When Elton played a solo concert last week at the TSB Bowl of Brooklands, New Plymouth, New Zealand, a rainbow appeared across the top of the stage - and he was given a gift that's fit for a king.

The local Ngati Te Whiti Maori tribe, along with Capital C Concerts, presented Elton with a full-length Maori feather cloak, which he then wore onstage. The cloak, said to be 'the Maori equivalent to an Academy Award', was 'gifted as recognition of the enjoyment Sir Elton John's music has given to Maori over the years and his loyal continuance to return to Aotearoa [New Zealand] to entertain.'

The cloak is usually given to Royalty or Heads of State, and very, very rarely to anyone else. To the delight of the 15,000-strong audience and indeed of New Zealanders everywhere, Elton wore it to perform encores at his New Zealand concert.