New Zealand Governor General Patsy Reddy (center) and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (right) arrive to attend the State Memorial Service for Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul on April 21, 2021. (ROBERT KITCHIN / POOL / AFP)

SYDNEY - New Zealand held an official memorial service for Prince Philip in Wellington, the country’s capital, on Wednesday, where Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave a reading.

Attended by current and former leaders and diplomats, the memorial was held at the Cathedral of St. Paul, whose foundation stone Queen Elizabeth laid in 1954.

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New Zealand’s Governor General, Dame Patsy Reddy, the official representative of the Queen, spoke of Prince Philip as “one of the unchanging stars in our sky”.

Wearing a red poppy pin, Ardern read a poem by New Zealand author Joy Cowley called “Memories,” local media reported.

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The service came after Queen Elizabeth paid her final respects to Prince Philip at a funeral on Saturday that celebrated his seven decades of service.

Officially known as the Duke of Edinburgh, Philip died at age 99 on April 9.