Staff Reporter
Islamabad
TBritain’s Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton on Friday left for the United Kingdom after completing their eventful five-day visit of Pakistan, the first royal trip to the country in more than a decade.
They were seen off at the Nur Khan Airbase by British High Commissioner Thomas Drew and other officials.
The couple — the Duchess wearing shalwar kameez in black and white, after highlighting the traditional Pakistani dress throughout the trip — boarded the Royal Air Force Voyager plane, waving for the cameras one last time before departing.
Before leaving, the royal couple visited the Army Canine Centre in Islamabad, where Britain provides support to a programme that trains dogs to identify explosive devices.
At the facility, Prince William while speaking to journalists highlighted the importance of his country’s security ties with Pakistan, according to Rebecca English, a royal correspondent for Daily Mail UK.
He was quoted as saying: “The whole week we have been hearing about security in Pakistan and it’s really brought home to Catherine and I the importance of the relationship between the UK and Pakistan.”
Duke noted that the people of Pakistan have lost many lives in the effort to secure the country.
“Those sacrifices from the Pakistanis should be acknowledged,” Prince William said. “Actually what happens here in Pakistan directly correlates to what happens on the streets of the UK.”
Earlier in the day, a plane carrying the British royal couple had safely landed in Islamabad, hours after two failed landing attempts in bad weather forced them to fly back to Lahore.
The duke and duchess of Cambridge ended up staying the night at a hotel in Lahore before finally flying back to Islamabad on Friday morning, according to British royal correspondents on board their plane.
There has been no statement yet from Kensington Palace on Thursday’s mid-air drama, which reportedly saw the Royal Air Force pilot circle for at least an hour during a fierce thunderstorm that hit Islamabad, before finally abandoning the attempt and returning to Lahore.
It came after the royals spent a busy day in Lahore, during which they played cricket, visited a children’s orphanage and a cancer hospital, and toured the iconic Badshahi Mosque.
“It was pretty bumpy up there,” the Daily Mail’s English quoted the Duchess of Cambridge as saying.
