The Princess of Wales received a welcome to Leicester today as colourful as any Bollywood movie – with dancing, honking horns and crowds surging to shake her hand.
‘Welcome to Leicester, Ma’am,’ said one shopper who stopped her outside a jewellers as she visited family businesses and the city’s famous ‘Golden Mile’, while an elderly woman handed her a printed blessing to take away.
Drivers waived and shoppers seemed surprised to see Kate, 44, walking down the street without any road closures.
The princess – who wore a white knitted dress with a knife pleated skirt – was presented with a garland of pearls and roses as she arrived at a community centre which, earlier in the week, had celebrated Holi, the Indian festival of colour, love and spring.
A group of Bollywood dancers performed a routine for her during which she was handed a rose to hold. She told them that her three children would ‘love’ their dance moves.
‘You must be super fit because it’s super energetic,’ the princess said afterwards. ‘My children would love that, they love their dancing. Louis would love your dance routine.’
Later, the princess joined in with traditional dancing and made an offering of milk during her first visit to a Hindu temple in Britain.
Kate, who was barefoot for her visit to the temple, was invited to take part in a ladies’ dance during a religious ceremony, and said ‘oh, go on then’.
The Princess of Wales visits Leicester today on a trip highlighting local British Indian people
Kate takes part in a dance during her visit to the Shreeji Dham Haveli Hindu Temple in Leicester
The Princess of Wales was beaming as she watched dancers at The Aakash Odedra Company
Kate greets worshippers during her visit to the Shreeji Dham Haveli Hindu Temple in Leicester
The Princess of Wales visits Leicester today on a trip highlighting local British Indian people
The Princess of Wales arrives at the Aakash Odedra Company in Leicester this morning
Upon arrival at the Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre earlier today, Kate was introduced to Aakash Odedra who uses the centre to host community dance sessions.
Adorning the princess with a garland of pearls and roses he later said he had made it specially for her, because there was ‘no better way to welcome a guest than to garnish their soul with flowers’.
Born in Birmingham, Odedra, an award-winning choreographer, Bollywood dancer and founder of the Aakash Odedra Company, was trained in Bharatanatyam and Kathak dance styles and became a student of Shiamak Davar, a renowned Bollywood choreographer in India.
Odedra founded the Aakash Odedra Company in Leicester in 2011 with a mission to create ‘a happier and healthier society through dance and the arts’.
Last year the dance troupe joined forces with Move Against Cancer to offer Bollywood movement lessons to those recovering from cancer.
The princess last year announced that she was in remission from cancer following a diagnosis in early 2024.
Following a course of chemotherapy, Kate has made a gradual return to royal duties.
She was dressed today in a bespoke Chris Kerr tailored white midi coat and a Polo Ralph Lauren white ‘Jamie’ dress.
Her outfit also featured Sézane’s Dina earrings in gold with blue gemstones hanging from the tassels, and an Emmy London ‘Natasha’ brown clutch bag.
After watching her first Bollywood performance, the princess was shown into a candle-lit ballroom where Odedra performed his latest work, ‘Songs of the Bulbul’.
This is an interpretation of an ancient Sufi story about a captured songbird, or bulbul, which sings an exquisite tune before perishing from despair.
She appeared mesmerised as red circles of confetti dropped from the ceiling as Odedra performed a solo dance as a live orchestra from Manchester Camerata played music by the composer Rushil Ranjan, an associate artist of the Royal Albert Hall.
At the end, the princess seemed hesitant to clap before anyone else before someone joked ‘you can clap now’ which made her laugh.
‘That was so moving. Extraordinary,’ she said. Kate told the orchestra: ‘Thank you. That was really fantastic.’
By the time she left the community centre, crowds had gathered outside and as she walked towards them, people surged forwards to greet her with hugs and requests for selfies.
‘Thank you for coming to see me,’ she said.
As she walked round the corner to the Golden Mile, vans honked their horns and drivers waved as they caught sight of the princess on the busy road.
