Royal Visit (2006)

Royal Visit (2006)
This photograph shows Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall at Lahore’s Badshahi Mosque. Charles and Camilla arrived in Pakistan in October, 2006 and stayed for a five-day tour.

This was their third official overseas visit as a couple. A main item on the agenda was spending time in areas hit by the earthquake in 2005 which devastated large parts of Pakistan. On arrival at the Chaklala Airbase, the royal couple was received by then federal minister for women’s development and youth affairs Sumaira Malik, then Pakistan’s High Commissioner to UK Maleeha Lodhi, UK High Commissioner to Pakistan Mark Lyall Grant and other senior officials. From the airport the royal couple was driven off straight to the Punjab House where they were lodged during their stay in the capital. Later, they visited also Peshawar and Lahore.

The Royal Tour came amid controversy over British death row inmate Mirza Tahir Hussain who was due to be executed in Pakistan on November 1. The execution was delayed for two months following intervention by the prince and then prime minister Tony Blair. Charles also met then president General Pervez Musharraf and prime minister Shaukat Aziz.