Prince shows the way in carseats

Prince William carried by his Nanny Barbara Barnes during the 1983 Royal Tour of New Zealand. Photo / NZ Herald

Tord Kjellstrom well remembers turning up at Government House in Auckland with an electric drill shortly before Prince William was due in town.

His mission was to fit two brown velvet carseats into two white Ford LTDs that were to be used to transport Prince William during his two-week stay in New Zealand.

It was something of a victory for Kjellstrom. At a time when only 10 per cent of Kiwi parents were regularly using a proper child restraint, the former Auckland Medical School lecturer thought the baby prince would set a good example.

But, as it turned out, no one witnessed the secret outings William's nanny and minders made daily by car. When the Herald tried to tail the car, followed by detectives in an unmarked car, they were shaken during a circuitous route through Otahuhu.

Nevertheless Kjellstrom, now semi-retired and living in Nelson, was pleased that at least the future heir to the British throne was riding in safety and comfort.

Kjellstrom, sipping coffee from a William and Catherine souvenir mug sent by his daughter in London, recalls the story.

Ten months earlier, he and the world had watched as Princess Diana showed off her firstborn on the steps of St Mary's Hospital in London before getting into the back of a car, baby William cradled in her arms.

Kjellstrom sent a copy of his newly published booklet, The Parents' Guide on Child Safety in Cars, to the royal couple, addressing it simply to "Buckingham Palace, London."

He received a reply from one of Diana's ladies in waiting, thanking him for his concern.

Months later, hearing that William would travel with his parents on the royal tour, Kjellstrom approached the Ministry of Internal Affairs suggesting he install carseats in the royal limos. He was politely told the ministry had the matter in hand.

So Kjellstrom wrote again to Diana and Charles and this time was contacted by the ministry asking him to install the car seats, on instruction from the Princess of Wales.

At the time Kjellstrom recalls some rivalry between two competing local carseat manufacturers. One offered a backwards facing seat to be installed in the front passenger seat - a model Kjellstrom preferred because of research from his native country Sweden which showed it to be safer. The other offered a front-facing seat, to be installed in the back of the car.

To make things fair, he installed one of each. "If I had not written to his [Prince William's] parents at that time I think he would have been travelling around Auckland with no safety devices whatsoever because he was too old for a carrycot which used to sit on the back seat with a safety belt around it," Kjellstrom says.

Shortly after the royal family arrived, Kjellstrom had another idea. A photo of the baby prince sitting in his carseat would surely help persuade Kiwi parents to do the same with their children. He rang Government House and got through to the nursery. William's nanny Barbara Barnes answered the phone, thanked him for the carseats and promised to find out if a photo of William would be possible.

"She rang me back the next day saying it was not possible because the Royal Tour office and the family had decided there would only be one photoshoot with William on the lawn at Government House."

Kjellstrom was "disappointed" - but he was to hear again from Nanny Barnes a few days later, this time asking for his help.

The young prince, she hesitantly told him, had had a bit of an accident in his backward-facing carseat. Could Kjellstrom help out with a replacement?

Barnes said the backward-facing seat was William's favourite. From the front seat he could see both the driver and people in the back seat.

The royal mess, minor as it turned out, was duly drycleaned away and the carseat auctioned off by Plunket - as previously sat in by Prince William. The money went to buy carseats for Plunket's rental programme.

"I was delighted that His Royal Highness preferred the backwardsfacing seat," says Kjellstrom. "I rang both carseat manufacturers and told them, 'The Prince has chosen'. I don't think the manager of the other company ever got over that."