Having encountered orcs in Middle Earth, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are set to travel farther north in New Zealand as their tour across the region comes to a close.
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Prince Harry and Meghan closed their time in the country's capital, Wellington, with an appointment celebrating the city's film industry.
Screaming fans lined the pavement as the couple arrived at Courtenay Creative - a training centre for creative industries - the Duchess in a Maggie Marilyn dress and Gillian Anderson coat.
A welcoming party of costumed vikings, knights, and an orc from Kiwi director Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films greeted them.
"I wasn't sure if I was supposed to shake their hands. They seemed genuinely scared, but I was very nice," the stuntman playing that orc, Luke Hawker, 37, said after a handshake.
Among youths demonstrating their make-up and costume skills, the Prince was in particular taken by a Ruby Acevedo, 12 - transformed into a character from Planet of the Apes - asking if he could touch her face.
"How long did it take?" Meghan asked.
The pair will now spend the second-last day of their 16-day tour across Australia, Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand in Auckland.
Royal watchers will be hoping the weather changes moods on Tuesday - rain hovered over Monday's bush walk in the south - especially when the couple take a jaunt along Auckland's waterfront to meet the public.
Meghan and Harry will also be trying their hand at a gumboot-throwing contest - a classic New Zealand rural game - with local children during a visit to a forest north of the city.
During the day's flat-out schedule, they'll join New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at a charity event before she hosts them at a formal reception at the Auckland War Memorial Museum in the evening.
Australian Associated Press
