queen visit to pakistan 1997

'Historical ties': A look back at past visits to Pakistan by British royals

Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, will arrive in Islamabad today (October 14) on a five-day visit, which aims to further improve ties between the two countries.

The Royal couple, according to British High Commissioner in Pakistan Thomas Drew, will visit the "breadth and depth" of Pakistan and as did their predecessors — William's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II; his mother Princess Diana; and father Prince Charles — the couple hopes to meet as many Pakistanis as possible during the visit.

"I have always been struck by the warmth in Pakistan towards the royal family, and the fond memories of previous visits," said Drew ahead of the couple's arrival.

Here, Dawn.com takes a look back at the past visits to Pakistan by British royalty.

1961: The Queen's first visit to erstwhile dominion

Queen Elizabeth, 34 at the time, undertook a royal tour of the far eastern countries in 1961, which included visits to Pakistan, India, Iran and Nepal.

Her state visit to Pakistan, which since 1956 had become a republic, lasted from February 1-16, during which she was accompanied by her husband, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, and visited Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Lahore and the northern areas of the country.

When the royal couple landed in Karachi on February 1 at 11:37am, they were greeted at the airport with a warm handshake by the then president, Mohammad Ayub Khan.

A 20-minute ceremony followed, beginning with the boom of a 21-gun royal salute. The terminal was packed with spectators eager to catch a glimpse of the royal couple.

"The Queen was wearing a chartreuse dress belted at the waist, a feather hat to match, silver grey gloves and shoes, a three-string pearl necklace, and pearl earrings. She was carrying a silver grey bag and wore a diamond brooch on the left shoulder," a Dawn report of the Queen's arrival documented at the time.

The royal couple were then given a 100-man royal salute as they stood above a carpeted dias alongside president Ayub. A navy band also played the national anthems of both countries.

The two were driven from the airport to the President's House and during the journey, they encountered cheers, music and flowers. The Queen, standing beside the president in a cream-coloured convertible Cadillac, smiled gracefully and waved back to the joyous crowds.

The royal couple stayed at the presidential residence until their departure to Peshawar on February 4.

Over the course of their stay, a number of engagements were held in Karachi in the couple's honour.

According to a programme outlined by Dawn , the first day included a visit to the Quaid's mausoleum, a visit by the Duke to Korangi Township, and a lavish state banquet by the president.

At the Mazar-i-Quaid, large crowds had gathered near the entrance and on both sides of the driveway. As the Queen approached it, white-clothed servants "quickly put on white shoe covers on the Queen's shoes before she entered the small yellow painted room containing the Mazar", reported Dawn . Once inside, the Queen laid a large floral wreath.

Meanwhile, the Duke surveyed the Korangi Township in a visit that spanned 50 minutes. He was shown around the colony, the health centre, primary school and market area.

"At the market, the Duke was attracted by an ordinary broom used in a Pakistani household and a ' deg '. He picked up the broom and peeped into the ' deg '," a Dawn report said of the visit.

That evening, at the state banquet, the Queen described Pakistan as "one of the powers in the world of Islam", and "one of the great nations in the Commonwealth". Pakistan "thus finds herself in a unique position", she said, expressing her faith that Pakistan's "contribution to international understanding will increase from year to year".

The next day's events included a naval review at the Pakistan Navy Dockyard, a citizens' reception at the Frere Hall Gardens, interaction with selected members of the press, and a dinner by the commonwealth high commissioners at Runnymede Road in Clifton.

At the Frere Hall reception attended by 5,000 cheering citizens on February 2, the Queen paid tribute to the city's residents for having faced and solved so many problems with courage, recognising that many of the people were new to the city and had arrived with nothing but their hands to work.

"That Karachi survived this invasion, kept going, and finally absorbed it in such arduous and remarkable circumstances, is one of Pakistan's most striking achievements," she said.

She paused for a moment after the speech and then suddenly said: "Aap hazraat ka bahut bahut shukria."

Her words in Urdu were met with a prolonged burst of applause by the crowd. Ayub stood up and clapped, laughing heartily.

Other activities the royal couple engaged in included a ladies reception, interaction with newsmen, a duck hunt (that saw Ayub dispensing with all formality with the Duke and bagging the majority number of ducks), and meetings with a delegation of Ismailis and a group of West Pakistan princes.

Soon after their arrival in Peshawar on February 4, the couple flew to Quetta, which they were originally scheduled to visit after Karachi. The trip had been put off due to reports of heavy snowfall but was reconsidered once the weather cleared.

From the airport, the Queen and the Duke were driven to the Quetta Residency. The entire seven-mile route was decked in buntings with the Union Jack and Pakistan flag displayed at short intervals and 30,000 people waving at the royal visitors.

Once at the Residency, the Queen planted a pine sapling, the same place where her grandfather King George V had planted a chinar sapling, 56 years before her visit.

