Jacinda Ardern delivers final speech to parliament as she gets new royal role

A day after getting new royal role, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern bowed out of parliament on Wednesday, making an impassioned plea during her tearful final speech to "please take the politics out of climate change".

On Tuesday Britain’s Prince William handed Jacinda an important royal role, saying “It is an honour to welcome Jacinda Ardern to the Earthshot Prize team.”

Ardern shocked New Zealand earlier this year when she announced she was stepping down as prime minister and retiring from politics, saying she no longer had "enough in the tank".

Draped in a korowai -- a traditional Maori feather cloak -- Ardern recalled her humble beginnings in a working class family, and how she never expected to lead the country.

"It was a cross between a sense of duty to steer a moving freight train... and being hit by one," she quipped during her valedictory address.

"And that´s probably because my internal reluctance to lead was matched only by a huge sense of responsibility."

"Climate change is a crisis. It is upon us," she said.

"And so one of the very few things I will ask of this house on my departure is that you please take the politics out of climate change."