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Prince William has carried out his first solo engagement on behalf of the Queen as he paid his respects to fallen Second World War soldiers.

The 23-year-old entered a new phase of royal life as he laid a poppy wreath in New Zealand to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the conflict.

At the coming of age event in windy Wellington, William charmed both the excited female-dominated crowds outside and the elderly veterans inside. The second in line to the throne gently stroked the face of a toddler waiting in his mother's arms on the cold winter's day, placing his hand on the little boy's arm.

William brought his own style to the traditional royal walkabout, where simple handshakes are the norm, by enthusiastically giving one woman a high five. Five-year-old Amelia Ward, dressed in a furry coat and red hat, presented the Prince with a red rose. "Is this flower for me?" William asked.

Inside the hall of memories in Wellington's National War Memorial, the Prince spoke to all of the 28 veterans in turn, asking them where they had served and examining their many medals. On his own left lapel, the future Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces wore a solitary Jubilee medal with blue and white ribbon, given to him by his grandmother the Queen.

Meeting 95-year-old wheelchair bound Allan Curry, William placed his right hand on the frail former soldier's arm, looking into his eyes as they chatted. "Really?", the Prince remarked when told how old the nonagenarian was. "Very nice to meet you," William said shaking the veteran's hand several times, adding as he left "See you later."

The veteran, who served in the bloody battle of Monte Cassino in Italy, also met the Prince of Wales when he last visited New Zealand earlier this year at a service at the same memorial.

Shortly after arriving, the Prince stood in the open air, head bowed, in front of the low granite two tiered slabs of New Zealand's Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. As he returned to the spot after the ceremony inside, he leaned over to place a poppy on the stone monument, securing the flower under a restraining band while the back of his grey single breasted suit flapped up in the wind.

Inside the National War Memorial, the Prince took his formal duties seriously. He placed a wreath made of red paper poppies on behalf of his grandmother at the foot of a bronze statue depicting a mother and two children. It was built to represent the family for whom soldiers fight to protect. Two New Zealand flags were positioned either side.

On the ring of flowers, printed in black ink on a white card with a Buckingham Palace crest were the words: "In Memory of the Glorious Dead Elizabeth R."