During their brief visit to the Balochistan capital — around six hours — the Queen and the Duke were also presented with two sheep each by Sardar Mohammad Khan Jogezai, a senior Pathan leader, and Sardar Khair Bux Khan Marri, a senior Baloch leader. The gesture was a long-held custom reflecting affection for distinguished guests.

The royal couple also visited the Quetta Staff College, where they had coffee with the students and officers in the college mess.

The Queen and the Duke then flew back to Peshawar that evening.

In Peshawar, the Queen and the Duke were invited to a banquet at the Government House by Malik Amir Mohammad Khan, the governor of then West Pakistan, which was attended by 80 prominent members of society.

The next morning the royal couple attended a church service at St John’s Church, the oldest in the region. The Queen, wearing a pink dress and matching hat, was welcomed by the Assistant Bishop of Lahore, the Vicar of Peshawar, and other clergymen.

During the service, the Duke read a lesson from the New Testament after which a sermon by the Assistant Bishop of Lahore was delivered.

The day after was described by Dawn as the busiest of the tour; it saw the Queen pay a visit to the Peshawar University, Khyber Pass, Pak-Afghan border point Torkham, and Landi Kotal.

On the way to Landi Kotal, the Queen stopped at some places to have a close look at the insignia of British regiment — inscribed on barren rocks by soldiers during their stay there.

She lunched at the mess of Khyber Rifles and later visited the multipurpose Warsak dam.

The royal couple enjoyed a weekend of festivities in Lahore as they attended a reception and a service at the Lahore Cathedral; took part in a fair; and visited the tomb of Allama Iqbal, the Lahore Fort, the Shalimar Gardens as well as the Badshahi Mosque. A grand dinner by the Army was also held in their honour.

There was even a "torchlit tattoo" performance by the West Pakistan Rangers as well as fireworks in the walled city. Prince Philip was also treated to a game of polo and the two took part in the national horse show, a nod to the Queen’s love for horses and the Duke's interest in polo.

1991: Princess Diana's first visit

Lady Diana, the Princess of Wales, arrived in Pakistan on her first official solo tour on September 23, 1991. She was described by Andrew Morton, who wrote her biography, as having a lot riding on the four-day visit.

“Before she left I remember her saying how nervous she was, knowing that some courtiers inside the Palace were keen to see her fall flat on her face,” a report by Royal Central quoted him as saying.

During the course of her visit, she met and dined with then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who had hosted a banquet in her honour at Prime Minister House.

She expressed hope that the close ties between Britain and Pakistan "will continue to flourish" and expressed happiness on behalf of Britain for Pakistan having joined the Commonwealth after an absence of 17 years.

Her engagements included a visit to a family welfare centre in the Noorpurshahan village adjacent to Islamabad, and a trip to the All Pakistan Women Association (APWA) complex. She also met 49 young scholars who had studied in Britain on scholarships funded by both British and Pakistan governments at a simple function held at Daman-i-Koh.

The Princess called on the then president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, with whom she discussed matters of mutual interest. Later, he along with his wife hosted a dinner in her honour at the Aiwan-i-Sadar.

In a busy six-hour visit to Lahore, she visited the Kinnaird College straight from the airport, followed by a visit to the century-old King Edward Medical College. She also visited the Millat Tractor Factory, where she inaugurated a new assembly plant, the mazar of Allama Iqbal, Badshahi Mosque and Lahore Fort.

Her next stop was Chitral where she saw a programme of traditional folk dances, including the famous Kafir Kalash. She attended a reception hosted in her honour by the chief minister.

She also visited the Khyber Pass and interacted with members of the Khyber Rifles and the Chitral Scouts.

Later, she paid a visit to the Chitral Fort, where she met the former Mehtar (ruler), Prince Saiful Mulk Nasir, before returning to Islamabad.

1996: The 'queen of hearts' helps raise funds for Shaukat Khanum

The princess's subsequent visit was from February 20-22, 1996, undertaken on Imran Khan's invitation to help raise funds for Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital. Diana was accompanied by Lady Annabel Goldsmith, the mother of Khan's wife at the time, Jemima Khan, and Jemima's cousin Cosima Somerset.

She flew into Islamabad on the eve of February 20 aboard a private plane. She was received at the airport by Khan and Jemima.

That evening she had dinner at a restaurant in Lahore's Gulberg area with Khan's family and close friends.

The next day, Diana visited the hospital to oversee its facilities and engage with the doctors and patients there. She also attended an Eid Milan party at the hospital.

Of her time at the hospital, Dawn reported: "A variety show had been arranged at the Eid Milan party where children suffering from cancer presented comic skits, jokes and danced to the tunes of popular songs. Lady Diana showed a lot of affection and love for the children in distress.

"She took some children in her lap and sat caressing them. She also gave children sweetmeats and waved and smiled to those sitting at a distance from her. Later, she distributed gifts among them."

