Recent photographs obtained by this blog , taken during the 1920 visit of Edward, Prince of Wales , to New Zealand , raise the possibility that an ancestor of current Photographer at Large for Guardian Australia and presenter of Talking Pictures in the ABC Insiders , Mike Bowers , may have been involved in the special occasion . The above snap shows HMS Renown , Britain's then newest and largest battleship, on which the prince travelled , in Auckland , open for public inspection . Below is a group photo also believed connected with the royal visit , outside the Travellers Rest Hotel run by W. R. Bowers .
The prince's entourage included his first cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten ,Flag Lieutenant to Admiral Halsey , the prince's chief of staff . A train strike interrupted an overland trip to Rotorua . In the South Island , at Dunedin, a large public function was disrupted by a hare which ran about the crowd .
Arriving in Melbourne aboard the Renown on May 27 , the prince was exposed to what was described as "touching mania" , massive crowds flocking to his presence throughout the country .
On an inland trip he laid the foundation stone for what was to be the Capitol Building for Canberra. It did not eventuate , the stone now in the billion dollar new parliament house building .
