The Duke of Edinburgh in Nepal

In the old days, British royalty used to be invited on tiger hunting trips to Nepal. These days, they come to present awards to students, or visit animation studios.

Prince Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II and brother of King Charles III, is in Nepal on a six-day tour. He is the Duke of Edinburgh and patron of the Duke of Edinburgh International Awards which was started by his father Prince Philip.

The Duke and Duchess met President Ram Chandra Paudel, presented the Duke of Edinburgh awards to young Nepalis and visited the Incessant Rain Studios in Kathmandu on Wednesday. On Friday he will take part in an attestation parade at the British Gurkha Camp in Pokhara.

The Prince also interacted with Nepali tech companies, FuseMachines, Esewa, Upaya and Genese Solution at Incessant Rains, a Kathmandu-based visual effects studio specialising in high-quality animation content for global film, television, and gaming industry.

The Prince engaged with young animators and visual effects creators at the studio and enquired about the challenges faced by tech companies in Nepal and about possible ways to advance with increased global recognition. The IT sector provides jobs to 73,000 Nepalis, and the country exported software, programs and digital content worth nearly $1 billion last year.

While touring the studio at Incessant Rain, Prince Edward also tried out a Virtual Reality (VR) animated show developed in Nepal. The studio also demonstrated an avatar of the Prince to explain the process of animation.

Kiran Bhakta Joshi, Co-CEO of Incessant Rain explained the studio’s focus on creating local content for the global market, adapting to an AI-centric future in the industry, while focusing on gender equity. 

“Nepal has to push boundaries of technology and creativity, so that the trend of youths leaving Nepal can be paused, including young women who have talent in this sector,” Joshi told a meeting with the British royals.

Incessant Rain Studios in Nepal has produced several movies including VFX projects for Walt Disney Studios, Fox Studios, Paramount, Universal Network, Netflix, Warner Brothers among others.

Incessant Rain has also set up the Nepal chapter of Women in Animation (WIA) to encourage and inspire women to participate and make careers in animation. It is training 200 young women to bridge the gap between education and job opportunities, nurturing young talent, and combating antiquated gender stereotypes.

The Duke of Edinburgh interacted with three young animators who received scholarships supported by the British Embassy at the studio. The Prince visited different departments within the studio including VFX, 3D and games area, and said he was fascinated by the process of movie-making in the studio and how Nepal’s companies have adopted new technologies.

Suman Rayamajhi Co-founder and Managing Director of Upaya told the meeting with the Prince, “Nepali youth are at par with young people internationally. They are extremely talented, they merely require the right training, and the platform to showcase their talents.”

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards was designed in the 1950s by Prince Philip along with German educationist Kurt Hahn and John Hunt, the British Army officer and mountaineer who led the first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. 

The Duke presented 19 young Nepalis with the Gold Award, the highest achievement in the Award program and a culmination of hard work and self-
development. Prince Edward said, “To achieve your Gold Award takes
courage, commitment and tenacity – you should be exceptionally proud of what you’ve achieved.” 

The Awards help young people develop skills, resilience, and leadership and are earned by students particularly for outdoor and adventurous activities, but also for voluntary social service and self-improvement exercises.

The program was officially launched in 1956 in the UK before expanding globally, including its establishment in Nepal in 2010. Prince Edward gave out the medals for Nepali awardees at a ceremony at the British Embassy on Wednesday. 

Read also: The King and I

Prince Edwards is the 14th member of the British Royal family to visit the country. His great grandfather King George V came on a tiger shooting trip in 1912, invited by Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher Rana’s ‘hunting diplomacy’ efforts.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip also were taken hunting in Chitwan by King Mahendra when they visited in 1961 and before it became a national park. The royal couple paid another visit in 1986, and since then King Charles visited three times while prince, and once with Princess Diana in 1993. Prince Philip came again in 2000, and Prince Harry in 2016.

Although no British prime minister has ever visited Nepal, Jung Bahadur Rana became the first royalty from the Subcontinent to visit Victorian England in 1850.