Prince Charles may visit Patiala

nirola

The royal city of Patiala could be gearing up for another royal visit. A team of officials of the British High Commission, UK Government and the members of foundation run by the Prince of Wales were in the city yesterday for advance liasioning of Prince Charles' visit on March 27. But the preparations and plans of the visit were kept under wraps as city officials refused to commit or acknowledge the fact of the Prince’s visit.

The city and the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, will play host to the heir to the British throne. The meeting would be between descendants of the House of Windsor and the Phulkian dynasty, with the twist that Capt Amarinder Singh is now an elected representative of the people. A section of descendents of the Phulkian dynasty remained loyal to the British when it was ruling India.

In the city, Prince Charles is expected to visit historical buildings, including Qila Mubaraq constructed in 1763, Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (housed in the Old Moti Bagh Palace constructed in 1847) and Yadavindra Public School (YPS) housed in one of the heritage buildings. The team visited all these buildings yesterday. Not only this, the team members accompanied by local civil and police officials also inspected the local airport, where Prince Charles would be landing by a special plane.

The descendant of the House of Windsor would first come to Delhi and then would be flown to Chandigarh. From Chandigarh, he would be taken to Fatehgarh Sahib and then to this erstwhile princely city.

Information gathered by TNS revealed that Capt Amarinder Singh, who hosted a dinner for members of the high-level British team, might play host to Prince Charles for a night at the New Moti Bagh Palace. Prince Charles might also inaugurate an exhibition on organic farming to be organised jointly by the foundation run by him and the Punjab government.

Information revealed that the state Congress government had been keeping details of the visit of Prince Charles a top secret as it was planning to use the event to enhance its popularity among the people to cash in on the same during the next Assembly elections due after 11 months.

Mr Tejveer Singh, Deputy Commissioner, when contacted, said at the moment he was not able to make any comment on the fact that any VIP from UK would be visiting this city in March or not. He added that a team of officials of the British government and High Commission came to Patiala and its neighbouring Fatehgarh Sahib district in connection with the promotion of organic farming.

He said the visit of this team was coordinated by the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC). He added that the team, which had visited about three villages in Fatehgarh Sahib apart from its food park and some places in this district might come out with some proposals for working out tie-ups in the field of organic farming in Punjab.

He said the team had also visited an institute at Mohali, which was connected with the field of organic farming.

Patiala Heritage Festival 2006

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shere

I hope this means that all the encroachments around Quila Mubaraq are cleared up.

It is sad to see that this once majestic fort is in such a poor state due to the apathy of the state towards preserving heritage.

Punjab has more than enough royal palaces and havelis to take on Rajasthan for tourism but the chance has been squandered due to the stupidity of certain politicians.

raos

Do they plan to drive to the old Moti Bagh Palace with Prince Charles? Because the stench from the dump around the Palance is horrendous. The palace itself is in decrepit condition. The week before we had visited, a part of the ceiling at the Sheesh Mahal had fallen off. Patiala's great monuments are in ruins and no one seems to care. Perhaps Charles will donate