The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit India and Bhutan from April 10 , Kensington Palace announced on Friday.
The visit was first announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to London in November. It will be the royal couple’s first trip to India, but the parents of the Duke – Prince Charles and the late Diana, princess of Wales – visited the country more than two decades ago.
It will be a poignant moment on April 16, when they travel to the Taj Mahal, where Diana sat alone on the bench during her and Prince Charles’ visit in February 1992. The image symbolised her marital troubles at the time and is one of her most known images. She died in 1997 in a car crash.
The palace said the Duke and Duchess will see a variety of aspects of contemporary Indian life, focusing on young people, sport, entrepreneurship, efforts to relieve urban poverty, the creative arts, and rural life.
The royal couple will begin their visit in the creative and business hub of Mumbai, before travelling to New Delhi. In Kaziranga National Park, they will experience the rich variety of wildlife and pay tribute to rural traditions of communities that live around the park.
In Bhutan, the palace said the couple is looking forward to meeting the King and Queen and continuing the relationship between their two families. They will also have the opportunity to learn more about the heritage and culture of the mountain kingdom and its people.
“Their visit to Bhutan will allow them to continue a relationship between two Royal Families by meeting The King and Queen. The Duke and Duchess have heard many wonderful things about the country and are grateful to have this opportunity to get to know the Bhutanese people,” the spokesman added.
@Agency report.
