Prince William and Kate are visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra in the last leg of their week long India-Bhutan trip.
Highlights
- Paramilitary personnel, sniffer dogs deployed around the monument
- Taj Mahal is the final stop in the week-long trip for the royal couple
- Princess Diana was photographed at the Taj Mahal in 1992
Prince William and
his wife Kate are visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra,
the monument of love that carries poignant echoes for Britain's royal family.
The
Taj Mahal holds a special significance for the young royals, with Kensington Palace saying Prince William feels "incredibly lucky" to visit a site where his mother's memory is so alive.
When Princess Diana was photographed sitting alone outside the Taj in 1992, it sparked much media speculation and later became a symbol of her failing marriage.
Princess Diana was photographed sitting alone outside the monument of love on February 11, 1992.
The Agra visit comes at the end of a whirlwind week that saw the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge feed baby rhinos in Assam and trek to a
mountain monastery in Bhutan -- retracing the footsteps of Prince Charles.
Waiting for them in Agra is a 73-year-old fan whose family memories stretch back even further, to the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 1961.
"I have been dreaming of meeting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ever since I got to know they would be coming to the Taj," Surendra Sharma told AFP.
Mr Sharma's late uncle Kailash Nath Sharma, a keen photographer whose studio in the city is still thriving, took several black-and-white pictures of the Queen and Prince Philip.
Photographs of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II taken by the late Kailash Nath Sharma in Agra. (AFP Photo)
In one, the Queen is shown dressed in an elegant overcoat and a knee-length dress, sitting next to her husband in an open-top car.
Mr Sharma may have reason to hope -- in Mumbai, the couple took time out from engagements to meet with a 93-year-old admirer, Boman Kohinoor.
The Britannia & Company restaurant owner became the star of a social media campaign that saw arrangements made for him to meet the royals at the last minute.
Festive CityAgra wears a festive look today, with roads decked out in fairy lights and flowers as it prepared to welcome the high-profile guests.
Security has been beefed up around the monument, with several paramilitary personnel standing guard with sniffer dogs.
Tourist walks during their visit at the Taj Mahal monument today. (AFP Photo)
The Duke and Duchess arrived in a private jet before heading out to the Taj, a UNESCO world heritage site, after lunch.
The mausoleum is currently undergoing renovation work, with scaffolding covering two of the minarets -- and a senior archaeological official told AFP it would not be dismantled for the visit.
It marks the final stop on a hectic itinerary for the royal couple, on their first official trip to India.
Their whistlestop tour has seen them hobnob with Bollywood stars in Mumbai and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for lunch at a former palace in New Delhi.
They then spent
two days in Bhutan, meeting the king and the queen of the remote Himalayan kingdom, trying their hand at the national sport of archery, and taking a mountain hike.
The couple is set to return to England on Sunday in time for the
Queen's 90th birthday on April 21.
Crafted in white marble and inlaid with precious stones, the Taj Mahal was built between 1631 and 1648 under Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.