Prince Harry has visited the Nepali embassy in London for a ceremony marking "200 years of friendship" between Nepal and the United Kingdom.
Prince Harry
The 32-year-old royal made the trip to the embassy of the small Himalayan country on Monday (20.03.17) on behalf of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, where he gave a speech praising the "warmth and hospitality" of the Nepali people.
He said at the ceremony: "I am delighted to join you on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen, to bring to a close our year of joint celebrations, marking 200 years of friendship and cooperation between Nepal and the United Kingdom. The Queen has asked me to pass on her best wishes to you all.
"I had the pleasure of visiting Nepal exactly a year ago. I experienced first-hand the true meaning of Nepal's slogan 'I am in Nepal Now'.
"The warmth of the welcome and hospitality from everyone I met, particularly from Mrs Mangali Tamang and her family, who I stayed with in Lorani, is something that I will never forget."
And Prince Harry also praised the residents for their "unbreakable spirit and resilience" after the country was rocked by a devastating earthquake in 2015.
Speaking about the aftermath of the quake, Harry said: "I was very pleased to see how effective the disaster response measures, supported by the British Government and others, had been in getting support to those who needed it very quickly.
"Reconstruction and building back more resiliently from such a disaster can take a long time. But I saw first-hand the unbreakable spirit and resilience of the Nepali people as they set about it - I hope you and they can continue to draw comfort from the fact the British people stand with you on that journey."
The royal also touched on the area of "empowering girls" to reach their full potential, where he said he was "encouraged" by the steps taken by the Nepali people to end "gender-based violence".
He said: "Another area in which our countries share a common aim is the commitment to empowering girls and young women to fulfil their potential.
"I was delighted to have the opportunity of joining President Bhandari for the opening of the joint Girl's Summit.
"I have been encouraged to hear that so much has been done over the past year to raise awareness about child marriage and gender-based violence. I look forward to keeping up with Nepal's progressive work to empower women and girls, the example you set is one that others will draw inspiration from."
Prince Harry closed his speech by thanking those in attendance, and said 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!"
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