She then visited a new departmental store in Lahore's Gulberg area, before attending a fundraising dinner. The event was reported to have secured a hefty sum of Rs2.5 million.

According to Kensington Palace, her official residence, the visit was part of her continuing interest and concern for the sick and those neglected by society.

She remained a guest of Imran Khan's during her stay. Owing to the personal nature of her visit, she did not attend any official function. She was, however, provided security by the government.

At the time, her visit sparked speculations that it was meant as a snub to the then prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, and her government for not giving enough time on air to Imran Khan.

However, a hospital statement issued said: "Lady Diana has agreed on a private visit to the hospital to meet children with cancer and lend her support to the charity. There's absolutely no political aspect to her visit and the media attempt to create a scandal is both unfair and unwarranted."

1997: Diana's final visit

Lady Diana arrived in Pakistan on her third visit in May 1997 with the aim of launching an endowment fund appeal for Imran Khan's cancer hospital and research centre.

She landed in Lahore on the morning of May 22, having travelled with Khan's wife Jemima and their son Suleman Isa Khan. They were greeted at the airport by then Punjab education minister Chaudhry Mohammad Iqbal and Khan.

She was driven to Khan's Zaman Park residence, where she stayed throughout her visit. That afternoon, a lunch was hosted by the hospital management where some 55 senior doctors and officials were in attendance.

The appeal was launched at a ceremony the next evening presided over by the chief minister of Punjab at the time, Shahbaz Sharif. The event was followed by a fundraising dinner.

Diana left for London the day after, in what marked her final and briefest visit to Pakistan. She died in a car crash in Paris just three months later.

1997: Queen's second visit coincides with Pakistan's golden jubilee

The Queen next visited Pakistan 36 years later, when Sardar Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari was president and Nawaz Sharif was the prime minister, and the country was celebrating 50 years of independence.

This time, her visit was much shorter — six days — beginning on October 7. She was again accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip.

According to a royal press release at the time, the couple arrived at Chaklala, Islamabad, where a 21-gun salute was sounded as they emerged from the plane. The Queen and the Duke were received by the then foreign minister, Gohar Ayub Khan.

They were driven to the Aiwan-i-Sadar where they were welcomed by president Leghari and inspected a guard of honour.

At midday, she met prime minister Nawaz Sharif at his residence.

The Queen and the Duke that day visited the Shah Faisal Mosque. "During her visit, the Queen kept her hat covered with an off-white dupatta as a sign of respect while going round it," wrote Dawn .

She also opened a new commercial block at the British High Commission, "a manifestation of the desire of the British government to further promote its commercial and economic relations with Pakistan", according to the Queen's Press Secretary, Geoffrey Crawford, who briefed Pakistani and foreign newsmen a day in advance of their arrival.

Later in the day, the royal couple attended a reception for media representatives at the High Commission.

That evening, the president hosted a royal banquet at the Presidential Palace for the Queen and the Duke. An investiture ceremony was also held during which the Queen was conferred the highest civil award, Nishan-i-Pakistan, and the Duke was awarded the Nishan-i-Imtiaz.

"The Nishan-i-Pakistan has been given in recognition of Queen Elizabeth's outstanding contribution to the consolidation of linkages between Pakistan and Britain and her commitment to the causes confronting the developing countries of the Commonwealth," reported Dawn at the time.

Leghari and Sharif were also awarded in turn with the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (GCMG), respectively.

It was observed at the time that the banquet had provided a rare opportunity for political rivals to sit together. Benazir Bhutto, whose government had been dismissed, also turned up as it was she who had as premier extended the invitation to the Queen to visit Pakistan.

Speaking at the banquet, Queen Elizabeth said Pakistan and the United Kingdom enjoyed a truly rich relationship, founded on a myriad of personal as well as institutional commitments. "I am confident in its future, and wish Pakistan well in its next fifty years."

She also paid tribute to Princess Diana's humanitarian work during her visits to Pakistan and thanked the people for their sympathetic response to her death.

The highlight of the visit came the following day, when Queen Elizabeth addressed a joint session of the National Assembly and the Senate.

What is more interesting, in the backdrop of current tensions between India and Pakistan, is that the Queen at the time had called for renewed efforts between the two countries to end "historical disagreements". She had stressed that with the lifting of barriers between the two largest nations of the sub-continent, the region's real potential would unleash.

"It brings friends of both countries only pleasure to see the commitment both have made this year to solve contentious issues through talks. Reconciliation will take time but the effort must be made," the Queen said in her address to the joint session of parliament.

The royal couple, the same day, also opened a British Council exhibition "Traditions of Respect" (on the influence of Islam in the West) at the Convention Centre in Islamabad. They gave a luncheon at the British High Commissioner's residence and spent the afternoon visiting the Rawalpindi Cricket Club, where they met the Pakistani and South African Test teams and watched part of the match, according to the Court Circular issued at the time.

