Prince William and Kate Middleton: Keeping Up with the Royals

Held at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai, the event had the 34-year-old accompanying Prince William, who donned a classic black tuxedo with a bow tie. Bollywood was obviously in full attendance in their finest. Sonam Kapoor turned up in a sparkling white number by Lebanese fashion designer Elie Saab, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wore a Sabyasachi sari, Madhuri Dixit-Nene chose an olive green net sari, and Shilpa Shetty was spotted in a pink Monisha Jaising sari. Actors Alia Bhatt, Jacqueline Fernandez, Aditi Rao Hydari and Sophie Choudry sported Manish Malhotra creations. Malhotra, too, was present at the gala.

Meanwhile, the boys showed up in their best, with Shah Rukh Khan in a white dinner jacket and Anil Kapoor in black tux. Karan Johar picked an all-black number and Arjun Kapoor turned up in a dark blue bandhgala jacket. Composer-singer Shankar Mahadevan presented a jugalbandi for the guests of honour along with his son Siddharth.

Earlier in the day, Middleton sported two starkly different looks. She arrived in Mumbai wearing a scarlet paisley-themed Alexander McQueen outfit,

and changed into an elegant, printed boho maxi dress by Indian designer Anita Dongre.

On day two, Middleton started the day with a structured, white dress by British designer Emilia Wickstead, in whose creations she is often seen, while Prince William looked dapper in a blue suit.

Fan Trip

Nonagenarian owner of Mumbai’s iconic Britannia restaurant, Boman Kohinoor, began his own social media campaign to meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton,  a few weeks before their scheduled arrival in India.

On Sunday, the two took time out to meet the 93-year-old self-proclaimed fan of the British royal family. “I told them about the berry pulao and how it’s made using my late wife’s recipe. They asked me if I could cook. I said no, but I serve my customers well. I told them: give my love to the Queen, and to (your) children Prince George and Princess Charlotte. I wish I had more time to speak, but I’m thankful for this opportunity,” he reportedly said.

The couple also paid a visit to Todi Mill Social, a café and bar, to meet young entrepreneurs to launch ‘GREAT for Collaboration’, a campaign by the UK government to celebrate and inspire collaborations between the UK and India.