What to Watch on Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Trip to India, Bhutan
— -- All eyes will be on William and Kate this weekend as they embark on one of their "most ambitious and colorful tours" yet.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be leaving Prince George and Princess Charlotte at home while they represent Her Majesty's government on a seven-night trip to India and Bhutan.
No visit to India would be complete without a pilgrimage to the Taj Mahal, which will no doubt evoke memories of the late Princess Diana's visit in 1992, 24 years ago.
In what has become one of the most iconic photographs of her life, Diana sat alone at the monument of love, the Taj Mahal, while the Prince of Wales attended an event elsewhere in India.
That image, etched in the public's mind, represented the collapse of the Wales' marriage. Within the year, Prince William's parents, Princess Diana and Prince Charles, announced their separation.
The Cambridges expect to create "new memories" on their trip. Unlike William's parents, whose itineraries were largely separate, William and Kate are a couple very much in love and will see the country together.
"The Duke of Cambridge is of course aware of the huge esteem his mother, the late Princess of Wales, is held in India and he appreciates the iconic status of the images that exist of the Princess at the Taj," a Kensington Palace spokesman told ABC News.
"He feels incredibly lucky to visit a place where his mother’s memory is kept alive by so many who travel there 24 years on from her visit to the Taj," the spokesman said of Prince William.
Britain's most glamorous couple will rub shoulders with India's Bollywood stars at a glittering reception when they arrive in Mumbai.
The duke and duchess, in a show of solidarity with the Indian people, will also visit the site of the 2008 Mumbai siege at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel, one of the sites where 164 people died at the hands of an Islamic militant group based in Pakistan.
With their commitment to vulnerable children around the world, the duke and duchess will also pay a visit to one of the most impoverished slums in the world in central Mumbai. The slum was immortalized in the 2008 film "Slumdog Millionaire."
The future king and his wife will then head to New Delhi where highlights include a trip to the location where Mahatma Gandhi spent the last days of his life. They will attend a garden party celebrating the Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday, where Prince William will deliver a speech honoring his grandmother
The couple will also lay a wreath at India Gate, a war memorial situated on the Rajpath in New Delhi.
Next up, Prince William and Kate will head to Kaziranga National Park in the state of Assam, which houses two-thirds of the world's population of one horned rhinoceroses.
William has been an outspoken proponent of protecting the world's most endangered and precious species and the couple will draw attention to the fragile environment while there. Local rangers will take Prince William and Kate on a game drive highlighting the park's anti-poaching efforts.
The royal couple will also pay a visit to Elephant Family, a charity founded by Mark Shand, the late brother of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Shand died in an accident in New York in 2014.
On the morning of April 14, the duke and duchess head to one of the most beautiful and secretive kingdoms in the world, Bhutan.
They will have a private audience at Lingkana Palace with Bhutan's King Jigme and Queen Jetsun. Bhutan's king and queen are often referred to as the "William and Kate of the Himalayas."
No doubt the two royal couples will have plenty to discuss as King Jigme and Queen Jetsun are parents to a newborn son.
In addition to their palace meeting, William and Kate will also participate in a demonstration of archery, Bhutan's national sport, and interact with the children of Bhutan.
The following day they will make a six-hour trek to one of the most sacred Buddhist temples in the world, the Paro Taktsang Tiger’s Nest monastery, which dates back to 1692.