Part of their activities also included meeting war veterans, laying a wreath at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, attending a reception in the gardens of the British High Commissioner's residence, and watching "Beat Retreat by the Royal Marine Band".

Over the course of their visit, the royal couple also visited Karachi where they attended a reception at the Governor House, followed by a lunch hosted by the governor of Sindh. The Queen inaugurated a British Trade Exhibition at a local hotel and the Duke opened a $450 million ICI plant at Port Bin Qasim.

"I feel at home in Karachi as we share the same culture and understand each other well," the Queen said.

After the laying of wreaths at the Quaid's mausoleum, the two departed for Lahore, where they were hosted by prime minister Sharif, who gave a grand banquet in their honour at the Lahore Fort.

The next day, the Queen visited the National College of Arts in Lahore where she saw the miniature art studio and sculpture studio. The NCA students also put on a string puppet show on the occasion.

The Queen paid a visit to the Kim's Gun monument after which the Bishop of Raiwind received her at Christ Church school of Pakistan.

A luncheon in her honour was hosted by the Punjab governor. She also paid a visit to the British Council where she met with people from different walks of life.

The Queen and the Duke then flew back to Islamabad. Before their visit to Pakistan concluded, the Duke was pictured visiting Aga Khan school in Chitral's Bilphok area.

2006: Prince of Wales visits quake-hit Pakistan

Charles, the Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla Parker, the Duchess of Cornwall, were the next British royals to tour Pakistan, from October 29-November 3 in 2006.

Upon their arrival at the Chaklala Airbase, the royal couple was welcomed by the then federal minister for women's development and youth affairs, Sumaira Malik, along with Pakistan’s High Commissioner to UK Dr Maleeha Lodhi, UK High Commissioner to Pakistan Mark Lyall Grant and other senior officials.

The two were driven straight to Punjab House where they were lodged during their stay in Islamabad.

The next day's engagements included a meeting with then president Pervez Musharraf and his wife Sehba Musharraf at the presidency. The royal couple also met with the then prime minister Shaukat Aziz and his wife Rukhsana Aziz at the prime minister's residence.

Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla also attended the launch of the Prince’s Youth Business International (YBI) scheme for Pakistan — which aimed to help disadvantaged young people in Pakistan become entrepreneurs — held at the prime minister's residence. There, the couple interacted with some youth, saw local products and listened to pop songs in a performance by singers Hadiqa Kiani and Shehzad Roy.

As they went along viewing the exhibition stalls set up, the royal couple were presented with gifts including a chadar , a Chitrali wool cap and a model of a decorated truck.

“For my wife and I, it really is greatest possible joy to be here with you in Pakistan,” said the Prince on the occasion. “It has taken me very nearly 58 years to reach you and it’s not from want of trying, I can tell you.”

That evening, the couple attended a reception hosted by the British High Commissioner at the time, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, at the prime minister's residence.

A visit to Peshawar due to take place the next day, October 31, was cancelled owing to security concerns following a blast in Bajaur.

The royal couple instead visited the Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) in Rawalpindi where the Prince spoke about the urgent need to acknowledge the importance of understanding among faiths. “Religion does not teach us to harbour enmity amongst us,” he said at the time.

The two also visited the Taxila World Heritage Site.

The next day, on November 1, the two visited Patika, a village in Muzaffarabad struck by the earthquake that hit Pakistan the year before.

The Prince and the Duchess saw firsthand the reconstruction and aid work in progress in and around the town, being overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross and local authorities.

Hundreds of townsfolk rushed to welcome the royal couple as they walked through the bazaar.

They visited a bridge which was rebuilt with financial assistance by Britain. The couple also visited a government high school which had been destroyed by the quake and whose 103 students and three teachers had been killed.

Later, the two went to a veterinary hospital established by The Brooke, a charity based in the UK.

That evening, they attended a banquet hosted by Musharraf and his wife at the presidency.

The following day, the royal couple visited Lahore, where they laid a wreath at the tomb of Allama Iqbal and also went to the Badshahi Mosque. The royal couple then visited the Gurdwara of Arjan Dev and the Samadhi of Maharaja Ranjit Singh where they talked to members of the Sikh community.

Later in the day, they went to the Lahore Cathedral where they met Anglican community members. They were also guests at a garden reception hosted by the city's Bishop, Dr Alexander John Malik.

Dinner, that evening, was hosted by then prime minister Shaukat Aziz.

On the last day of their trip, November 3, the royal couple headed to Hunza, where they visited the Altit village to examine the development work being carried out by the Aga Khan Development Network.

"The main purpose of the visit was to explore avenues of involvement of the Prince of Wales Development Organisation in development activities in Northern Areas of Pakistan, especially in the field of preservation and restoration of historical buildings," read a Dawn report from the time.

