The Duchess of Cambridge has finally concluded her week-long visit of Pakistan. The charming royal visited Islamabad, Chitral and Lahore during the whirlwind tour. She was accompanied by a William Windsor as well.
The nation was enthralled by the visiting royal was charmed not just by her demeanour and charm, but also by her enthusiasm in immersing herself in local customs, be it wearing traditional Pakistani attire, or having a bit of fun while playing cricket.
Far from being a stiff royal, she was down to earth and humble and was quite respectful to her staff, including her principal aide William. “When she dropped by at the SOS Village to review our work in educating underprivileged children, she started her speech with the African saying of it taking a village to raise a child and now she understood why,” said Saleem Bhatti, Director at the SOS Village.
“Which was very smart because, you know, village? And SOS village? Very clever.” “Te jadon o haasdee ae….” said Bhatti, switching to Punjabi and wistfully clasping his hands. “Inni sohnni…..”
“A William fellow who accompanied her also wanted to speak at the SOS Village,” said Shafiq Khan, Deputy Director Protocol at the Foreign Office. “But we had to wrap all that up as she was running late for her tour of Chitral.”
The Duchess also visited Lahore and played some practice shots at the National Cricket Academy, laughing while missing the ball at the crease and celebrating hitting it. An associate of her who was accompanying her from the UK also wanted to play but star bowler Shaheen Afridi excused himself, saying he would like to accompany the Duchess and the rest of her entourage for tea.
“Well, my chap, I am also part of her….entourage, if you will,” William was overheard saying to him.
“In that case, you and I both are late for tea, come on, and please deposit the bat with Nazar Chacha,” Afridi replied.
