Prince William, Kate visit Paris 20 years after Diana’s death
PARIS: Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate will pay an official visit to the city today and tomorrow, months before the 20th anniversary of the death of William’s mother, Diana, in a car crash in the French capital.
The second-in-line to the throne and his spouse will meet President Francois Hollande and launch a initiative called “Les Voisins” (The Neighbours) designed to foster closer relations between the two countries at a time when Britain is set to begin the formal process of leaving the European Union.
The Duke and Duchess of Cam- bridge will host a black-tie dinner at the British embassy and attend a Six Nations rugby match between France and Wales at the national stadium tomorrow.
It will be the 34-year- old prince’s first engagement as patron of the Welsh Rugby Union since taking over the role from his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The couple will be travelling without their children, George, 3, and Charlotte, 1.
Although no official commemoration is planned during the trip, it will be impossible to escape the poignancy of Diana’s el- dest son visiting the city where she died on Aug 31, 1997.
William was 15 and his brother, Harry, 12, when their mother and her boyfriend, Dodi Al-Fayed, were killed after the MercedesBenz in which they were passengers crashed in a tunnel here as it was being pursued at high speed by press photographers.
Their French chauffeur, Henri Paul, who was later found to be over the legal blood alcohol limit, also died.
To mark the 20th anniversary of her death, the princes announced earlier this year they were setting up a committee to raise funds to pay ffor a sttaattuuee of Diana to be erected in the public gardens of Kensington
Palace in London. AFP