Luxon meets King Charles following death of Pope Francis

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has met with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace in London, just hours after the death of Pope Francis.

Luxon confirmed he spoke to the King about the death of the Pope during his meeting, but would not divulge further details.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said Luxon “enjoyed discussing New Zealand issues with the King”.

Luxon said discussions with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in coming days will revolve around the Ukraine-Russia war and trade.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, hours after the death of Pope Francis.

He and Starmer will travel to meet New Zealand soldiers who are training Ukrainian troops.

“I certainly welcome any efforts around just and lasting peace for Ukraine … we’ll keep discussing options about being involved in peacekeeping support once the conflict concludes.

“We, as a small country with limited resources a long way away, aren’t going to be the ones to end that war, obviously … but, regardless, we stand beside our set of values which we think Ukraine, Zelensky, embodies.”

Luxon said trade would also be a hot topic given the UK had recently become NZ’s seventh-largest trading partner.

“We just need to keep pushing forward on it and keep pushing food and beverage and tourism.”

King Charles had a busy few days ahead of Luxon’s arrival, with various Easter-related events.

Late last week, he attended the annual Maundy Service, during which he awarded gifts to individuals in recognition of outstanding Christian service. Maundy Thursday takes place on the Thursday prior to Easter and commemorates the Washing of the Feet and the Last Supper of Jesus Christ.

On Easter Sunday, Charles was joined by other members of the royal family at St George’s Chapel in Windsor for a traditional church service.

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In his Easter message, the King said: “The abiding message of Easter is that God so loved the world – the whole world – that He sent His son to live among us to show us how to love one another, and to lay down His own life for others in a love that proved stronger than death.

“There are three virtues that the world still needs – faith, hope and love. ‘And the greatest of these is love’. It is with these timeless truths in my mind, and my heart, that I wish you all a blessed and peaceful Easter.”

Luxon met with the King for the first time at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa in October.

The Prime Minister gave away little about what the pair discussed during that meeting, but said it was obvious King Charles had a “deep, deep affection for New Zealand” and was “very knowledgeable about a number of issues”.

“It was a very natural conversation; it was just the two of us sitting outside and having a chat on a couple of seats.”

This is Luxon’s first visit to the UK as Prime Minister. He touched down late on Sunday night (NZT).

Ahead of the trip, Luxon highlighted that trade was likely to be a key talking point.

“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.

“The UK is one of NZ’s closest and most trusted partners, and, for many Kiwis, it is where they base themselves on their OE. The UK is also important to NZ’s prosperity. Our exports there grew by more than 20% in 2024 and are still growing.”

Two-way trade with the UK, which NZ signed a free-trade agreement with in 2022, was worth $7.27 billion in the year ending December 2024, making it our seventh-largest trading partner.