Duchess of Edinburgh Begins Three-Day Visit to Bangladesh
The Duchess of Edinburgh arrived in Bangladesh on Monday 9 November 2026 to start a three-day visit. She is travelling alone, at the request of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the UK government department that runs diplomacy and overseas aid.
The trip followed a busy Sunday at home. The Duchess joined the Duke of Kent for the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph, the war memorial in Whitehall, London. The Court Circular, the official daily record of the Royal Family's engagements, says she left Heathrow Airport that afternoon, on 8 November.
Her first meeting in Bangladesh was with Dr Zubaida Rahman, wife of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. The two discussed the welfare and empowerment of women, meaning the ways women can gain more control over their own lives and choices.
The Duchess then went to the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training (BIPSOT), a training centre outside Dhaka. There she learned about Bangladesh's part in UN peacekeeping, the missions the United Nations sends to places affected by conflict. She signed the guest book and planted a sapling. She also received a drawing from Major General Masihur, based on a photograph of herself and Queen Elizabeth II.
Sport was the next stop. At the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan, a sports body, she heard how games can open doors for young people. Hello! Magazine reported that she played hockey with young athletes, wearing a dark green top with bell sleeves and white jeans. Her shots sent up a shower of sand. Afterwards she was given a bouquet and a club scarf, and she tied the scarf around her neck.
Two more engagements are on the schedule. The Duchess is set to mark 75 years of the British Council in Bangladesh. The British Council is the UK's organisation for cultural and educational links with other countries. She will also travel to Cox's Bazar, a coastal district, to hear about protection and support services for women, girls and families among the displaced Rohingya community.
This is not the Duchess's first trip to Bangladesh. She visited the country in 2017. The Royal Family's official biography also lists Bangladesh among the countries she has visited to see projects that tackle avoidable blindness, along with India, Qatar and Malawi.
The visit is one of several overseas trips this year. In September she spent a week in Zambia, from 14 to 19 September, according to the Royal Family's official website.
