Captions by Kate Harris. Edited by Stacey Spary. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 (CURIOUS MUSIC) - I need to address him properly. His Majesty King Charles? Or the King? (KEYS CLACK) - I think the King. That's dramatic. - Yes. - Maybe just 'King'. - Oh, yeah. Me too, I agree. - The Queen has passed, and... my husband... you know, he loves funerals. And he's begging me ` 'Can we be part of this?' Hui mate of all hui mate. - 'Firstly, 'my sincere...' I thought I'd write to the King... '...condolences...' ...if there was a possibility I could be part of the funeral. '...on the... 'death of... 'your... 'late mother.' You have to be very gutsy to do something like that. 'Aroha nui.' (KEYS CLACK DECISIVELY) (SIGHS) There will be no other funeral as beautiful as this funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Her funeral is going to be absolutely perfect. - King Charles the` what, fourth? - Te Tuatoru. - Oh, third. - Ae. It's all` I better write in English, eh? I wanted to physically see all the horses. I wanted to hear the music. I wanted to watch her on the gun carrier. Then I wanted to watch her be placed into that beautiful maroon Jaguar hearse as she drove off. - King Charles III, I wanna come to your funeral. Wait, no. His mum's funeral. - Yes. Oh. - When I was writing it with him, I mean, I thought he was just kidding. And then I realised, 'You're being serious.' I was like... Wow. What a long shot. (CHUCKLES) It's Maori Language Week. Why don't we start with a Maori greeting? - I actually had to hear that from other people private messaging me on Facebook ` that my bosses were going to Queen Elizabeth's funeral. I was going, 'Who? What? Wh-Who's going?' They said, 'Francis and Kaiora!' But that would be stupid. (PHONE LINE TRILLS) - (SNIFFS) - Yeah? - Oh, hi, darling. Can you print one of those` the letter out, and so I can sign it, so you can send it off to the King? - I mean, writing a letter to the King or to the Queen? Are you for real? How is that gonna` (LAUGHS) Where's he gonna send it to? (LAUGHS) - KAIORA ON PHONE: Are you honestly gonna send it? - Yes. - OK. All right. I'll print it. Bye. - All right. Thank you. Bye. - (LAUGHS) Oh, no way! LAUGHS: Oh my gosh! What are they doing? - I'll sign this, and we'll send it off to His Majesty the King, Tiare te Tuatoru. - OK. Yeah, no, his letter ` I thought that was very brave of him to send a letter to the King. - Thank you, darling. You can email that off to him, eh? - How do you feel... emailing to... His Majesty the King? - I don't feel silly, if that's what you're trying to say. - Unfortunately, we don't have the King's direct email on file. - (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) a Kingi Tiare te Tuatoru. Ne? Mm. - Yes. As long as my husband knows that it's been sent to someone, it'll be fine. (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) - Ae. So, we need a frame. I want to put the Queen up. - Long live the King. - It's gonna go in your office? - Yes. Thank you, darling. - No problem. I feel like the office needs a bit of a clean for this picture. Oh wow! Oh. (DOOR OPENS) What is this? Oh. - Those are vacuums. Four of them. - Oh. (BRIGHT XYLOPHONE MUSIC) (HEART-RENDING STRING MUSIC) (STAPLER CLICKS) Today in our care, we have baby Tevita Lisala Moeaki Jr, who's passed away not long after birth. - Baby will be 'casketised' here at Hill St. It's different because Baby passed away this morning, and family have requested for the burial.... same day. - Tama piwari. - Oh, look at those little outfits. - That's it. It's beautiful. You're so handsome. - When casketising or handling a bubba, it's a lot different from actually casketising an adult because babies are very fragile. So you've gotta make sure that, you know` you've gotta hold Baby the right way. - Thank you, Auntie Fehi. We have an infant right in front of us. And I just wanna... give him so much awhi. Aroha ki te pepi. He's got these beautiful clothes on. Is that OK? The natural mummy clucky comes out of me, and you wanna make sure his bed's nice and comfortable, and you wanna present him well in his moenga. Just cover his feet a little bit with his blanky... - (SNIFFLES) - ...so you can have warm feet. - Once Baby's casketised, the family are going to have a small lotu. It's what we say in Tongan ` a prayer. And then we will transfer Baby from here to Mangere Lawn Cemetery. (INDISTINCT CHATTER) (HEART-RENDING MUSIC CONTINUES) - You really feel mamae for this mum. I'm just grateful that she has her support right now. She's got all her whanau here. Dad has all his whanau here, and that's the best form of aroha that can be given to them today. - Now we are going to Mangere Lawn Cemetery to... lay Baby to rest. (GROUP SINGS IN TONGAN) - All whanau we care for are special. - And slowly down. - I feel, however, personally connected every time we care for babies, I suppose, because I've had five of my own, and I can only relate as a mum, and I just love working with our babies. - (RECITES PRAYER IN TONGAN) - The minister's now performing a ritual for Baby to