Royals

Prince William’s nod to Diana in sweet birthday gift for Jacinda Ardern’s baby

Jun 22, 2019

Prince William shares a birthday with Jacinda Ardern's baby. Source: Getty.

Prince William shares a birthday with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s baby daughter and her husband has now revealed the royal’s lovely gesture to their little girl on their shared day. And it’s a special nod to one of the Duke of Cambridge’s memories with his late mother Princess Diana.

William travelled to New Zealand with Diana and his father Prince Charles in 1983, with now-famous photos showing them sitting down together for a picnic.

A toy can be seen on the floor next to baby William, an iconic New Zealand buzzy bee toy, famous in the country with kids everywhere. He made headlines at the time by happily chewing on the toy’s antenna while playing with his parents on the lawn.

Baby Prince William was pictured playing with a buzzy bee toy in 1983. Source: Getty.

In a special nod to the moment, William has now sent one engraved with a personal message to Jacinda and her partner Clarke Gayford’s daughter Neve, as she turned one.

Sharing photos of the toy and the engraving on Twitter, Clarke wrote: “Torn between letting the 1st birthday girl continue to maul this amazing gift or putting it somewhere safe FOREVER. Happy Birthday Prince William, what a great shared birthday (I’m pretty sure you win with this).”

Torn between letting the 1st birthday girl continue to maul this amazing gift or putting it somewhere safe FOREVER.
Happy Birthday Prince William, what a great shared birthday (I'm pretty sure you win with this) pic.twitter.com/KvXtOcfmfq

— Clarke Gayford (@NZClarke) June 21, 2019

The message on the bottom read: “Happy Birthday Neve. From Prince William.”

Meanwhile, the royal family all marked Prince William’s own birthday as he turned 37 in the UK.

The official royal family Instagram page shared a series of photos of the duke with his grandmother the Queen, with more showing his wife Catherine and three children surrounding him.

They also added an adorable snap of him as a baby, alongside the message: “Happy Birthday to The Duke of Cambridge! #HappyBirthdayHRH. The Duke of Cambridge is second in line to the throne.

“His Royal Highness undertakes a number of charitable activities and projects, and carries out public and official duties in support of The Queen, in the UK and overseas, alongside The Duchess of Cambridge.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/By93obugei6/

Meanwhile his father Prince Charles and wife Camilla also marked the day with their own message and a photo showing Charles pushing a baby William in a swing.

They wrote: “Happy Birthday to HRH The Duke of Cambridge, who turns 37 today. #HappyBirthdayHRH. The Prince of Wales and Prince William play in the garden at Kensington Palace, 1984.”

And William and Catherine’s own Kensington Royal account shared a series of photos of the proud dad with his family, while another shows him laughing off away from the camera.

https://www.instagram.com/p/By9wlCtFy5d/

The account shared a caption which read: “Thank you everyone for your lovely wishes on The Duke of Cambridge’s birthday!”

His brother Prince Harry and wife Meghan commented on the photo, rather than sharing their own message, writing: “Happy Birthday to The Duke of Cambridge!”