The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge started the second day of their royal tour of India and Bhutan by meeting with young entrepreneurs and business leaders at a bar, restaurant and collaborative workspace called The Social. They observed demonstrations and presentations of start-ups and enterprises from the participants and got hands-on experience with the projects, even learning how to spell ‘George’ in braille.
At the event the Duke of Cambridge gave a short speech and officially launched the 2016-2017 GREAT Tech Rocketship Awards which aim to find and celebrate India’s best and brightest talent in technology start-ups. The focus of the GREAT campaign is to promote the UK internationally as ‘a GREAT place to visit, study and do business’ and the Duke and Duchess have previously attended events associated with the campaign. During his speech William said ‘Being here today, it is clear that India is leading the way in so many areas of innovation and technology.’
Following their first engagement of the day the royal couple took a two hour flight to India’s capital city, New Delhi where they laid a wreath at the national war memorial, India Gate. The wreath bore the inscription ‘Never forgetting those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for India’ and was signed by both Prince William and Kate. Located in the heart of New Delhi the red, sandstone structure commemorates the two world wars, the Third Anglo-Afghan War and the 1971 Indo Pakistan War. The couple paid special honour to the 70,000 Indian soldiers who lost their lives while fighting for the British Army during the First World War.
They then travelled to pay their respects to India’s founding father, Mahatma Gandhi, at Gandhi Smriti (‘Ghandi memory’, in English) at Old Birla House, where Ghandi lived in the years before his death in 1948. Like many visitors before them the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge toured the museum before removing their shoes and retracing Gandhi’s final steps from his bedroom to the spot in the garden where he was assassinated. The couple scattered rose petals at the memorial standing at the site.
The couple then returned to the British High Commissioner’s residence where they will later attend a garden party to celebrate the upcoming 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth on April 21st. Attendees will include influential figures from government and politics and the Duke of Cambridge is due to give a speech paying tribute to his grandmother.
For today’s events The Duchess of Cambridge wore a dress from British-based designer Emilia Wickstead. The Ivory coloured day dress in a wool-crepe fabric featured a collar, chest pocket detailing and a full skirt in a midi length. Originally retailing for £1,760 the dress has been marked down to £704 but is now sold out at many retailers. Kate completed the look with a pair of soft pink Rupert Sanderson heels, a Mulberry Bayswater Clutch in ‘Oatmeal’ and a pair of Cassandra Goad Temple of Heaven earrings.
The tour will continue tomorrow with further engagements in New Delhi.
