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Story: Royal family

The king to his people

When George VI was crowned in 1937, the illuminated address shown here was distributed to all New Zealand schools. Referring to the Commonwealth as a family, and centred on a photograph of the royal family, the address emphasises kinship and the bonds of the Commonwealth.

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Owaka Museum

Reference: CT79.1165

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How to cite this page

Megan Cook, Royal family – Place of royalty in New Zealand, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/33155/the-king-to-his-people (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Megan Cook, published 27 January 2012.