Ross Allen is adamant he's no royalist, despite having a collection of about 300 pieces of memorabilia relating to the British royals.
"I'm just a collector rather than a royalist ... It's more to do with history," says the 57-year-old, who has been collecting since he was about 12.
More than 60 items in his collection have gone on display as part of the Collectors in the Community exhibition at the Rotorua Museum. The exhibition, which is free to locals with proof of residency, runs until March 7.
Like most people in England during the 1950s, Mr Allen's family had a standard 1953 Queen Elizabeth II Coronation mug sitting proudly on the mantelpiece. As a child he was fascinated by it. His grandmother Lillian Monnery would give him samples from her collection of mugs. Since then, Mr Allen has added many new pieces to his collection, from coronation mugs to royal plates, dating back to 1817.
He also has some of the more modern items, including egg cups with faces of some of the royals that were depicted on the British television show Spitting Image.
Mr Allen has a mug with a picture commemorating the death of Princess Charlotte of Wales in 1817. She was the only child of George, Prince of Wales (later to become King George IV) and Caroline of Brunswick who could have become Queen but she died after childbirth at the age of 21.
He also has a plate which was sent to him from Canada commemorating the 1901 visit to New Zealand by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and Queen Mary).
Their visit included a trip to Rotorua and led to the creation of the Prince's Gate Archway, portions of which were moved to their current location - the entrance to the Government Gardens.
Mr Allen said that from a young age he had always been fascinated in the history and life surrounding the royals. "It's a hobby. There's a bit of history behind all the different things."
Mr Allen said the only item he has from the most recent royal occasion - the wedding of the former Kate Middleton to Prince William - was a mug he bought from The Warehouse. He prefers to concentrate on the "older stuff".
He also has items commemorating Prince Charles' marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005 - items displaying the wrong date as the wedding was delayed by a day due to the death of Pope John Paul II. He shares his interest in collecting with his wife, Wendy, who collects Farmers' Santa Bears. Their collections take up quite a bit of room in their home. Most of Mr Allen's collection is in boxes with about 30 pieces on display at any one time.
Mrs Allen admits when it comes to dusting the royal collection she prefers to leave that up to her husband.
"My fingers are like butter fingers around his collection."