Prince William and his wife, Kate, planned their visit to Kaziranga specifically to focus global attention on conservation.
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The Cambridges left the Taj Tashi hotel where they are staying with William wearing a suit without a tie, and Kate dressed in a Tory Burch floral mesh full-length gown, teamed with black open-toed heels and a red shawl.
“It’s awesome to be this close”.
The Duke and Duchess will take part in a Chipdrel – a traditional welcome procession, complete with music, and participants in ceremonial dress.
Porters were on hand, including one with an oxygen cylinder, but the couple – William is 33, Kate a year older – managed without difficulty as they walked hand-in-hand through sunlit wooded uplands. While the Duchess feeding the animals was lovely, nothing would be quite as cute as her offspring mock riding them.
In a large area of grassland and sparse woodland the baby animals had gathered under the shade of a tree waiting for the royal couple who walked towards them.
Today the royals had the opportunity to feed a young elephant and play with a baby rhino during a visit to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) at Panbari reserve forest in Kaziranga, in the northeastern state of Assam, India. One park ranger told the couple, “It can be unsafe”.
Kate looked elegant in the full-length purple and turquoise patterned skirt, which was made using fabric from Bhutan, on day five of the royal tour. He would be running all over the place. They also recently became first-time parents, welcoming a son in February. So why didn’t they bring their kids?
The head man said: “When she saw the little girl dancers and the boys drumming the Duchess said it reminded them both of their children and how much they missed them”.
“People think of them as street kids, beggars, thieves, but they are just children”, Roy added as he addressed the royal couple.
Bhutanese archers must aim at very small, brightly decorated wooden targets positioned 145 metres away from where they are standing.
After touring the centre, they visited the Kaziranga Discovery Park built by the Elephant Family, the charity founded by Mark Shand, the late brother of the Duchess of Cornwall.
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The British royals watched an archery match and later dined with Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema.
