Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh say they are still best friends after 25 years of marriage
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh say they are still “best friends” after more than 25 years of marriage.
Speaking to reporters during their official tour of Nepal, the royal couple said they always had to have “a lot of humour” while travelling together.
The couple were asked about their easy banter after they had shared a joke with each other while planting a tree in the Godawari National Botanic Garden on their third day in the Himalayan country.
The Duke said: “Because we’re best friends.” The Duchess agreed, saying: “That’s true.”
She added: “There’s always got to be a lot of humour. Especially when you’re travelling and you’ve got no idea what’s coming next.”
The magnolia tree planted by the couple was metres away from two others planted by the Duke’s parents when they visited in 1986.
Prince Edward said it had been fascinating to see how they had been “following in a long trail of family visits [to Nepal]”. On seeing the trees planted by the Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duchess said: “Well the first thing we always check is that the trees are doing really well. We’ve got a bit of a competition between the two of us as to, if we plant a tree, whose then does better over the years.”
The Duke added: “It just reminds you that there has been numerous visits and each of them seemingly remembered very fondly.”
He told reporters: “We’ve been made to feel staggeringly welcome.
“The Nepalese are delightful and very friendly and I know we’re only seeing a small part of the country, but it’s been fascinating understanding the depth of the relationship between the two countries and just how important it is.”
The couple said their hope for royal tours was that it would help the organisations they visited get more help and attention.
The Duke said: “There’s some brilliant organisations and there’s some brilliant people, who for the most time their work is unsung, and if we can just shine a bit of a light on the work that they’re doing, and it helps them to be able to tell their story better, and to give them a better profile, then that’s what we really hope for.”
The Duchess added: “And also if they’re looking for local help from ministers and things it’s amazing what a royal visit will do. A minister will turn up and then hopefully they might learn something when they get there. If that changes something for them, for better, then it’s great.”
Speaking about her visit to Maiti Nepal in Kathmandu, which supports survivors of trafficking and gender-based violence, the Duchess said the women “are in desperate need of help”.
During her time there, several women told the Duchess they remembered meeting the King when he visited in 1998. After his return to the UK, the then Prince of Wales auctioned a painting to raise funds for Maiti Nepal, enabling them to buy additional land and to expand the refuge.
“Without that I don’t know how far forward they would have been able to get, but it really was a game changer for them,” the Duchess said.
The couple were speaking after attending the attestation ceremony for new Gurkha recruits, in which 274 young Nepali men, selected from more than 13,000 applicants for the elite British Army unit, took the oath of allegiance, saluted a portrait of the King and touched the Union flag.
The Duchess said: “That moment today when the Gurkhas came forward and swore allegiance to the King, and standing behind those tables, I found it really emotional.
“It was just watching their eyes. That moment they placed their hands on the table and they looked at the picture and you could really see the intent in their eyes. It was very real and very tangible and I found it quite an emotional day.”
The couple had received a rapturous welcome from a Nepali hillside village on the last day of their tour. After spending Saturday trekking in the Annapurna Conservation Area, they had spent the night in Ghandruk – a rural village overlooking the Himalayas, with a strong history of producing Gurkha recruits.
They were greeted with a traditional welcome ceremony, which included the presentation of Khadas scarves by the principal of a local school while a local band played.
The couple were given traditional garments and were presented with framed pictures of the mountains as “a token of love from Annapurna municipal principality”.
Sitting behind a decorated table flanked by guests including Lieutenant Colonel Rajesh Gurung – the most senior Nepali Gurkha officer, who is from Ghandruk – the Duke and Duchess clapped along to a performance of traditional Gurung dance performed by a youth club.
Residents surrounded the square to watch the performance and hear a speech by Mayor Bishnu Bahadur KC, who said the “historic bi-lateral relationship between Nepal and the United Kingdom is as strong as ever”.
Mr Bahadur said: “Ghandruk has maintained a historic connection with the United Kingdom for over two centuries since the British started Gurkha recruitment in 1815.
“Ghandruk is well known for breeding outstanding Gurkha soldiers. Ghandruk has produced the highest number of Gurkha majors in the British Army.”
He went on to say: “Your royal highnesses, your presence has graced our village and its people. This historic moment will go on our record books and will most certainly inspire future generations to visit and support Ghandruk.
“I have learned that a number of towns in the United Kingdom have twinned with villages in Nepal. I am hopeful that one day Ghandruk will be granted the royal permission to twin with one of the towns in the United Kingdom.”
The Duke and Duchess then visited the Ghandruk Cultural Museum before a musical parade led them out of the village to the waiting convoy of Land Rovers.
