English royals are not beyond being convicted but a Kiwi judge regards a Maori royal as special

And one day the cap may make way for a crown.

Princess Anne, back in 2002, became the first member of the Royal Family to be charged and convicted of a criminal offence. The first in modern days, at least.

This was a black day for Alf, who holds the royals in high esteem.

The only daughter of Queen Elizabeth pleaded guilty to allowing her bull terrier to run loose and attack two children.

The Guardian reported at the time :

Ah, so we can have a slash at Waihopai, but farting noises near the Mayor of North Shore are a no-no

Alf has awoken the morning after celebrating St Patrick’s Day in appropriate style to find the world of civil rights turned upside down.

Under modern rules of protest, we can damage an American communications installation in the South Island on the grounds we firmly believe it is a spy station responsible for contributing to the deaths of innocent people around the world.

But we can’t blow a raspberry at the Mayor of North Shore in a shopping centre.

Not even if we are female, in our 70s, and should have earned the right – by virtue of greater maturity – to blow raspberries at a Mayor regarded by some as mad.

The Herald reports both stories today –