Queen Hit With Egg Thrown by Protesters

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) _ Queen Elizabeth II was hit by an egg thrown by women protesting Britain’s 146-year-old treaty with New Zealand’s Maori tribes, police said.

The queen was riding Sunday in an open car with her husband, Prince Philip, when two women posing as crowd control wardens hurled eggs at her, witnesses said.

One egg hit the queen’s coat, and egg yolk trickled down her pink dress. Another egg splattered the car’s windshield.

The queen appeared startled but quickly regained her composure.

Prime Minister David Lange issued a statement Monday calling the egg- throwing ″deplorable″ and saying he would apologize personally to the British monarch on behalf of his Labor government and the New Zealand people.

But Lange said he was confident security arrangements that allowed New Zealanders to see the queen were adequate.

The incident occurred during the queen’s first public appearance in a nine- day tour of New Zealand. She was riding past a crowd of 40,000 schoolchildren at Ellerslie Racecourse.

Witnesses said the women who threw the eggs got around security cordons by posing as crowd control wardens in white coats. They were hustled away by police within seconds, shouting, ″We’re bloody protesting, that’s what. ... The queen’s come here ... and they aren’t honoring the treaty.″

Police said the women were protesting the Treaty of Waitangi, in which the Maori tribes ceded sovereignty to Britain’s Queen Victoria.

The royal couple arrived Saturday from Nepal.