Royal Visit Lifts City’s Spirits

The scale of damage caused to Christchurch by last month’s earthquake is “unbelievable” said Prince William when he visited the city at the start of a tour of New Zealand. The prince walked through central Christchurch, which remains inaccessible to the public, to see the impact of the magnitude 6.3 quake which struck on 22 February, killing at least 166 people. “The scale of it is unbelievable. It really does bring it home to you to see a building like that, it’s just so sad,” he said looking at the 26-storey Hotel Grand Chancellor, which remains at a dangerous angle after part of its foundations slumped. The prince had earlier been greeted at the emergency response headquarters by a wall of media before spending almost an hour talking to staff at the repurposed art gallery. One worker in the building said the prince’s visit “definitely lifted spirits”.