USA TODAY International Edition
Will & Kate in Pakistan for ‘ complex’ tour
Prince William and Duchess Kate of Cambridge arrived in Pakistan late Monday for a five- day official visit described as their “most complex” ever due to major logistical and security issues in a diplomatically touchy region.
They did not take their three children, Prince George, 6, Princess Charlotte, 4, or Prince Louis, 1, with them.
The couple landed at a Pakistani air force base in Rawalpindi just before 10 p. m. local time, according to video posted on Twitter.
Kate was wearing a traditional shalwar kameez, an ombré turquoise dress and pants by Catherine Walker, plus cream- colored high- heels.
This is the couple’s first visit to Pakistan, made at the request of the British government. Among others, they will meet with Prime Minister Imran Kahn,
the former cricket superstar- turnedpolitician who was a friend of Will’s late mother, Princess Diana.
“This is the most complex tour undertaken by ( the duke and duchess) to date, given the logistical and security considerations,” according to a Kensington Palace statement issued in advance of the trip. “Pakistan hosts one of Britain’s largest overseas networks, with the British High Commission in Islamabad being one of the United Kingdom’s largest diplomatic missions in the world.”
Indeed, the young royals, both 37, are arriving in a part of the world already on edge due to soaring tensions in the longtense relationship between India and Pakistan, both nuclear- armed countries. A scientific study released Oct. 2 concluded that as many as 125 million people would die within days if India and Pakistan waged a nuclear war.
The Cambridge visit is intended to “pay respect to the historical relationship” between Britain and Pakistan, a Muslim country that used to be part of the British Empire with India, and from which more than 1 million British citizens today trace their ancestry.
“The Duke and Duchess’s program... will largely focus on showcasing Pakistan as it is today – a dynamic, aspirational and forward- looking nation,” the palace statement said.
“From the modern, leafy capital Islamabad, to the vibrant city of Lahore, the mountainous countryside in the north, and the rugged border regions to the west, the visit will span over ( 620 miles), and will take in Pakistan’s rich culture, its diverse communities, and its beautiful landscapes.”
Will and Kate are embarking on this tour at a moment when public esteem for them is high in Britain, in contrast to the woes experienced in recent months by Prince Harry and his biracial American wife, Duchess Meghan of Sussex, who just returned from a 10- day tour of southern Africa with their baby, Archie.
The Sussex trip was a big success, helping to ameliorate the mockery and criticism of them in the British tabloids for allegedly being too obsessed with privacy, too heedless of royal protocol, too extravagant in their spending, and hypocritical for taking private jets while warning against climate change.
But the good vibes of the trip were overtaken before it ended by the bitter fallout from their decision to file lawsuits against specific tabloid publications alleging invasion of privacy, copyright infringement and phone hacking.
It didn’t help that Harry issued an overwrought statement attacking the tabloids for “malicious,” “ruthless” and “relentless propaganda” coverage of Meghan, whose “suffering” he compared to that endured by Princess Diana before she died in a Paris car crash in 1997.
None of that has been a problem for the Duchess of Cambridge, the Englishborn former Kate Middleton, who has been treated to generally positive media coverage since she married Will in 2011, and is widely admired.
The overarching themes of the Pakistan trip in some ways echo those of the Sussex Africa tour: Access to quality education, empowerment for girls and young women, conservation, and communities’ efforts to respond and adapt to climate change.
They also will spend time exploring the complex security picture in Pakistan, meeting with British and Pakistan military personnel who are sharing expertise to improve security.