Still wearing the garland, she visited Ladlees, a family sari shop, where she admired the embroidery of the fabric and asked whether the skills had been passed down through the family.
Kate said that it was nice to return to the city under ‘happier circumstances’, her last visit taking place with Prince William in 2018 when they paid tribute to the victims of a helicopter crash that claimed the lives of five people including Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the Leicester City football club chairman.
Today, crowds lined the street as Kate crossed the road to Bobby’s restaurant, a family business named after a famous 1973 Bollywood film of the same name.
It was opened in 1976 by Dharmesh Lakhani’s parents after they moved to the UK from Uganda when he was a child.
The Princess of Wales visits Leicester today on a trip highlighting local British Indian people
The Princess of Wales meets members of the Aakash Odedra Company in Leicester today
Mr Lakhani, 57, who now runs the restaurant with his wife Enna, 56, invited the princess in to sit down for chai and traditional Indian sweets.
She said: ‘What’s lovely about a family business is that the values still stay. That’s the heart of it. That’s really what matters to the customers, those relationships.’
Meeting the couple’s sons Arjun, 28, and Karran, 25, the princess said that family businesses ‘made changes along the way’.
Speaking about families finding time to connect in a busy world, Kate said it was important to ‘make sure families and communities still have time to come together and stop and slow down and connect together.’
She added: ‘Even the simple act of eating a meal together becomes harder and harder.’
Trying some of the sweets and said that she was ‘OK with spice’.
She added: ‘I love coriander and chilli but William is less of a fan of coriander.’
After being invited up to the counter to choose a box of sweets to take home to her children, Mr Lakhani joked that they were all ‘zero calories’.
She laughed and replied: ‘Amazing. No wonder you’re so popular.’
When Mike Kapur, Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, offered to hold the box for her, she jokingly warned him: ‘Don’t eat them’.
Lakhani told the princess that it was ‘an honour’ to host her. He said later: ‘It’s the biggest thing for us ever.’
The Princess of Wales meets members of the Aakash Odedra Company in Leicester today
Kate later met worshippers inside the Shreeji Dham Haveli Hindu Temple, where she also joined in with traditional dancing.
She stepped round in a circle with women dressed in saris, clapping and trying to follow their movements.
She also poured an offering of fresh milk to a deity, Lord Krishna, as part of a ceremony, walking around a replica of a mountain in a version of a pilgrimage route at a sacred site in India.
She was given a sari and traditional scarf as a gift, and sat down in a canteen for a vegetarian lunch including samosas, potato sabzi, pilau rice and chapati.
The Princess visited Shreeji Dham Haveli, a Hindu temple dedicated to the teachings of Shrimad Vallabhacharya Mahaprabhuji which serves the local Vaishnav community in Leicester.
As well as daily worship, it runs community activities for all ages.
It is understood to be the first time that the princess has made an official visit to a Hindu temple on an engagement in Britain.
She was told about the festival of Holi, and its themes of ‘the arrival of spring, spiritual renewal and community connection’.
Kate was greeted with a blessing, a thumb placed on her forehead by one of the temple’s women, and a flower garland.
She took her shoes off, as per custom, and was given a detailed tour by Mayur Kachela, one of the executive committee who explained the religious significance of the ceremony and ornate decorations.
The princess was taken to a table where women were making garlands made from fresh rose petals, asking them about their technique and how long it took them to do.
‘Thank you so much for having me,’ she told her hosts. ‘I feel so lucky to be invited. It’s lovely to be able to come in person.’
She repeatedly clasped her hands in a namaste gesture, to say thank you.
‘Does this happen daily?’ she said. ‘How does the community, or way of life, fit around the temple?’
Members of the temple remarked on her knowledge of the Holi festival and her many questions, particularly about how young people are involved in the temple.
The women who led the dancing said that they had not expected her to join in, but were delighted with her enthusiasm.
‘It was absolutely amazing,’ said Mr Kachela afterwards. ‘She was really acknowledging what we’re doing here, and really engaged. This is part of our faith and it was very nice that she acknowledged what we’re doing.’