Charles and Camilla conquer city with charm offensive

Having been at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday,the British couple arrived at the airport in the afternoon. The Prince of Wales then headed towards Raj Bhawan while Camilla went to St Stephen’s School.

Charles dressed in a grey suit and Camilla wearing a pristine white dress managed to win the hearts of the people they met. The two interacted enthusiastically wherever they went and left the citizens overwhelmed.

The UT Police had made tight security arrangements for the visit. The venues where the couple visited as well as the routes taken by them had a heavy police presence,with traffic being halted on the routes where the cavalcade passed. Traffic snarls were witnessed at Sector 33-34 and commuters complained that they had been asked to take a longer route without prior information.

At Raj Bhawan,an Ecopreneurs’ meet was organised by the Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST) along with CII. Charles emphasised the need to establish environment-friendly partnership business enterprises at the grassroots level to encourage disadvantaged youth to undertake sustainable green initiatives. Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Shivraj Patil and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal were present on the occasion.

Charles also visited the Punjab Energy Development Agency,Sector 33. He saw the building which is a one of its kind and demonstrations about the various equipment present there.

A seminar on Sustainable Urbanism was organised at PEDA in his honour by the British High Commission and British Council. Students from Chandigarh College of Architecture were present at the meet.

Speaking on the occasion,the Charles said there was a need to strike a balance between development and the environment. He added that development needed to be planned and natural resources should be used.

Meanwhile,Camilla Parker Bowles interacted with students and teachers of St Stephen’s School. A number of activities were organised at the school where Camilla spent around an hour. Later she went to SOREM,a society for rehabilitation of the mentally Challenged. In the evening the British couple headed off to Patiala.