| Aziz Idris |
HIS Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in his capacity as the Colonel in Chief of the Brigade of Gurkhas, met soldiers and families from the Second Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles (2RGR) at Edinburgh Palace on Thursday. Accompanying the Prince of Wales was Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall.
The visit was part of their regional Commonwealth tour and to personally congratulate His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam on the Golden Jubilee of his Accession to the Throne.
His Royal Highness was welcomed by the Commanding Officer 2RGR, Lt Col Jamie Murray, the Gurkha Major, Major Gajendra Angdembe and their spouses, Susan Murray and Premkumari Angdembe. Children from the Regiment honoured Their Royal Highnesses with the traditional Gurkha garlands, known as mallas.
His Royal Highness took a royal salute, and inspected an immaculate guard of honour comprising 14 soldiers, one senior non-commissioned officer and a piper.
The 2RGR returned from an operational tour of Kabul, Afghanistan last year, and are one of the British Army’s most operationally experienced units, having been posted to Iraq and Afghanistan numerous times over the last 15 years.
The battalion moved to Brunei in July 2017. Many of the soldiers and their families are back in Brunei for their third or fourth tour, and a number of their children were born in Brunei.
The Prince of Wales, who was introduced to staff from the British High Commission in Brunei Darussalam, presented a Long Service Award to Virgilio Mercurio Baluyot in recognition of his 25 years of service as driver for numerous British high commissioners. Virgilio said, “I am very happy and honoured to accept this award, having met the Prince of Wales in Brunei three times.”
“I will never forget this moment and have already sent photos to my family in the Philippines,” he added.
Their Royal Highnesses met some of the British loan service personnel who are working within the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, together with their families.
Their final engagement was with teachers and pupils of the British community from International School Brunei (ISB).
Steven Geraghty, Executive Principal of ISB updated the Prince of Wales about the good progress in the Million Trees project led by ISB. The tree that the Prince of Wales planted in Badas during his last visit to Brunei nine years ago is growing well, and over 500,000 trees have now been planted.
The British High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam Richard Lindsay said, “This was a great opportunity for the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to meet the active British community living in Brunei, and to hear about the variety of ways in which they contribute.”
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