Republican Pledge Greets Queen

Hours before the Queen's arrival in New Zealand for a golden jubilee official visit, the country's prime minister, Helen Clark, said last night that the Queen's position as head of state was absurd.

Ms Clark, Labour head of the country's moderate left coalition government, predicted that New Zealand - once the most loyal of white Commonwealth countries - would inevitably become a republic.

The prime minister has chosen to attend a meeting of centre-left government leaders in Stockholm rather than greeting the Queen when she arrives in Wellington this morning, though she is expected to put in an appearance before the royal party leave next Wednesday.

In her speech at the London School of Economics, Ms Clark said it would not be long before her country shed its recognition of the Queen as head of state.

"The idea of a nation such as New Zealand being ruled by a head of state some 20,000km away is absurd. It is inevitable that New Zealand will become a republic. It is just a matter of when the New Zealand people are bothered enough to talk about it - it could be 10 years, or it could be 20 years, but it will happen," she said.

The country's biggest daily newspaper, the New Zealand Herald, has also taken a cool view of the royal visit. Describing the Queen as "a constitutional Santa Claus from another age", Brian Rudman, its political columnist, added: "We all know she doesn't really exist any more, but we can't quite bring ourselves to tell her or to admit it."

After leaving Britain on Monday the Queen has been in Jamaica, where a majority of the population, according to polls, also want their country to become a republic. Next week she flies on to Australia, which only narrowly voted against becoming a republic a couple of years ago.

The tour is the main overseas visit of the Queen's 50th anniversary year. It contrasts sharply with the welcomes she received during her first visits to the old colonies in the 1950s.