Prince Charles today spoke with pride about his charity going global as the second day of his New Zealand royal tour got under way.
Charles met young people being assisted by The Princes Trust to start-up businesses.
He said since setting up the charity in 1976 with his Royal Navy severance pay of £7,400 to fund a number of community initiatives his Trust had helped establish nearly 90,000 people.
The prince, who established the trust in New Zealand just a year ago, added: “I cannot tell you what reward and encouragement it gives me to see how these young people having made that investment in them all those years ago have succeeded.
“Some of them, quite a lot more than you’d imagine have made incredibly successful businesses and have been selling their businesses for something like £70 million.
“For me the wonderful thing is creating a virtuous circle … where they are actually coming back to help provide support to help young people start off.”
The prince applauded a young Maori businessman Kyle Ratana - one of the first recipients of support from Princes Trust New Zealand.
Six months ago, Kyle, 27, quit his job to launch his online business which makes and sells traditional Māori medicines. He said: “It was like standing on a cliff face above a swimming hole.”
But after about a year-and-a-half of discussions with his business partner, he worked up the courage to take the leap.
“It turns out there was a lot of people waiting down there to support us. I'm just glad we took that first initial step and got our waka on its way on this journey.”
Among the new Prince’s Trust ambassadors in New Zealand who met Charles during a visit to Prince's Trust Tea at Mantells restaurant, was All Black rugby legend Ali Williams.
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Earlier Charles and Camilla receive a traditional Māori welcome from members of the New Zealand Armed Forces on the lawn of Government House.
Prince Charles and Camilla visit to New Zealand - In pictures
Māori elders, the Kaumātua and Kuia, guided them through the ceremony before Charles took the Royal Salute and inspected the Guard.
They then met Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her partner Clark Gayford, and Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Kevin Short and his wife Sherryll Short.
On a solo job Camilla paid tribute to the “brilliant” staff at a New Zealand domestic violence charity.
During a visit to Shine, which stands for Safer Homes in New Zealand, which helps thousands of adults and child victims of domestic abuse, the duchess said: “You’re all doing a brilliant job. Just listening to the survivors is so important.
“When I sat down and listened to some of these tales they were just shocking, shocking.
“It’s so important for voices to be heard. Hopefully today we can up the ante and raise a bit of awareness,” Camilla said.
Later in Auckland Harbour, the Prince took a boat and met with volunteers working to clear plastic from the coastal waters around New Zealand with a charity called Sea Cleaners.
Afterwards he rejoined his wife and visited the team headquarters of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron who will compete in the America’s Cup in early 2021.
The couple then went on a walkabout after a large crowd turned out to meet them.
Later the couple met a wide cross-section of New Zealand society at a reception hosted by the Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy at Government House.
Tomorrow they will arrive at Waitangi Treaty Grounds and be greeted by the Chair of Waitangi National Trust Board and Chief Executive of the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
The couple will then pay their respects at the Hobson Memorial, before the Pōwhiri - the formal welcome - begins, including a short speech by Charles.
The Waitangi Treaty Grounds is one of the most significant sites in the history of New Zealand. The Treaty is regarded as the country’s founding document, and enshrines the relationship between Māori and the Crown.
The Prince of Wales was the last Royal visitor to the Grounds in 1994 and this time he has brought with him an historic cloak, or koruwai, that was given by Chief Reihana Te Taukawau to Queen Victoria in 1863.
The Queen agreed that the koruwai will be displayed at the Waitangi Museum on a long-term loan from the Royal Collection.