Britain’s Prince Harry arrived in Kathmandu yesterday at the start of a five-day visit, which will see him tour areas hit by a deadly earthquake in April last year.
He was received by the minister of state for local development, Kunti Shahi, at the capital’s Tribhuvan International Airport.
The prince met with Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli yesterday.
Today, he is to meet with President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and visit areas in Kathmandu struck by the earthquake, which killed 8,800 people.
Tomorrow, he is to travel to Bardiya Wildlife Reserve in western Nepal, before heading to Pokhara, where he will visit the villages of Gurkha soldiers affected by last year’s quake.
On Wednesday, he will join the president in inaugurate the Nepal Girl Summit before
returning home.
It is the first time in years that a British royal family member has visited Nepal. Late Princess Diana, Harry’s mother, had visited the Himalayan nation in 1993.
The trip comes after Harry revealed that he hopes his mother Princess Diana is “looking down with tears in her eyes” over her children’s achievements.
In an intimate interview with Good Morning America, he said: “I hope she’s looking down with tears in her eyes, being incredibly proud of what we’ve established.
“I hope that everything we do privately and officially, that it makes her proud. I think losing your mother at such a young age does end up shaping your life massively.’
Highlights of Harry’s Nepal trip will see the prince trek in the foothills of the Himalayas and spend a night with a Gurkha family in their home.
And he will also be introduced to the home of the Brigade of Gurkhas, saluting the extraordinary bravery and commitment that Gurkhas have shown fighting alongside British forces for more than 200 years.
Before flying out to Nepal, Harry met members of MapAction, a humanitarian emergency response organisation which helps co-ordinate relief efforts in disaster areas.
Speaking about his first visit to Nepal, he said: “I think, hopefully, by doing this trip it will shine a spotlight back on the issue, and people will realise that there’s still a hell of a lot needs to be done.
“But everyone should know the locals will do their very best to turn the country around,
given the opportunity.”
Following the earthquake, hundreds of thousands are still homeless, living in tents and huts, and they faced the harsh winter weather in Nepal’s mountain villages.
Last December, the Nepalese parliament approved laws allowing the government to spend billions of dollars pledged by foreign donors on home reconstruction.
But it has been criticised for delays to the new laws and the formation of a reconstruction authority because of disagreements among political parties about who would head the
agency.
The prince left the army last summer after 10 years as an officer and had served two tours in Afghanistan.
One of the highlights of the prince’s first tour was the chance to live and work with a unit of Gurkhas, men from Nepal famed for their fighting prowess.
During his meeting with the MapAction team, Harry said: “Everyone that’s been to Nepal says amazing things and the more we can encourage people to go - it’s that question of “Nepal is here now”.
“Since World War I, World War II - way before that - we’ve had the Nepalese army, the Gurkhas, helping us out, so the least we can do is repay the favour.”