Rename Egmont Mt Hillary
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In Kiwi terms, this is as big as the royal miscalculation over the death of Lady Diana.
The palaces initial belief then was that the outpouring of grief was a brief, passing phase of public hysteria.
They knew Diana for what she was a clever, scheming, manipulative minx but they overlooked the fact that she had won the hearts and minds of the people.
It was left to new boy British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who coined the peoples princess description, to talk the palace around on participation in the public grieving process and the state funeral. It was a hard slog on Mr Blairs part, graphically portrayed in the movie The Queen.
But considering the lengths that Mr Blair went to, as a novice in the top job, it is a wonder that Prime Minister Helen Clark did not attempt to persuade the palace of the slight that would be read into their failure to send a royal to Sir Eds funeral.
Miss Clark is now an elder statesman of sorts around the Commonwealth and as such has considerable weight with the palace.
The Queen takes her Commonwealth seriously and a direct approach from Miss Clark could have caused her to reconsider in much the same way as Mr Blairs approach earlier.
Miss Clark could also have enlisted her British counterpart, Gordon Brown, and the Governor-General, Anand Satyanand, to reinforce her warning.
As the Princess Diana death demonstrated, the royals, remote in their palaces, dont always appreciate the deeper significance of some events.
They need to be saved from themselves and they should be able to rely on Commonwealth leaders for frank and blunt advice when needed.
As newspaper clippings, such as The Dominion Posts Saturday edition, reach the palace, there will be a belated appreciation of the extent of the miscalculation and of the role that Sir Ed had in the New Zealand psyche. He was not just the Everest conqueror to us.
He personified the decent Kiwi bloke, the gruff, unpolished, self-effacing hero we would all like to be.
He will remain the iconic Kiwi civilian hero while double Victoria Cross winner Charles Upham is our warrior hero.
No one would expect the Queen herself, at her age, to make such a rushed trip to New Zealand, though her own Coronation in 1953 was crowned spectacularly by the success of the British Everest expedition.
Prince Charles, as heir apparent, would have been the logical choice and his image as a future monarch would have been greatly enhanced in New Zealand as a result.
As patron of the Mutton Renaissance Campaign, he would have had to abandon a function in Yorkshire. (This would have been a double-edged sword for New Zealanders: it is in our interests for the Poms to keep eating as much sheep as possible.)
Prince Edward would have been another logical choice, as he spent some time at school in New Zealand. Prince William, a future heir to the throne, would have been another.
The tabloids would, in no time, have had him romantically involved with a Kiwi beauty.
After todays state funeral, debate will resume on the appropriate memorial for the great man.
Frankly, I cant get excited over calls to rename Auckland airport Hillary Airport, or the Auckland-Wellington road Hillary Highway, or yet another public holiday.
Hillary was a mountain man. The tribute should have alpine relevance.
While alpine guides have suggested renaming Mt Ollivier, a small peak behind the Hermitage where Hillary began his climbing, that is fairly insignificant.
The vast ice face of nearby Mt Tasman and the peak of Mt Cook- Aoraki are the spectacular sights, but their names have huge historic significance.
What about Mt Egmont- Taranaki?
Thats a truly spectacular cone-shaped peak, unlike anything else in the world, and would be a fitting tribute.
It was named by Cook to appease his sponsor, the Earl of Egmont, First Lord of the Admiralty, so the name has no great historic significance.
In any case the Earl is commemorated appropriately with his moniker on nearby Cape Egmont.
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Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 6:06 pm under