rest. - (CONTINUES IN TONGAN) - Baby's grandparents and uncles and aunties around that are having their final mihi to Baby and everyone that's present. I think it's beautiful that Mum and Dad's whanau have gathered. That's just showing that they will be present to support them through this loss. - (CONTINUES IN TONGAN) - (SPEAKS IN TONGAN) (HEART-RENDING MUSIC CONTINUES) (KEYBOARD CLICKS) - Her Majesty the Queen, eh? Queen... Elizabeth.... My husband now wants to create a name plaque for Her Majesty the Queen. Oh, this is the bomb. Actually, I'm loving this now, having a bit of tutu. Eh, dear? - Oh, yeah. - And... he's hoping we take this name plaque to London and place it amongst all other tributes. I better make sure I've got this formally correct. I've spent a bit of time on this, cos you gotta get the name right, and you've gotta make sure that the spelling is correct, that you've addressed Her Majesty correctly. Yeah. You don't wanna whakaiti that. So let's get it right. (GASPS) I've done it wrong. It's Queen Elizabeth the Second, not Third. - When I saw the grave marker, (CHUCKLES) I was going, 'Oh, please don't tell me. 'Oh no. That's taking it to another level.' (LAUGHS) - How are we getting on, darling, with` Oh, look at that. - I know, but I've printed it, so I to bring it down here some more. - She is so beautiful. - But I wanna put a koru behind the wording. - Ae. (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) - (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) - Ae. - LAUGHS: And then I actually saw the grave marker being done, I was like, 'Oh no!' - Kua oti. Anei. - Oh, that's beautiful. Look at that. That's lovely. - It is, eh? - I want to keep that for my office. - CHUCKLES: I know. - It's lovely. We'll take it over and put it with the rest of the thousands of other tributes... - Mm. Yes. - ...from all the people around the ao. Lovely. I've just got Tamale to get a little card, and we'll write something on it. - Oh, nice! - Whilst we knew we were definitely going over to London, we wanted to organise a small card to leave with the millions of other cards there and just get the staff and any whanau who wanted to sign it. - These were the prettiest they had. - Oh, ka pai. Well, at last minute, that's beautiful. - Nothing with a koru. - That's all right. Oh, well, there's this one. - Yeah. It looks like English. - This one's beautiful. Yes, very English. - (CHUCKLES) Fehi didn't wanna write on that card at all. - I'm not gonna write. - (LAUGHS) - Hoha. - Maybe say, 'ofa te Queen'. So, I wrote on behalf of Fehi. I wrote 'ofa lahi atu', which is Tongan translation to... 'love you very much'. - This card is not even gonna reach the Queen... - (LAUGHS) - ...let alone the King. - Fiona was forced. (CHUCKLES) - OK... What do you say to the Queen? LAUGHS: And then I signed the card. Where's the card going? - What are you gonna write in there? - Um... - (SPEAKS TONGAN) - I don't know, because this card might just get thrown away like all the others. - (LAUGHS) - Like, I don't wanna express my love` - You say... - ...and it goes to the wayside near the gates where the flowers are. - (CHUCKLES) - I actually want someone to pick it up and read it. LAUGHS: Are you gonna be able to give it to someone or is it gonna get thrown against all the flowers on the gate? (LAUGHS) Yeah, no, that just took it to another level. I can't express... (LAUGHS) (COMICAL MUSIC) Well, can't say 'long live the Queen' cos she's not alive any more. - Long live the King, eh? - Yeah, long live the King Charles. (BRIGHT XYLOPHONE MUSIC) (POIGNANT MUSIC) - I'll just hang the clothes right here. - Today in our care here we have the late Mr Deon Steven Robert Hadley, age 33, whose death is subject to the coroner's findings. - Oh. Here comes our guy. - Deon's passing was due to a head-on crash collision involving two motor vehicles. - Deon, brother. - It's always offered to the whanau to dress their tupapaku. However, in this instance, it was advised to the whanau that the funeral home dress Deon because of his injuries sustained. - We looked after his mum last year. It was very sad for us to now see Deon in our care. I feel for his sister. Ariana has lost a mum and now a brother in such a short time. - Looking pretty snazzy. - Sure is. - Fehi is amazing at cosmeticising and beautifying our tupapaku. So I did ask for Fehi to... cosmeticise Deon, just to cover up any of those surface scratches that he sustained upon impact. - OK. Looking slick, bro. - Presenting Deon back to his whanau, it would be like me presenting my loved one back to my whanau. Well done, you. Niti rawa atu. Once Deon has been dressed and placed into his casket... - You look handsome. Ready to see your family. - ...the whanau, along with Deon, hikoi back to their whanau resident in Mt Roskill, where Deon will lay in state for the duration of his tangihanga. Extended family members, whanau and friends of Deon, were awaiting his arrival. Ka pai. We'll do an anti-clockwise turn, whanau. Face towards our whare. There's always that sense of sadness the moment you open the door. It's