Prince Harry met with Gurkhas at Nepali embassy

21 March 2017

Prince Harry met with his old Gurkha comrades at the Nepali embassy ceremony.

Prince Harry

The 32-year-old royal made the trip to the London embassy of the small Himalayan country on Monday (20.03.17) to celebrate 200 years of co-operation between Nepal and the United Kingdom.

Whilst at the ceremony, Harry met with some of the Gurkha soldiers whom he met whilst he was battling in Afghanistan alongside the Royal Gurkha Rifles in 2007 and 2008.

Vinod Budhathoki, 32, who lost both his legs in an accident in May 2010, remembered Harry as very down to earth during his tour of Afghanistan.

He said: "He just never let us feel like he was from the Royal Family. We just treated him as a normal officer. He was so nice, and just made us work quite easy with him."

Harry's meeting with the Gurkha soldiers comes after he attended an event last week with his father Prince Charles, in which they awarded operational service medals to the soldiers.

The Prince said during his speech at the embassy: "Last week, I joined my Father in presenting operational service medals to officers and men from 2nd Battalion of the Royal Gurkha Rifles, some of whom are with us here today.

"My father spoke of how important his 40 year association to the Gurkhas is to him. Even though my association hasn't been quite as long, I also draw a great deal of pride and joy from my association with the Gurkhas.

"Your courage, selfless dedication and professionalism are legendary; but your warmth and hospitality in welcoming me as a fellow soldier and friend means a great deal to me personally - even though certain people took great enjoyment from watching me sweat in freezing temperatures in Afghanistan while trying to get through a very spicy Goat Curry; some of you are probably here."

And Prince Harry closed his speech by thanking those in attendance, saying he hoped Nepal and the United Kingdom would continue their "close bond" for "centuries to come".

He said: "I will close by saying thank you to everyone for joining us today to celebrate our 200 year-long friendship between the United Kingdom and Nepal, and we look forward to our continued close bond of friendship for centuries to come, and now that my tika has finally faded it's probably about time to go back!"