Duchess of Edinburgh starts Zambia tour in aeroplane clothes after luggage delay
The Duchess of Edinburgh started her tour of Zambia in her aeroplane clothes after her baggage did not arrive in time.
The six-day official visit runs from Monday 14 September to Friday 19 September. She departed from Heathrow Airport, London, on the evening of 13 September, with the Court Circular — the official daily record of royal engagements — listing Alexander Stonor and Mrs Angus Galletley as travelling with her Court Circular.
HELLO! Magazine is following the trip in its royal-family live blog for Wednesday 16 September, with Senior Editor and Writer Jack Malvern on tour with the Duchess HELLO!. Lost luggage did not stop the schedule. The Duchess carried out her first engagement in what she wore on the plane.
She was soon back in tour wardrobe. On Monday she stepped out in a bright green dress with a purple sash Town & Country.
The early programme mixed ceremony and campaigning. At the British High Commission she watched a display by dancers. Another engagement focused on preventable sight loss, an issue the Duchess has supported for many years.
That included an event hosted by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and eye-care charity Orbis. The Duchess also presented a gift from Buckingham Palace to Zambia’s President.
What makes this one easy to follow is the packing mishap. Royal tours run to the minute, with outfits planned days ahead. Starting in travel clothes strips that polish away. It leaves the work underneath.
The same live blog also points readers to a very different royal story in London: a brand-new Princess Diana floral exhibition in support of The Diana Award HELLO!.
The show, called “Diana”, runs from 16 September through 6 October. It reimagines Diana’s fashion through flowers. Tickets went on sale on 1 July InStyle.
For fans, this means two ways in. Follow Zambia for the day-to-day engagements, and catch the Diana flowers in London if you are near the capital through early October.
