Nepali woman who met King in 1998 gives Sophie gift and thank you card for him
Sophie and the Duke of Edinburgh are on a six-day official royal tour of the south Asian country to celebrate its close ties to the UK.
A woman who met the King at a Nepali shelter in 1998 has given the Duchess of Edinburgh a handmade gift and “thank you card” for him more than 25 years later, saying a photo of them together still filled her with warmth.
Sophie and the Duke of Edinburgh are on a six-day official royal tour of the south Asian country to celebrate its close ties to the UK.
Anita Shrestha, 32, who met the then Prince of Wales when she was five years old, gave the duchess a cushion she embroidered herself to give to him as a gift.
With the cushion was a picture of Ms Shrestha meeting the King and a card thanking him for the money he raised for the refuge.
The note read: “Your Highness King Charles, I hope you are doing well. When you visited Maiti Nepal in 1998 I was just five years old.
“Today, at 32, I am a handicraft artisan at Maiti Nepal, excelling in cross-stitch. As a token of my appreciation, I have crafted a cushion for you.
“Please accept this gift made with gratitude and respect, as a reminder of the lives you have touched.”
Maiti Nepal was founded by Anuradha Koirala in 1993 and has rescued more than 3,600 women and girls, intercepted 52,047 trafficked women and children and rehabilitated 36,400 people.
In 1998, Ms Koirala met Charles during his visit to Nepal.
As she received the cushion, Sophie told Ms Shrestha: “That’s beautiful, you’re very clever. I shall give that to him with your love. He’ll be very happy to get it.”
Earlier in the visit, as she greeted the women who live at the refuge in Kathmandu, Pampha Adhakari and Pusba Thapa said they also remembered meeting the King during his visit.
The duchess said: “Well, he’s still the same.”
The duchess observed music lessons at the Mother Teresa School, which is part of the Maiti Nepal site, and watched a traditional dance performance.
Sophie began the second day of the official royal tour at Bhaktapur Hospital Maternity Wing, where she met mothers and congratulated them on their newborn babies.
As she arrived on one of the wards the duchess marvelled at how quiet it was before asking: “May I see the babies?”
The duchess, who is a prominent advocate for eye health, then visited Kirtipur Hospital to see the work of the Ridley Eye Foundation, which provides eyecare services to people living in high-altitude and remote areas of Nepal.
The Ridley Eye Foundation is a member of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), of which the duchess is a global ambassador.
Meanwhile the duke joked that he wondered why he was doing his own Duke of Edinburgh award halfway through an expedition as he presented Gold Awards to 19 young Nepali participants in The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award programme, as well as the parents of two young people who could not attend.
Giving a speech during the ceremony, the duke told award recipients: “I hope that you feel it has been a worthwhile experience and an enjoyable one.
“I’m sure there were probably times when you were wondering why you were doing it, and if it was anything like mine it was probably about halfway through the adventurous journey.
“But it’s a great feeling when you get to the end and that great sense of achievement.”
Earlier in the day Edward went to the Unesco World Heritage Site in Bhaktapur, which was visited in 2016 by the Duke of Sussex after it was damaged extensively in the 2015 earthquake.
The duke was shown how the historic monuments have largely been restored since then.
Later, the couple attended a youth-focused reception at the British ambassador’s residence. Sophie wore a floor-length green and blue patterned dress as the pair arrived in the light-festooned garden.
