KUAMARAKOM, Kerala: Prince Charles today celebrated his 65th birthday at the famed backwaters resort Kumarakom in the south Indian state Kerala.
For Charles, on a visit to India with wife Camilla, the celebrations were on a modest scale at the sylvan settings of the Lake Resort, where the royal couple have been staying since Tuesday evening.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his family members called on the royals guests and presented gifts after extending warm birth day greeting to Charles, official sources said.
It was a day of relaxation for the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall yesterday enjoying the panoramic beauty of the palm-fringe lake. The couple swam in the pool of the resort for about an hour.
Though chefs of the resort had prepared Western and Kerala delicacies for the distinguished guests, both of them ate light for their lunch and dinner, preferring mostly fruits and tender coconut water.
They had begun their Kerala leg of the India tour by reaching Kochi on Monday and had been to nearby Vazhachal waterfalls before coming to Kumarakom in Kottayam district.
Charles and Camilla would be flying to Colombo this afternoon where the prince would be addressing the CHOGM meeting. After a brief meeting with Charles and Camilla, Chandy said the royal guests said they enjoyed the beauty of Kerala very much.
Chandy presented an elephant carved in wood as the state’s memento to the royal guests and spent about 10 minutes in their suit of the resort.
“They appreciated the beauty of Kerala very much and said they would like to visit the state again,” Chandy told reporters.
The Chief Minister said three projects, one of them concerning education of the dumb and deaf, had been submitted to the Prince, seeking the UK’s support. -PTI
