Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been made a dame for her service to the country during the Covid-19 pandemic and Christchurch terror attacks.
Ms Ardern was awarded the title Dame Grand Companion, the second-highest honour in New Zealand, as part of King Charles III’s Birthday Honours.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said she was being recognised for her service during “some of the greatest challenges our country has faced in modern times”.
“Leading New Zealand’s response to the 2019 terrorist attacks and to the Covid-19 pandemic represented periods of intense challenge for our 40th prime minister, during which time I saw firsthand that her commitment to New Zealand remained absolute,” Mr Hipkins said in a statement.
Ms Ardern accepted the honour but said she was conflicted about doing so.
“I was in two minds about accepting this acknowledgment. So many of the things we went through as a nation over the last five years were about all of us rather than one individual,” she said.
“But I have heard that said by so many Kiwis who I have encouraged to accept an honour over the years. And so for me this is a way to say thank you – to my family, to my colleagues, and to the people who supported me to take on the most challenging and rewarding role of my life.”
Fifty-one Muslim worshippers were killed during Friday prayers in the 2019 attack at two Christchurch mosques by a white supremacist gunman.
Within weeks of the attack, Ms Ardern led major changes to New Zealand’s gun laws by banning assault weapons. More than 50,000 guns were handed over to police during a subsequent buyback scheme.
Royal honorees are typically chosen twice a year in New Zealand by the prime minister and signed off by King Charles.
Ms Ardern was just 37 when she became prime minister in 2017, and was seen as a global icon of the left.
In January, she said she was stepping down as leader because she no longer had “enough in the tank” to continue.
Ms Ardern will join Harvard University later this year on dual fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School. She has also taken on an unpaid role combatting online extremism.
Also recognised in the King’s Birthday Honors list was rugby coach Wayne Smith, who helped lead New Zealand’s male and female rugby teams to World Cup victories.
In keeping with tradition, Britain’s Queen Camilla was given the top award by being appointed to the Order of New Zealand.
