Tri-Service

Prince Harry To Visit Nepal For First Time

Prince Harry is to make his first official visit to Nepal this spring, it's been announced.

Harry has long wanted to visit Nepal, largely due to his admiration and respect for the Gurkha troops he served with in Afghanistan.

He is also keen to see how the country's rebuilding effort is progressing following the devastating earthquake in April last year.

Kensington Palace said in a statement: "The visit is being undertaken at the request of Her Majesty's Government and will be the first time Prince Harry has visited the country."

Prince Harry served with Gurkha soldiers in Afghanistan

The last members of the Royal Family to tour Nepal were the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Royal in November 2000.

Harry, who left the Army last summer after 10 years as an officer, served two tours in Afghanistan and during his first worked as a forward air controller from 2007-08.

One of the highlights of this tour for the Prince was the chance to live and work with a unit of Gurkhas, soldiers from Nepal famed for their fighting prowess.

Within days of arriving, he seized the chance to join members of the legendary Himalayan force, who wield their famous machete-like "kukri" knives, at Forward Operating Base Delhi in Helmand Province. Harry said at the time:

"When you know you are with the Gurkhas, I think there's no safer place to be, really."

"They're all armed with kukris, so if they run out of ammunition they will charge you with their 'massive swords', as the enemy call them."

His family have long-standing links with the famous Nepalese force who serve the British Crown.

The Prince of Wales is Colonel in Chief of the Royal Gurkha Rifles and during investiture ceremonies, when honours from Knighthoods to MBEs are awarded, the Queen is accompanied by two Gurkha orderly officers, a tradition begun by Queen Victoria in 1876.

Nearly 9,000 people were killed during the earthquake and aftershocks that struck Nepal last year and almost a million houses and buildings were damaged.

Hundreds of thousands are still homeless, living in tents and huts, and face harsh winter weather in Nepal's mountain villages.

British Army Gurkhas in Nepal after the earthquakes

In December the Nepalese parliament approved laws allowing the government to spend billions of dollars pledged by foreign donors on home reconstruction.

But it has been criticised for delays to the new laws and the formation of a reconstruction authority because of disagreements among political parties about who would head the agency.

The country has also been busy adopting a new constitution, dealing with ethnic protests, coping with severe fuel shortages and electing a new government.

Details about Harry's itinerary in Nepal are expected to be released at a later date.