Accompanied by the Aga Khan — who recently hosted Prince William and Kate in London — Charles and Camilla also visited the Nangtsoq village in Skardu. There, they mingled with the village folk and expressed their interest in their traditional way of living.

They got the opportunity to visit several houses and engage with local people busy in their routine tasks.

The royal couple were informed about the civilisation, customs and culture of the people of Baltistan. They also sampled some food at a Balti food stall.

In first official visit, British royal couple 'look forward to build a lasting friendship' with Pakistan

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New Delhi:   In October 1961, Queen Elizabeth II made her maiden visit to India — a 23- day royal itinerary packed with receptions of costume parades, dance performances, children’s rallies, visits to industrial enterprises and factories, institutes of arts and sciences, and more.

In their book, ‘Facets of Contemporary History ‘, authors M. Thilakavathy and ‎R.K. Maya said India was in “celebrity fever” in anticipation of the visit, with old roads being renovated, people flocking to the big cities to catch a glimpse of the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip.

Over the course of her reign, she made three state visits to India — 1961, 1983, and 1997 — which were usually part of a larger tour to the region and included trips to countries like Pakistan and Nepal.

She often had kind words to offer such as noting the “warmth and hospitality of the Indian people” and referring to Pakistan as “one of the powers in the world of Islam” .

However, the Queen’s visits weren’t without their share of controversies — her remarks about the Kashmir issue during her 1997 visit to India and Pakistan caused quite a stir and created further friction between the crown and the then Tony Blair-led UK government.

The tail-end of the Queen’s life was marked by scandals closer home — most notably, the claims of racism made by Meghan Markle, a former American actress married to Elizbeth’s grandson, Prince Harry, and the sexual assault allegations against her son, Prince Andrew.   

In an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey last March, Markle, the first person of colour to be married into the royal family, made allegations about the racism she faced in the family after she married Harry.  

A brief response from Buckingham Palace shortly after the interview said the Queen intended to deal with what had become arguably one of the biggest crises of her reign “privately”.

Award-winning journalist Tina Brown notes in her latest book The Palace Papers  that after the death of Princess Diana — the former wife of the Queen’s son Prince Charles, and mother to Princes William and Harry — in a car crash in 1997, the Queen was opposed to the idea of “explosive celebrity” within the royal family.

“Ever since the death of Diana in 1997, the Queen had made it clear to all those who advised her that it could never happen again — the ‘it’ being Diana’s explosive celebrity, the problem of the British monarchy being upstaged, outshone, drowned out by one overweening, dangerously popular member of the family other than the Queen or the heir to the throne,” Brown wrote. 

It wasn’t just the scandal involving Prince Harry and Meghan Markle that the Queen had to contend with in recent times. There have been sexual assault allegations against her other son, Prince Andrew, and his alleged association with convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell .

In January, the Queen took steps to strip her son of his royal titles as he faced a sexual abuse lawsuit. A month later, the lawsuit ended in a settlement, sparing the royal family the humiliation of a trial.

Also Read: There are many reasons why Rishi Sunak lost UK PM chair. But race isn’t the main one

1997 visit to India, Pakistan

The Queen’s trip to India and Pakistan in October 1997 was the first since the death of Princess Diana. But it had been scheduled ahead of time as it sought to celebrate 50 years of independence for both countries.

In 1997 , when in Pakistan, the Queen had allegedly urged New Delhi and Islamabad to settle their long-standing differences over the Kashmir issue — a statement that did not go over well with either country.

Britain’s then-foreign secretary Robin Cook, who had accompanied the Queen on the tour, made matters worse when, during a private meeting with Pakistan’s then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he offered to mediate a solution.

“The Indian press objected to Cook’s remarks, and Indian Prime Minister I.K. Gujral (Inder Kumar Gujral) was quoted as dismissing Britain as a ‘third-rate power’ that should know better than to interfere in a bilateral dispute,” noted a Washington Post report at the time.

The same year, the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, visited India. While paying their respects at the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar, Prince Philip reportedly “caused a stir” when he objected to a sign indicating that 2,000 Indians had been killed in the massacre. He instead asserted that Britain reported the deaths of only 379 people.

‘Chilly’ relations with Tony Blair government

The Queen’s October 1997 visit to India and Pakistan created trouble for the Tony Blair-led UK government at home, which had come to power just four months after Princess Diana’s death in August that year.

After the Queen’s remarks about the Kashmir issue on her 1997 visit to Pakistan, Blair ordered his cabinet to undertake “a full-scale damage-control mission” to shift focus on the successes of the queen’s visit.

Allegations of a “ hidden agenda ” behind the Queen’s visit to India and Pakistan came at a sensitive time for Blair, just over a week before he was slated to meet his Indian counterpart, Gujral, on the sidelines of the Commonwealth summit in Edinburgh.

