Why Queen Elizabeth’s First Overseas Trip Post-Princess Diana’s Death Was Dubbed As ‘Disastrous’

Queen Elizabeth’s first overseas trip to India and Pakistan shortly after Princess Diana’s death was dubbed as disastrous by a royal author.

In the book “Queen of the World,” Robert Hardman talked about Her Majesty’s trip and revealed where exactly it went wrong.

“This was the Queen’s first overseas trip since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, who had been something of a local hero in Pakistan after her visit to a children’s hospital there not long before her death. The Queen used her opening state banquet speech to pay tribute to the princess and to thank Pakistan for sharing ‘our grief at Diana’s tragic early death,’” Hardman said.

According to the royal author, the monarch’s words were well-received by the crowds in Pakistan but everything changed after she attended a state banquet. While there, the Queen delivered another speech, where she talked about her hopes for reconciliation over the Kashmir territories.

Her Majesty’s bold stand sparked fury in India and it dragged the Queen and Prince Philip into a lengthy row against Indians.

“When Pakistani news reports announced a fresh breakthrough in the future of Kashmir, the Indian Government was appalled. It wanted no external interference… The mood worsened when the British High Commissioner in India, Sir David Gore-Booth, was tackled on the subject at a press conference ahead of the Queen’s arrival in Delhi… His dismissive retort that the Indians should ‘stop tilting at windmills’ brought simmering resentment to the boil,” Hardman said.

After the Queen returned to London, a news outlet branded her visit to India and Pakistan as a disaster. Hardman also said that same thing in his book. And during an interview with Express, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams also talked about the incident.

He said that the Queen visited India and Pakistan to mark the 50^th anniversary of the countries’ independence in 1997. But what was supposed to be a happy affair turned controversial because of what the Queen said.