William And Kate’s Plane Forced To Emergency Land
It isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Prince William and Kate Middleton who are on a royal tour to Pakistan. The royal couple met with trouble during the fourth day of their tour as their plane was forced to make an emergency landing.
William and Kate were supposed to land in Islamabad, but due to a storm, they had a change in plans and stayed in the air for over two hours for what should have been a 25-minute journey. After the aircraft was prevented from landing at the Pakistani Royal Air Force base and a commercial airport, they had to turn back.
Prince William, who has experience working as an air ambulance pilot, asked travelling media if they were all okay after the heavy turbulence. Chris Ship, who was on the plane with the couple wrote on Twitter: “I was flying!”-he writes- “After shaking around in the air, the RAF Voyager used for the #royalvisitPakistan turned around and has just landed back in Lahore (where we started),” he wrote on Twitter.
Royal reporter Simon Perry also wrote about it on his own account. “Phew. Landed! But in Lahore. A terrifying electrical storm hit as we tried to land at Islamabad. Lightning seemed to be crashing around the right-wing. Despite the best efforts of the pilot William and Kate’s RAF Voyager plane we couldn’t land there.”
Before all this transpired, William and Kate made a visit to a government-run school in Islamabad, where they got the chance to meet and talk with a group of teenagers about what they aspired to become in the future. The couple also took part in a cricket tournament in Lahore, and afterwards, they paid an important visit to Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, the very same hospital that was visited by Prince William’s late mother, Princess Diana, back in 1996.
This visit to Pakistan comes after a request from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was made to William and Kate, Kensington Palace revealed in a statement earlier in the month: “Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will undertake an official visit to Pakistan between Monday 14th and Friday 18th October, at the request of The Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
This is Their Royal Highnesses’ first official visit to Pakistan. “Whilst The Duke and Duchess’s programme will pay respect to the historical relationship between Britain and Pakistan, it will largely focus on showcasing Pakistan as it is today – a dynamic, aspirational and forward-looking nation.
From the modern leafy capital Islamabad to the vibrant city of Lahore, the mountainous countryside in the North, and the rugged border regions to the West, the visit will span over 1000km, and will take in Pakistan’s rich culture, its diverse communities, and its beautiful landscapes.”