According to Brown, Blair’s royal relations had got off to “a chilly start” with his government’s decision earlier in the year to retire the royal yacht Britannia, which had been a source of much happiness for the royal family.

“In December 1997, at the ship’s decommissioning ceremony, the Queen shed a rare tear. Britannia represented not only memories of grand and glamorous state visits but also some of her happiest times with the family…. It was the only way she could holiday privately,” wrote Brown.

Despite some tensions, Blair’s government did well to quell media scrutiny of the Queen after Prince Diana’s death — a fact that, according to historian Dominic Sandbrook, rankled the Queen. 

“Nobody likes to be in someone else’s debt and I think the Queen probably did feel, simultaneously, that he had saved her, but, at the same time, she didn’t like the fact that he’d done it,” said Sandbrook last year.

Other historians like Piers Brendon have also said there was resentment towards Blair for ‘intruding’ into the royal family’s affairs.

Despite this, Blair was knighted with the highest possible ranking — Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter — in January this year.  

In a statement issued by him following the Queen’s death, Blair said: “We have lost not just our monarch but the matriarch of our nation”. 

(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)

Also Read: ‘My ancestors ruled Hindustan through force & fear. Now others will’ – Bahadur Shah after 1857

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The Royal Watcher

Royal visits to pakistan.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be embarking on their Official Visit to Pakistan tomorrow, described as “the most complex tour undertaken by The Duke and Duchess to date, given the logistical and security considerations”, so we are taking a look at the previous Royal Visits to Pakistan. At the time of her succession in 1952, the Queen was became the Sovereign of the then Dominion of Pakistan, which she remained until 1956, when the country became a Republic, and unlike other Commonwealth Countries, it has only received a handful of Royal visits in the 72 years since Independence. As a Pakistani Royal Commentator, I’m really excited about this visit and how it celebrate the deep links between the UK and Pakistan.

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Earlier British Royal visits to the territories now a part of Pakistan, then known as British India, include notable visits from the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) in 1875, the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1905-06 , King George V and Queen Mary in 1911, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) in 1920, and visits from the last Viceroy Lord Mountbatten , a member of the extended Royal Family, who granted Independence to the nation on behalf of the King in 1947.

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The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh first visited Pakistan on their massive tour of South Asia in 1961, visiting the cities of Karachi, Peshawar, Lahore, and Dhaka. Click HERE to learn more about the visit. She also hosted the President on a Return Visit in 1966 .

The Princess Royal visited Pakistan on an official visit in 1986, visiting an Afghan refugee camp and meeting tribal leaders at the Khyber Pass.

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The Princess of Wales undertook an official visit (her first solo one) to Pakistan in 1991, HERE , returning in 1996 and 1997 in connection with the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, built by her friend, the current Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, HERE .

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The Queen and Duke undertook another State Visit to Pakistan in 1997, months after the death of the Princess, during which they visited Islamabad and Lahore, more HERE .

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The most recent Royal Visit to Pakistan was in 2006, when the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visited the country on an Official Visit, and to learn about the devastating impacts of the 2005 Hurricane.

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clock This article was published more than  26 years ago

A ROYAL TRIP -- AND STUMBLE, AND GAFFE . . .

LONDON, OCT. 17 -- Queen Elizabeth II's royal tour of India and Pakistan has turned into a royal mess back home.

The queen's visit, designed to help celebrate 50 years of independence for both countries, was intended to be a triumph for a monarchy still coming to terms with pressures to modernize. Instead it has produced a series of gaffes, snubs, misunderstandings and now, inevitably, finger-pointing.

For the most part, the queen has been spared direct criticism. Instead, it has been aimed at Britain's foreign secretary, Robin Cook. With the situation deteriorating Thursday, Prime Minister Tony Blair ordered his cabinet to undertake a full-scale damage-control mission designed to highlight the successes of the queen's visit.

Then this morning, after reports of tension between the British government and the royal family over the handling of the trip, a Buckingham Palace official issued a highly unusual statement stressing that the queen believed the trip was going swimmingly.

"We have seen media reports from London suggesting that the queen is unhappy with the government's handling of arrangements for the state visit to India, which was at the invitation of the government of India," said the statement issued by an official in the queen's traveling party. "That is not the case. The queen has been entirely satisfied with the advice from the foreign secretary and his officials in the preparations leading up to the visit and during the visit itself."

The palace's statement came a day after the latest embarrassment of the queen's two-week trip, which ends Saturday. She had intended to deliver a speech at a banquet Thursday in Madras but at the last minute was informed by the Indian government that she already had given one speech and that protocol prevented her from delivering a second.

British government officials quickly tried to explain away the misunderstanding by saying she was only going to give a toast and that if the Indian government didn't think it was appropriate, that was fine with the queen. Cook dismissed the press coverage of the snub as "a tempest in a toast cup."

