Prime Minister Christopher Luxon had a private audience with King Charles at Windsor Castle, April 2025. Photo: Supplied
The Prime Minister has had a private audience with the King.
Christopher Luxon met the monarch at Windsor Castle, about 40km west of central London.
Luxon landed in the United Kingdom on Sunday and is meeting with British officials before heading to Türkiye later in the week.
He is due to meet with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Tuesday and has signalled the pair will discuss trade and security, amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.
"New Zealand is a champion for free trade, and I look forward to talking to Sir Keir Starmer about what our countries can do together to support the rules-based trading system," Luxon said ahead of the trip.
"The UK is also important to New Zealand's prosperity. Our exports there grew by more than 20 percent in 2024 and are still growing."
RNZ understands the conversation will focus on broad commercial talks about deepening existing relationships, rather than in-depth trade deal discussions.
Luxon is also expected to speak with business people who attended the government's Infrastructure Investment Summit in Auckland last month.
Additionally, the visit is an opportunity to reaffirm New Zealand's defence and security partnership with the UK.
The coalition government recently released its long-awaited Defence Capability Plan, setting out a spending blueprint for the next 15 years.
The government will invest $12 billion over the next four years for a "modern, combat-capable" defence force.
The plan will lift New Zealand's defence spending from just over 1 percent of GDP to more than 2 percent in the next eight years.
The figure is the lowest threshold the United States approves of from its allies.
The UK announced its own lift in defence spending earlier this year, also reported as a signal to the US.
The visit coincides with the government's announcement that it will extend its military assistance in support of Ukraine's self-defence until December 2026.
NZDF personnel have been on the ground in Europe working with like-minded partner countries for the past three years.
The joint-operation has trained more than 53,000 Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel so far.
Earlier this month, the UK announced it would put a further £350m (NZ$780m) towards supporting Ukraine.
Luxon will visit Istanbul and travel to Gallipoli for Anzac Day later in the week.
Luxon had no comment on the details of the conversation, but said King Charles was incredibly well-informed about a range of issues about the world.
He told Morning Report the monarch was interested in understanding what is happening in New Zealand.
Pope's death
News of the death of Pope Francis reached the prime minister ahead of the audience with the King and they reflected on the pontiff at the start of the meeting, Luxon said.
He told Morning Report on Tuesday he had not yet decided whether he will attend the Pope Francis' funeral in Italy.
He said the decision on whether he would attend, or send other New Zealand representatives, would be decided in the coming days after the Vatican released more details.
"My thoughts and prayers are with Catholics around the country," he said.
Luxon said Pope was humble and compassionate, and he had tremendous admiration for him.
"Massive commitment to the vulnerable and just connected with everyday people really well."
Ahead of his meeting with Sir Keir Starmer he said the UK was now New Zealand's seventh largest trading partner, and there were many opportunities for exporters with traditional products and emerging sectors of advanced aviation, renewables and technology. Discussions would also include defence and security matters, he told Morning Report.
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