In CHRISTCHURCH (AFP)-Prince William tour one of the suburbs damaged earthquake-hit Christchurch Friday, ahead of a memorial service for those killed in the deadliest disaster in New Zealand for 80 years.
The Prince joked with locals in the beachside suburb of Sumner, which was studded with boulders flying from nearby hilltops when the earthquake measuring 6. 3 struck last month and he posed for photos, telling a man he was keen for a surf.
The 28-year-old, who travels with his wife Kate Middleton, will represent Queen Elizabeth II at a memorial service for the 180-plus people who died when the tremor compressed blocks of offices and tore homes.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and his Australian counterpart will also be attended by Julia Gillard, who is expected to draw tens of thousands of Christchurch Hagley Park.
The Memorial will culminate in two-minute silence at 12: 51 (2351 GMT Thursday), the exact time the deadly tremor hit New Zealand's second largest city on 22 February.
"For the most part there is the possibility to Park these feelings of grief on a day where everyone recognises that everything is suffering," said the Minister Gerry Brownlee earthquake recovery. "We're all in this together."
Prince William wandered through the rubble of Central Christchurch to inspect the damage first hand Thursday, describing the scale of devastation as "unbelievable".
The journey to Christchurch is the first stop on a tour of five days of the disaster areas of New Zealand and Australia, intended to convey the support of real people struggling to recover from a string of recent disasters.
He was also in Greymouth on Thursday, where 29 miners died at the end of last year when a gas explosion tore through a coal mine of Pike River.
The second in line to the throne departs for Australia on Saturday morning, where he will visit flood and cyclone ravaged Queensland and Victoria.
He is to travel without Middleton, who he married on 29 April, because his visit is classified as an official Royal tour.
Queen Elizabeth II is the official head of State of New Zealand and Australia, both of which are former British colonies and Commonwealth members.
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