With the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton, arriving in Islamabad as part of their royal tour of Pakistan, the former will be honouring his late mother and Princess of Wales, Diana, with a special visit.
The five-day visit to the country — which has been described by Kensington Palace as their “most complex” to date — will see William and Kate attend a series of engagements focusing on security and the effects of climate change beside education for girls and young women.
According to reports, during the trip that will see the couple visit Islamabad, Lahore, the mountains in the north and regions bordering Afghanistan in the west, the Queen’s grandson will also seek to honour his late mother Princess Diana’s humanitarian work.
In 1996 and 1997, shortly before she died in a fatal car accident, the princess visited the country to see her friend Jemima Goldsmith and then-husband Imran Khan, who is now the prime minister (PM).
During the latter trip to Lahore, Diana had helped Imran with raising funds for his Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital.
William is now due to meet the premier, who he has known since childhood, as well as President Dr Arif Alvi. It is also thought the Duke and Duchess, who have left their three children at home, will see sites visited by the Queen during tours in 1961 and 1997.
“The duke and duchess will be covering a lot of ground and are keen to put Pakistan back on the map as a country that is now much safer than people expect it to be,” reports quoted a royal source as saying.
Precise details of the trip — the first royal tour to the country in 13 years after Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall — haven’t been released for security reasons.
