The former Kiwi prime minister received her damehood from her friend Prince William at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle overnight.
For five years as prime minister, she received one of the country's highest honours: the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Ardern is made a Dame Grand Commander of the NZ Order of Merit by the Prince of Wales. (AP PHOTO)
Dame Jacinda won global plaudits for her response to New Zealand's worst modern day mass shooting, the 2019 Christchurch mosques terror attack, and the COVID-19 pandemic, during her tenure.
Since leaving office early last year, handing over to Mr Hipkins who lost the October 2023 election, she has offered little public comment on domestic issues.
"I've had my time ... I'm ready to be a sister and a mum," she said last year.
Mr Hipkins, one of Dame Jacinda's closest friends in politics, believes she is being held back.
"The frustration that I have is I think that there's a very small, very vocal, very angry minority of people who make Jacinda's participation in New Zealand's public dialogue at the moment quite difficult," he told AAP.
"I don't think that reflective of the views of the vast majority of New Zealanders.
"But it's just really nasty, and I can kind of understand why she doesn't want to subject herself to that."
Labour leader Chris Hipkins would like to see Ardern return to NZ public life. (Mark Coote/AAP PHOTOS)
It has been noted by many in New Zealand that Dame Jacinda received her damehood in the UK, which she put down to scheduling.
While Dame Jacinda enjoys a near-saintly international reputation, at home, her legacy is more contested.
She is loathed by anti-vaxxers for her government's COVID-19 mandates, and is blamed by many on the right for New Zealand's post-pandemic economic downturn.
Post-parliament, she was retained as Special Envoy for the Christchurch Call - a foreign policy initiative which aimed to unite countries and tech companies to eliminate online extremism - until the government made the organisation a non-profit venture this year.
This year, she has been US-based, as a fellow at Harvard University, speaking at events including the Democratic National Convention.
She is also a trustee for Prince William's Earthshot prize, working on a book on leadership, and supporting conservationism.
Mr Hipkins said the New Zealand government needed to bring her back into the fold, advocating for Aotearoa.
"I think the current government are mad, to be honest, in the sense that Jacinda has this enormous international following, and why would they not embrace that as an asset to the country?" he said.
"We're a small trading nation, our international reputation is really important to us, and Jacinda has got the best international reputation of any New Zealand political leader potentially ever.
"Why would we not try and find ways to use that?"
Speaking to reporters at Windsor Castle overnight, Dame Jacinda said she was honoured and humbled by her damehood, saying her overall mission was now to "support others who want to practice empathetic leadership".
"I would sum it up with sort of just trying to spread a little kindness in the world," she said, as reported by PA.
