1In six days, her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip will start their seventh Royal tour of New Zealand since her coronation in 1953. The eight-day tour will be shorter than normal, but it will again allow New Zealanders to indulge themselves in the ritual of paying their respects to a monarch who lives on the other side of the world. How relevant is the monarchy to new Zealand? Analysis of the results of a specially commissioned Heylen poll looking at New Zealanders' attitudes towards the Royal tour, and in particular, the cost of the tour, which is borne by the New Zealand taxpayer and is estimated to be well over $500,000.