The trip started innocently enough. The queen attempted to show off her compassionate side, praised the late Princess Diana's work with the poor and was photographed wearing thick, blue socks as she entered the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. She even got sympathetic coverage when she declared that the world was "changing almost too fast for its inhabitants, at least for us older ones."

But in Islamabad she gently urged India and Pakistan to settle their long-standing differences over the border state of Kashmir and quickly was accused of meddling where she did not belong. Cook compounded the problem when, in a private meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he suggested he stood ready to help mediate a solution.

The Indian press objected to Cook's remarks, and Indian Prime Minister I.K. Gujral was quoted as dismissing Britain as a "third-rate power" that should know better than to interfere in a bilateral dispute.

The prime minister's office then dismissed the newspaper account, saying there was "no foundation" to the report, and soon afterward, both the Indian and British governments issued statements saying all was well.

The queen also visited Amritsar, site of a 1919 massacre of Indians protesting British internment, and while she performed her role according to script, her husband, Prince Philip, caused a stir when he told his hosts that a sign indicating that 2,000 Indians had been killed was wrong. Britain asserts that 379 protesters died in the massacre.

Last summer, leaders of a Sikh political party in the state of Punjab, where Amritsar is located, and Hindu nationalists demanded that the queen apologize for the massacre and threatened protests if she did not.

The British government, however, consistently rebuffed demands for an apology and decided on a wreath-laying at the massacre site as an alternate response to Indian sentiments. "Her Majesty does not go around the world making apologies," an unidentified British official was quoted as saying in a news service report. CAPTION: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was greeted by dancers at the Kalalshetra Foundation in Madras, India, on Thursday.

A Look Back at Queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana, and Other Royals on Their Tours of Pakistan

The British monarch and her family have been visiting the country for decades.

Queen Elizabeth waved to the crowds as she rode in a convertible through the streets of Karachi.

Wearing a glittering tiara, Queen Elizabeth arrived to a luncheon given by the Governor of Peshawar.

The Queen was introduced to President Muhammad Ayub Khan in Lahore, Pakistan.

Queen Elizabeth, wearing a gorgeous ball gown, and Prince Philip arrived at a gala in Lahore.

Queen Elizabeth shook hands with members of Pakistan's cricket team after their game against England.

When Princess Diana visited Pakistan by herself in 1991, she wore a striking green dress, a sheer floral head covering, and oversized sunglasses at the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan.

The Princess held two young patients from Imran Khan's cancer hospital in Lahore, Pakistan.

Princess Diana looked stunning in a soft pink beaded Catherine Walker gown, which she paired with pearl earrings at a reception in her honor.

Diana posed with the women of Islamabad, who wore their brightly-colored dresses for the occasion.

Diana wore a traditional garland around her neck and held a bouquet at the Norpoor Family Welfare Centre in Islamabad.

The Queen returned to Pakistan in 1997, and wore a bright yellow polka-dotted dress as she stood with Pakistani leaders at the Shah Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.

The Queen went on a tour of the Shah Faisal Mosque, wearing a scarf over her hat and stocking feet as a sign of respect.

Queen Elizabeth spoke at a banquet hosted by the President of Pakistan Farooq Leghari. In her speech, she reflected on the tragic death of Princess Diana.

Local school girls threw flower petals as Queen Elizabeth visited their school.

The Queen looked lovely in blush as she planted trees in Islamabad.

On their 2006 visit, Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla met with staff and students at Fatima Jinnah University, an all-women's school in Islamabad.

This image shows Duchess Camila talking with a student at Fatima Jinnah.

Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla posed while touring Jaulian, a World Heritage archaeological site in Taxila.

The royals visited historic Badshahi Mosque in Lahore. Camilla wore a headscarf and long pants in respect of the dress code.

The Duchess of Cornwall chose a royal blue quilted jacket for the presidential banquet in Islamabad.

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Diana’s visits to Pakistan

Pakistan held a special place in Diana, Princess of Wales’s heart, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will follow in her footsteps when they travel to the country this autumn. Ahead of the Cambridges’ tour in October, we’re taking a look at the visits made by Diana to Pakistan through the 1990s.

This visit marked an important milestone for the Princess of Wales as it was her first official solo tour, and she was determined to prove her worth in the family. Author Andrew Morton said in a recent issue of Hello ! that Diana had a lot riding on that particular tour, making her first trip to Pakistan a much different one than the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge can expect.

“While Prince William and Kate can rely on one another during the tour, Diana went solo at the time when her marriage to the Prince of Wales was truly on the skids,” Morton said. “Before she left I remember her saying how nervous she was, knowing that some courtiers inside the Palace were keen to see her fall flat on her face.”

But Diana proved them wrong, shining as she took on a range of engagements during the busy tour, ranging from a girls school and family welfare centre in Islamabad and the Badshahi Mosque and the Kinnaird College for Women in Lahore, to the Khyber Rifles and the Chitral Scouts on a visit to the Northwest Frontier.

