Kathmandu: The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince Edward and Sophie, wrapped up their Nepal trip on February 9. They had arrived in Nepal on February 4, in their first visit to the Himalayan republic, which was also the first high-level royal visit from the UK in nine years, with a considerably long stay like many of their royal predecessors’. British royals do not come to Nepal so often but when they do, they make it a point to stay in this country for about a week. Appears like it is in the British royal tradition.
Come to think of it, when Prince of Wales Albert Edward (later King VII) had visited Nepal in 1876 he stayed in Tarai over two weeks. In 1911, King George V’s hunting expedition to Nepal’s Tarai lasted for ten days. In 1921, the new Prince of Wales, Edward, the heir apparent to the British throne, spent a week in Nepal. Queen Elizabeth’s 1961 visit was for four days, that of 1986 was also of four days, the 1975 visit of King Charles, as Prince of Wales, was for four days, that of 1980 for seven days, that of 1992 for 14 days and that of 1998 for three days. The most recent visit by Prince Harry in 2016 was for nine days. Initially it was meant to be for three days but he extended the trip by six more days because the beauty of Nepal made “it very hard” for him “to leave” the “country you really have to come and visit and meet the Nepali people.”
Prince Edward and Sophie’s stay in Nepal went on for five days–meeting people, visiting places, creating a spectacle of goodwill and positivity. They met the president of Nepal, made a trip to Bhaktapur durbar square and presented Duke of Edinburgh’s awards to a number of Nepali students. The Duchess visited Bhaktapur Hospital, Maiti Nepal and Pokhara where they did not only attend the attestation parade but also trekked and saw the mountains. The visit may not have created much media buzz in Nepal but it was well-covered by The Daily Mail and The Telegraph.
The UK is not the world’s first economy–it is actually the sixth–but it has been a steady partner of Nepal’s development for many years. Until 2015, the UK was the top ODA provider to Nepal. In 2015, the UK provided 5.21 billion rupees and for 2024/25, approved program budget for Nepal stands at over 70 million pounds. A 400-million-pound UK-Nepal development portfolio was launched last year.
Dignity and compromise
More than the money, what really strikes me about the Nepal-UK relations is the history of how they became friends from foes, history of glory, defeat, awe and admiration. Like I wrote in an essay in 2016, the war with the East India Company (1814-16) was the compulsion rather than choice for Nepal. The trauma of defeat it gave to Nepal still lingers in our historical memories.
When Kathmandu, especially after the ascendance of the Ranas to the political power, chose the policy of rapprochement, rather than retribution and retaliation with the colonial power, the British power began to regard Nepal as a friend, not as a former foe. The several rounds of visits from the royalties as well as top level officials from London and Calcutta was also meant to assure the Nepali rulers that the British were no threat to Nepali sovereignty–the assurance that finally came to be sealed through the treaty of friendship in 1923. One can say with certainty that the British monarchs regarded Nepal as a power to reckon with while entire South Asia, except Nepal, was under their near total control.
One may not see the Gurkhas–the arteries to maintain connection between the two countries–as a matter of glory as in the past but that nearly every itinerary of every visit from the British royalties, ministers or high-level officials must include interactions and meetings with Gurkhas and their families in Nepal’s hills is a testament of how the Gurkhas still serve as status symbol in Nepal-UK relations.
Prince Edward and Sophie met the families of the new recruits and paid respect to the Gurkhas in Pokhara. Prince Harry in 2015 reportedly said he always wanted to be a Gurkha but the opportunity never arose.
It is difficult to read the imagination of Nepali minds in the 1810s but the Nepalis, when they dealt with the British power, were careful enough not to make the white men feel that they were dealing from a position of weakness. The very formation of the Gurkhas–the dukkha and sufferings they sustained during the two great wars aside–starts from the sense of dignity and emotional bonding. Picture this scene: A 30-year-old British Lieutenant (Frederick Young), accompanied by hill men recruited from Garhwal, Kumaon and elsewhere in India, confronts the Nepali soldiers in Nalapani hill. The Indian soldiers run away leaving Young to the mercy of Nepali soldiers who hold him captive. They all surround him, grinning at him, and ask: ‘Why did you not run away too?’ Young replies: ‘I did not come all this way to run away,’ to which the Nepali soldiers say ‘we could serve under men like you.’ The Nepali soldiers liked his style. Although a prisoner, Lieutenant Young became friends with his captors, and he, too, noted their cheerfulness and made a study, as best he could, of their customs. When Young was freed at the time of the peace treaty, he proposed with the British side that he should be allowed to recruit his former enemy into the British army. So, on 24 April 1816 this process started (see John Parker’s The Gurkhas and Edward Bishop’s Better to Die: The Story of the Gurkhas).
Perhaps to honor this history, whenever the British royals come to Nepal, they make a point to visit the Gurkhas–the people who actually create and sustain this bond between Nepal and the UK.
More than the money, what is really striking about the Nepal-UK relations is the history of how they became friends from foes, history of glory, defeat, awe and admiration.
Ramesh Nath Pandey, who is the former foreign minister of Nepal, says Nepal’s relations with the UK are sustained by legacies like this. “Nepal-UK relations have a unique space in Nepal’s international relations. The closeness between Nepal and the UK is unparalleled in Nepal’s history of international relations. Nepal-UK diplomatic relations were established when the entire South Asia was a British colony. Only Nepal was an exception,” Pandey said. “It is founded on such a great legacy. But we have not been able to keep it intact. The visit of the British royalties has helped reignite the glories and warmth between the two countries. Look how the people in Pokhara opened their hearts out to the British royals. It was a spontaneous flow of emotions the hill people of Nepal felt for the British royals and the affection the British royals have for Nepali people.”
Prem Thapa, a scholar well-versed in the history of Nepal-UK relations who also teaches Buddhism in Tribhuvan University, says that we should not judge the visit like that of the British royalties at face value. Thapa says that visits like the one by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh carry a huge cultural and symbolic meaning for Nepal. “There is a tendency to judge high-level visits from the foreign countries based on how much aid was announced for Nepal. Imagine the positive impression their visit created about Nepal among the British public,” Thapa said. “They gave the message that Nepal is a country to go to and visit. They spread the message that you are safe in Nepal and you will feel home in Nepal. When Prince Harry came in 2016, he helped revive the tourism business that was almost going into the dust after the 2015 earthquake.”
The bedrock of the relations of the two countries was laid over 200 years ago. Nepal and the UK have come a long way since. Nepal is a federal republic. The British monarchy does not appear to be as popular as it used to be. While the fascination of youth in Nepal’s hills to join the British Gurkhas has not died down, for many it is more about a job than a matter of glory. Besides, the number of Gurkhas stands downsized.
But as long as there will be people to pass on stories of the two countries—their conflict, their peace, their admiration and understanding of each other—history will continue to be handed to the future generations. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh must have shared what they saw and experienced in Nepal back home. In Kathmandu, we have Rob Fenn, the ambassador with strong fascination for Nepali language and culture. He can be a better storyteller, for sure.
Comment