The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were pictured holding hands and lovingly poking at each other during their trip to Nepal.
Prince Edward and his wife Sophie toured the Godawari National Botanic Garden on the outskirts of Kathmandu on the second day of their official royal tour of the Himalayan nation.
They held hands as they went down a flight of stone stairs after visiting the site’s orchid house, surrounded by views of the Kathmandu Valley.
The couple, both 60, had earlier planted a magnolia tree just metres from a pair planted by the late Queen and Prince Philip in 1986.
Edward commented on his parents’ work, saying: “Gosh, they’ve done very, very well.”
The duchess encouraged her husband as he picked up a spade and filled in the hole for the new tree, saying: “Keep going, darling.”
The pair both laughed as Edward said: “That’s the best bit of exercise I’ve had in ages.”
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Sophie expressed concern at the amount of waste left behind by climbers of Nepal’s most famous landmark, Mount Everest, as she asked whether any of the money paid by them to visit the site could be “earmarked for dealing with some of the issues”.
She said: “People leave everything behind and it has a huge impact.”
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The couple also met the seven finalists of the UK-funded Hindu Kush Himalaya Innovation Challenge for Entrepreneurs, before flying to the lakeside city of Pokhara, where they visited the Gurkha Welfare Trust’s welfare centre and met elderly veterans and widows supported by the charity.
Ash Kamari Tamang, a 104-year-old resident, was among those who talked to the royals. She moved to the centre in 2011 after the trust stepped in when she was struggling to care for herself.
Her husband enlisted in the Gurkhas in 1943 and served with the British Army brigade in Italy before his battalion was disbanded in 1945, and he returned to Nepal and became a farmer. The trust provided him with a pension until died in 2006.
The duke asked if the centre was looking after her well, to which she responded: “They must be doing a very good job.”
The royal couple also spoke to 99-year-old Burma war veteran Bar Bahadur Gurung, who suffered a debilitating hand injury when a Japanese soldier cut his finger with a sword.
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After hearing his story, the duke told Mr Gurung: “Thank you for what you did. We appreciate it.”
After a group photograph, Edward said to the veterans and widows who had gathered: “Thank you for what you and your husbands did.”
Speaking to the charity’s staff, he added: “And thank you for everything that you do.”
It wasn’t until 2007 that retiring Gurkhas, or those who had retired since July 1997, were able to enter the UK wider armed forces pension scheme. Before that, some received a pension but it was at a much lower rate and many did not receive a pension at all.
