Congrats Jacinda and Clarke.
But watch out for the Paparazzi.
Today our former Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, will marry her partner Clarke Gayford. Assuming there’s no last minute lockdown due to the current Covid surge.
I’m joking, the new government would never call one of those. The reason I mention it of course is that Jacinda and Clarke had planned their wedding to be two summers ago. Then the pandemic put paid to that, with the government needing to restrict gathering numbers to avoid the spread of the Omicron variant.
At the time Jacinda said “such is life”, that many others had suffered much worse effects from Covid than a wedding cancellation.
“My wedding will not be going ahead, but I just join many other New Zealanders who have had an experience like that as a result of the pandemic.
“And to anyone who’s caught up in that scenario, I’m so sorry, but we’re all so resilient, and I know we understand that we’re doing this for one another.”
Now free of any such restrictions, and of the responsibilities of office. No longer public property or, you would hope, the target of so much fury. Jacinda is able to marry her fiancé of almost five years.
It’s a lovely thought to imagine the wedding. How elegant the bride will no doubt be, the former first bloke looking very fine, and a wee one of course to assist.
We’d love to see the dress, perhaps who the famous guests might be, and most of all the happy couple finally being able to celebrate with their friends and family. But it’s not for us.
Today, and hopefully on most of the days of their lives now, Jacinda and Clarke are just two human beings choosing to spend their lives together. They aren’t public property, despite our curiosity it is right that the event is as private as they want it to be. Which is why I was so disgusted with the NZ Herald yesterday.
Yes, while people gathered and preparations were made the Herald announced an exclusive, “the former Prime Minister’s friends and family gather ahead of big day tomorrow”.
I thought that was odd. I figured if Jacinda and Clarke were going to offer an exclusive deal for coverage of their wedding it wouldn’t be the NZ Herald, surely?
Of course there was no deal. What there was were a couple of low quality photos from George Heard that appeared to have been taken by someone peering over a hedge, or perhaps hiding in it. Needless to say I won’t be including those photos, here’s a different one instead:
The article included speculation into what was occurring in the photos, they weren’t exactly clear.
The first was a shot of two people in the distance wearing hats and facing the other way. One of them was of a shape and style that it could be Jacinda, but it could also have been a scarecrow from all we could see, which was mostly hedge.
The second photo was also largely plant material but it did include the top half of what appeared to be Clarke Gayford’s head.
The third photo was simply a close up of the first. You could tell it wasn’t a scarecrow now, but it could still have been anyone with a nice hat really.
This sort of thing, the slimy paparazzi style photos taken with a long lense by someone who is not invited is a revolting intrusion. The sort of gutter-level garbage that we expect overseas from the likes of the Daily Mail and other tabloids. So, yeah, shame on the NZ Herald - always striving for new lows in the fight for clicks.
I posted about it on my page and these were some of the responses:
“I loved Clarke’s response to the Herald reporter ‘why would I tell you anything’?”
“Trash...they did their best to destroy her leadership skills and her will to be one of our best leaders and now they're spying on her because they're not invited to her wedding! NZH continues their quest to become The Truth's ars*hol*e grandchild for 2024.”
“Hey Herald over there, look at the Genocide happening over there right now you click bait psychos.”
“The Murdoch clan may not be in control of the press in New Zealand, but the tactics they have used in the UK and in Australia have been adopted by the papers here. What next? Phone hacking?”
One friend joked “she has class, they are trash, hope she drives past and gives them the finger out the window!” I replied, “You know there was a time when pulling a brown eye was considered an appropriate response. I imagine she has too much class, although she is from the Waikato.”
We both agreed that if anyone was going to be mooning the media it would be Clarke. To be honest after all the shit he’s been put through by both them and various assorted nuts you could hardly blame him.
Most of you won’t have read this old newsletter about some of that, it’s free if you want a bit of a nostalgic look back. I received some seriously unpleasant messages after somebody posted it to the “Where is Clarke Gayford” page.
So are the tabloid standards from the Herald just the reality today? Well other news outlets managed to show some respect and not use paparazzi photos. Like Stuff for example…
The couple have remained tight-lipped on details about the big day, but Stuff understands the ceremony will be small – with mostly family, very close friends and a few politicians.
Stuff has chosen not to name the venue.
They didn’t include surreptitiously taken photos of guests, but rather a file photo of the couple:
None of the other outlets seemed to be carrying such photos, it’s sad to see just what the NZ Herald has become. I think their behaviour, the decision they’ve made to do this, is contemptuous and inexcusable. I feel sorry for people that work there - what a thing to be associated with.
But today should be about celebration. Not our celebration of course, but one that will make many of us happy. Knowing that these two people are finally able to enjoy this special time with their friends and family.
I can’t help but think of the words that Jacinda used at the end of her resignation announcement. “To Neve, mum is looking forward to being there when you start school this year. And Clarke, let’s finally get married.”
I hope Jacinda and Clarke have a wonderful wedding today, and many happy years together as a couple and a family.
Oh bugger, I always cry at weddings.
In recent newsletters I’ve offered a discounted rate for those on low or fixed incomes, students, etc. So if that’s you, for the next two days you can sign up to Nick’s Kōrero with 30% off. That’s either $5.59 per month, or $59.50 for a whole year.
If that’s not you, but you’d like to subscribe, please use the next button instead for the regular price ($7.99 per month or $85 for the year). If you'd like to subscribe for free to receive all my newsletters, albeit some will be paywalled, select the right hand option.
Thanks Nick, I see your good wishes for the happy couple, and double them, and again… we watched ‘Breathtaking’ and every few minutes we would comment “thank you Jacinda for saving us from this”. She may not be perfect but she is extraordinary and was definitely the right person in the right job at those horrible times - may the day go well!
HAPPY DAY JACINDA AND CLARKE AND NEVE and invited attending celebrators. We would have loved to join and watch you looking great and having a feasty, dancing day! We are the many who supported, enjoyed your tenure as PM and are all grateful for your caring for us, your citizens. May your day be full of continuous joy. XXOOXX.