“Diana was well informed about my six children. She knew I had three girls and she knew that one of them was doing to presentation to her with a bouquet.
“So it was basically about family, really general things you’d expect to talk to someone about that you’ve just met.”
Princess Diana at Baycourt's opening in 1983, with Mayor Ray Dillon and his wife Mary.
Husband Raymond Francis Dillon was mayor of Tauranga from 1980 to 1983 and took the royal visit well within his stride.
“Ray was a well-versed speaker; he was a lawyer by trade so he didn’t have much trouble speaking and just said what was in his head and his heart,” Mary said.
“The aim was to have everything as perfect as we could possibly get it, so for the short time they were here as many people as possible could see the prince and princess.”
While the late Queen Elizabeth had visited the region 30 years earlier, this visit had the X factor.
“This one was particularly exciting because Diana was so young and had the new baby (William) of course and they were quite newly married.
“Their relationship was considered to be really romantic at that particular point in history. It proved otherwise, but at that point, they were regarded as almost a dream couple.”
On the other side of the security cordon that day was Ross Brown, chief photographer at the Bay of Plenty Times from November 1970 to November 2001.
“It was a huge buzz,” he said after watching the rediscovered footage.
“People lined the streets early in the morning with great anticipation. Everyone was excited, a great mood. There were no protests, everyone was out for a great day and to see this couple.”
The biggest impression left with Ross wasn’t to do with the royal couple, but rather the English media that followed them to Tauranga.
“There was just so many of them … 20 to 25 photographers all in the front and they were well versed in street photography fighting,” he said.
“We tried to make our way up to the front and us local photographers got elbowed out and shoved down the back.”
Not wanting to let the English paparazzi muscle in on their turf, the local media pulled a few strings of their own.
“In a small town like this, we all knew the local cops. We’d attended many incidents together,” said Ross.
“We couldn’t see anything. A wink and a nod to a few of my old mates in the police force and they pushed these other guys back and let us get through to the front, much to their disgrace.
“It was their royal family and what are these hick-town people think they’re doing? You know, small town and we got our way — it was pretty exciting.”
The footage was found as Baycourt prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary later this month.
From April 21 to 29, a variety of performances and events will take place around the city to celebrate the milestone.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff happening,” Baycourt Community and Arts Centre manager, Reena Snook, said.
“We’ve gone out to the arts community and asked who wants to be part of Baycourt’s 40th celebrations.
“You’ll see the Tauranga Musical Theatre on stage, the Opus Orchestra, Te Wharekura o Mauao who have performed here a few times now, a local Māori immersion school who do incredible work.
“Then we move on to an exhibition that we’ve partnered with The Incubator Creative Hub. That’s essentially looking back through our archives, taking some of those amazing photos and giving them another life.”
“We’ve also got a whanau day, which will bookend the programme on April 29, and we’re basically throwing open the doors to Baycourt with full guided tours of the venue.”
While there aren’t any plans for another royal visit any time soon, Mary hopes a seed her husband planted 40 years ago might come to fruition.
“Ray did invite — a little bit against protocol I think — but he did invite Prince Charles to let Prince William know that one day we would love to see him back to open something.
“Maybe that’s something we should think about in relation to the refurbishment of the downtown area, to see if William and Catherine might come back and do something here.
“That would be pretty exciting for quite a few people in Tauranga, I think.”
