A Yak Makes a Royal Gift
Prince Charles and Camilla were presented with a rather big present at the conclusion of their trip to Pakistan.
In the Hunza Valley, in the small village of Altit, the prince was given a yak; a huge, hairy black and white one weighing in at more than 300lb. He patted its nose enthusiastically, though the duchess needed a little more encouragement to follow suit.
In the ertswhile Kingdom of Hunza — now part of Pakistan — the gift of a yak is the highest honour that can be bestowed on a VIP, in a tradition that dates back many centuries.
“Marvellous”, declared the prince. “Is it a male yak?” It was hard to tell with all that hair, even for a cattle farmer such as the prince.
I wondered last week about what would happen to the animal, given that there’s no way the royal couple would be able to take it with them. Well, apparently, village tradition also dictates that the gift be returned immediately by the VIP. Of course, Prince Charles was happy to do so.
Just look at the size of this thing:
I don’t blame the Duchess of Cornwall for being timid around it.
Prince Charles and Camilla no doubt have wonderful memories of their successful trip. I’m sure they’ll have fun reminiscing with a photo album of their trip given by the Pakistani Minister for Women and Youth Affairs Sumaira Malik.
via The Telegraph
Images: Yahoo! News; Daily Mail
Tags: royalty, British royalty, British royals, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla
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POSTED IN: British Royalty, Prince Charles and Camilla
4 opinions for A Yak Makes a Royal Gift
Celebrity Blog
Nov 7, 2006 at 12:02 pm
AH! its the though that counts!
arieanna
Nov 8, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Ok, so it was a “temporary gift.” Interesting. So, if I gave the Prince $1 million, he’d have to give it back. I like that tradition. If that only could extend to Christmas, I’d have the BEST gifts ever.
Maricar
Nov 17, 2006 at 8:58 pm
It’s an ancient tradition apparently.
Arieanna, what fun we’d have if we could have the same tradition for Christmas, or any gift-giving occasion for that matter. ;D
Daniel
Nov 30, 2006 at 2:00 pm
We are Yakbreeder in the Swiss mountains.A realy great gift from Prince Charles!
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