like the pouri, the sadness, that the family felt. There was a lot of raw emotion upon our arrival to the whare. (RECITES PRAYER IN TE REO MAORI) Ariana is Deon's younger sister. My heart went out to her. - (SOBS) (MOURNFUL MUSIC) (CONTINUES TO WEEP) - Though it was sad... - (ARIANA WEEPS) - ...once the lid had been removed, they had their taonga back home. - (ARIANA WEEPS) - Deon will be laying in state at the whanau whare in Mt Roskill for three nights. - # Te aroha... - CULLEN: Today we will be taking Deon to Mangere Lawn Cemetery, where the cremation will take place. - ALL: # Me te rangimarie. # Tatou, tatou e. # - Upon our arrival to the whare, it is noticeable that there are a lot of people there to farewell Deon's tupapaku, but in particular that backbone, that support, for Ariana during these last final moments. - Love you heaps, Deon, and may you rest in love and... and be at peace, my brother. Much love always. Nga mihi. Oh, I went for a walk this morning, Maia and I, and... we picked you some flowers. So these are from us and the boys. (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) - Every time we saw Deon, he always` he always put us first. Always made sure that we had everything we need. Would take us to Muriwai, even if Marco was trying to say no cos he wanted to sleep. (LIGHT LAUGHTER) Deon, we're gonna miss you, but we promise we'll look after Ana. She's always been our sister and always will be. - Going inside the whare to close the lid is always the hardest part for the whanau. Knowing that that will be the last time they see their loved one, it's always heartbreaking. There's no words that can express... the mamae within that room when closing the lid of their loved one. (WEEPING) (MOURNFUL MUSIC) (WEEPING CONTINUES) It has now come to the time where we have to take Deon's waka, his casket, out to the hearse. Bearing in mind getting Deon into the whare proved to be a task, pretty much the same taking him out. So knowing that the whanau had already prepared for this made my job as the funeral director a little bit easier. Gonna hold for the haka, whanau. (GROUP PERFORMS HAKA) You always get goosebumps when whanau perform haka for their loved one who is about to depart. It just shows the amount of respect they have for their loved one. - Hi! (MOURNFUL MUSIC CONTINUES) (WEEPING) - Ka pai, whanau. (DOOR CLOSES) (MOURNFUL MUSIC CONTINUES) I'm always gauging. I'm gauging... the emotions, the reactions, because it is the last final moment they have with Deon. But it's allowing them that time. So even though we are kept to times, I'm not going to be Sergeant Major and say, 'OK, family, it is now time.' Because that, in a way, can be more detrimental to the whanau... in these final moments. - I'm gonna miss you. I love you so much. I've been crying every time I go home, when I leave the house ` every night. I'm gonna miss you so much. Fly home, my boy. Love you so much. - The final few words said to Deon... are like their final kiss to him. (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) Moe mai, moe mai. A haere atu ra. (MOURNFUL MUSIC CONTINUES) (BRIGHT XYLOPHONE MUSIC) - That's what I really love. The pomp and` Of course. - Did you know the arrangements were, like, 30 years ago? - So beautiful. The casket was prepared 30 years ago. Yeah. - He's begging me, 'Can we go?' Even I would love to witness this, so... let's go. - You're gonna have a laugh. - Morena, e te whanau. (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) - Oh, wha` (LAUGHS) - ...tenei whare o te Kingi. - When we first saw the updates, we were more interested in how Francis was doing, because we knew he'd be suffering ` nearly` what, 20-something hours on a flight? Look, look, look, look. (LAUGHS) He's actually wearing something. If Francis was to stand out from the crowd in England will probably be, like, to do a haka in a piupiu or something. (LAUGHS) - We've been stopped a few times cos, you know... - Oh. Oh! - Oh! Stopped a few times, eh? - Are you sure? - In London? - ... that we are wearing` we made taua. - What the hell is taua? - That's the thing on their heads! - Oh. - ...and we've been simply informing them that it's a sign of mourning. - What's Francis doing on his phone? Trying to look busy? - He's probably trying to purchase something online. - He's not working. (LAUGHS) - Working? Are you joking? - I'm gonna put the Queen's plaque here that my staff made, with the Queen here at Buckingham Palace, and we'll leave it with the many other beautiful tributes that have been put towards Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. I'm gonna to put this with you, my dear, your card. Hope you read it in Heaven. - When I saw Francis go to place the card and the plaque down, I was going, 'Oh, poor Francis. He honestly thinks someone from the royal family's gonna see this.' Oh, our nameplate made it to England. - Yeah, made it to London. - I think Nona and Fehi are pleased that the plaque made it halfway around the world, And that they're emotional. - Amazing it's just gonna go straight from there to the dump. (BOTH LAUGH)