'You just get on with it': NZ ex-PM Jacinda Ardern reveals Queen Elizabeth II’s hilarious parenting advice
Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has revealed a humorous and touching exchange with Queen Elizabeth II, who offered her a blunt but memorable piece of parenting advice during a private meeting in 2018.
In an excerpt from her forthcoming memoir ‘A Different Kind of Power,’ shared with The Guardian, Ardern recalls being seven months pregnant when she met the late monarch at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London.
The Dailymail reported Ms Ardern attended the Queen’s Dinner at Buckingham Palace while dressed in a mustard yellow gown tailored for her pregnancy by New Zealand designer Juliette Hogan and draped in a traditional Māori cloak.
Accompanied by her partner Clarke Gayford, Ms Ardern was one of only four world leaders granted a 20-minute private audience with Queen Elizabeth II. At 91, the Queen still embodied her signature poise and offered parenting advice with a characteristically no-nonsense tone.
“She had, of course, raised children in the public eye,” Ardern writes. “So, in our private meeting, I asked if she had any advice. She said, ‘You just get on with it.’”
Ms Ardern added: “She sounded so matter-of-fact, just as my grandma Margaret might have.”
As a gift, she presented the Queen with a framed photo from her 1953 royal tour of New Zealand, capturing the monarch mid-laugh, a moment that, to Ardern, symbolised her humanity and resilience.
Just two months later, on June 21, 2018, Ardern gave birth to her daughter Neve Te Aroha, becoming only the second elected head of government in modern history to give birth while in office — the first being Pakistan’s late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Although Queen Elizabeth II was a monarch and not an elected official, Ardern noted that she drew inspiration from the Queen, who had children – including Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, after ascending the throne.
Reflecting on her meeting with the Queen during a 2022 interview with Laura Kuenssberg, Ardern said: “There were so few leaders who had been in that position. So I said to her, ‘How did you manage?’ And she just said, ‘Well, you just get on with it.’ And that was probably the best, most factual advice I could have received.”
Ardern attended Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19, 2022, accompanied by her husband. She later described witnessing London come to a symbolic standstill as a “very moving” tribute: “The Queen was here for her people, and now her people are there for her.”
Ms Ardern’s memoir is set for release tomorrow (June 3), offering personal insights into leadership, motherhood, and the lessons she took from one of the world’s most iconic figures.