZ shared a little bit of footage ... So interestingly when we were talking near the summer holidays she mentioned the fact that of course it's summer time in New Zealand and she mentioned her visit and her memory of a pool at Christmas time.
"I remember thinking afterwards, 'But none of the homes we would tend to be would have a pool,' and I thought it was a curious memory. And there it is — there's the footage of it.
"And so, just lovely that 1953 and here's this memory that she still has of New Zealand in the summer at Christmas time."
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