William shows the Diana touch

Scott Gardner, 12, liked Prince William taking 'a unique interest' in him during yesterday's hospital visit. Picture / Martin Sykes

There had to come a point in this royal visit when comparisons between William and his mother could no longer be avoided.

Yesterday it came at Starship Children's Hospital.

William has faced intermittent flak for his decision to come to New Zealand to watch the Lions. There were grumbles that he headed off to a colonial outpost for a spot of rugby rather than fight world poverty at the Live8 concert, or prop up London's bid to host the 2012 Olympics.

So it is all too easy to dismiss wheeling out a royal to visit sick kids as a trite PR exercise. But that is unfair on the one fronting the exercise.

William scrunched himself up into tiny chairs, took up oversized pens to scrawl pictures of dubious artistic merit, signed casts and then laughed at his own efforts.

Cynicism lost the day.

About 30 children were waiting in Starship's new rainforest atrium when Prince William appeared with Lions Brian O'Driscoll and Bill Beaumont.

The Lions provided a target for a few cheeky staff waving an All Blacks banner, but it was William the children wanted.

William has already shown he has his father's agility with quips, and yesterday he showed it was balanced by his mother's relaxed empathy.

If he was nervous about meeting children - who can be unpredictable conversationalists at the best of times - under eyes bound to look for comparisons between his own style and his mother's, he showed it only once.

When faced with French-speaking Tahitian Moeana Tutavae, 14, who was in New Zealand for treatment of a heart condition, he admitted with a smile that he was acquainted with French, but appeared to have lost his tongue in the excitement.

"I do speak a bit, but not here. There's too much pressure. I couldn't do it," he said.

The Prince ended up overstaying the scheduled hospital visit by half an hour, taking extra time to visit patients in the oncology and orthopaedic wards, and paediatric critical care unit.

This was not just the brief grip and grin encounters of public walkabouts. Parents were in for lengthy discussions; children were asked about their ailments, their artworks and the rugby.

Vincent Guttenbeil-Pouhila, 4, had "Vincent, with best wishes, Wills" autographed on his flower painting.

His mother, Yvette, said Vincent had pneumonia and it was his first day out of isolation.

"I just thought it would be nice to bring him round other people, because we've been locked up in that room for five days.

"Then when we got down here it got really exciting. It was special.

"I was nervous but [Prince William] made it very easy to talk to him."

Appendicitis patient Michael Nock's father, Alan, said William had asked if the children were rugby fans.

The response was resoundingly yes..

"He said it seemed all Kiwis were rugby fans, with a wry smile," Mr Nock said.

Scott Gardner, 12, had a measured think about the visit.

"It was nice to have somebody with such authority show a unique interest in you."

The staff came in for special treatment as well. Starship foundation chief executive Andrew Young said he came across a "beaming" hospital manager in the Prince's wake.

"She proudly declared that the Prince had kissed her on the cheek. She said 'his skin was unreal. It's the smoothest thing I've ever touched'."

William later had lunch with the All Blacks at the Heritage Hotel, and attended the Auckland-Lions clash last night.

William's schedule

* If the weather lets him land in Queenstown, Prince William will visit Arrowtown School today, before two days' ski-ing in the South Island.
* He returns to Auckland to open the New Zealand Junior Mens' Water Polo Championship on Saturday and will attend the third test.