Her bodyguard at the time, Ken Wharfe, released a book about his experiences working for the Princess, including the Pakistan tour. In it, he described the visit and the resulting media coverage as hugely positive.

“The headlines screamed that Diana had taken Pakistan by storm, that her visit had been a resounding success. The tabloids predictably hailed her vociferously as the jewel in the royal family’s crown, one of them claiming, employing a typically lame pun, that she was ‘All the Raj’. The Princess could barely contain her elation. As far as she was concerned, she had arrived as a public figure on the world stage.”

Five years later, the now-single Diana made a private two-day visit to Lahore to see her friend Imran Khan, a famous cricketer turned politician, and his then-wife, Jemima. The Cambridges will meet Khan, who is now Prime Minister of Pakistan, on their tour this year and will surely share fond memories of Diana.

Diana visited Lahore to help raise money to create the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, which was being built by Imran Khan and spent her trip visiting sick children and attending fundraising events.

But the Princess also had a personal reason for the trip. At the time, she was dating heart surgeon Dr Hasnat Khan, who was from Pakistan and a distant cousin of Imran’s. During her 1996 trip, Diana had tea with Dr Khan’s parents and Jemima later admitted that “Diana was madly in love with Hasnat Khan and wanted to marry him, even if that meant living in Pakistan.” 

His mother shared the sentiment in an interview with Pakistan’s Daily Times . “Everyone knew she wanted to marry him,” Dr Khan’s mother, Nahid, said, “but he felt that a marriage would be impossible.”

Dr Khan hated the media circus that surrounded the Princess and wanted to live a low-key life but to do so would have required the couple to move to Pakistan permanently. Taking her two sons – one of them an heir to the throne – to live in another country would never have worked, not to mention the doctor’s parents found it hard to accept a divorced non-Muslim as their son’s future wife. However, their two-year relationship continued on into the summer of 1997, shortly before Diana’s tragic accident in Paris.

In May 1997, Diana made what would be her final visit to Pakistan, officially opening the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital with the Khans. The Princess visited with patients in the hospital and attended a dinner at the Lahore Fort during her visit. But again, she also made secret visits to Hasnat Kahn’s family, and this time it was to convince them she would be a suitable wife.

“She came to visit me twice in Pakistan to help fund-raise for Imran’s hospital, but both times she also went to meet his family secretly to discuss the possibility of marriage to Hasnat,” Jemima told Vanity Fair. “She wanted to know how hard it had been for me to adapt to life in Pakistan and she wanted advice on how to deal with Pakistani men and their cultural baggage.”

In the documentary “Diana: Her Last Love,” Imran Khan shared he had private conversations with the Princess during her May visit indicating the couple were making plans to marry. She had asked him to serve as a go-between to help ease Dr Khan’s mind about the cultural differences, as Imran had married a Western woman as well.

“I had it in my mind that I was going to talk to him. At least to find out what was the reason because maybe there was some reason that she wasn’t aware of,” Khan said. “Maybe I could speak to him because having married someone from outside my culture, if there was something that could be cleared or some advice that could be given, then maybe I would be able to help.”

Sadly, the couple broke off their relationship that July. And before Imran Khan could travel to London to speak to the heart surgeon “that tragic incident took place,” he said.

Diana, Princess of Wales died just three months after her return from Pakistan. But her legacy lives on through Dr Khan, who opened a cardiac unit in Pakistan for impoverished children, fulfilling a dream the couple had talked about carrying out together.

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From Malala to young Imran Khan: Famous Pakistanis who met the late Queen Elizabeth II

Here’s a list of the late Queen’s relationship with Pakistan and its people, ever since her coronation in 1952

On September 8, 2022, UK’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II died peacefully at the age of 96 at Balmoral, her Scottish estate. Following the Majesty’s sudden demise, the world browsed through their archives to document the legacy she left behind, and took a trip down memory lane to revisit the precious time she gave to the people of the many countries she travelled to.

Likewise, social media, including world leaders, reminisced about Her Majesty’s visit to Pakistan. From attending our national assemblies and governor galas to inviting and meeting with our heroes in her home country, here’s a list of the late Queen’s relationship with Pakistan and its people, ever since her coronation in 1952. 1961

During her visit, she was also introduced to the then president, Muhammad Ayub Khan while in Lahore.

Apart from her tours, she also gave knighthood to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was in power at that time. The British monarch also met with the late Benazir Bhutto at a national assembly of Pakistan during her visit. 2013

Malala, who was accompanied by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, presented the Queen with a copy of her memoir titled I Am Malala. While giving a tribute to the Queen, the activist shared a picture of her meeting with Her Majesty on Instagram. 2019

The last of her in-person interactions with Pakistanis was when she met all team captains before the start of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) World Cup 2019. At the time, the Pakistani cricket team captain Sarfraz Ahmed met her at Buckingham Palace.

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