93-year-old Kohinoor excited as William, Kate arrive in Mumbai

Mumbai: As Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate arrive in Mumbai on Sunday on their first official visit, Britannia & Company restaurant, a city-based Parsi cafe, readies its best sali boti mutton, though the itinerary of the royal couple has no mention of the place.

Boman Kohinoor, 93, the owner of the restaurant has a strange claim. He says he is the biggest Indian fan of the royal family and he will visit the Oval Maidan only to get a glimpse of the couple.

“Hopefully I will see them there,” said Kohinoor, who would like William and Kate to visit his famous Parsi cafe, which opened in 1923.

“I would be very happy and I would be honoured if they would visit me. “I would treat them to the best of my signature dishes like berry pulao and sali boti mutton, lamb, and fish and all that,” he told AFP.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge kicked off their engagements in Mumbai by laying a wreath at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in honour of victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on Sunday morning.

They will then watch youngsters play cricket on Mumbai’s famous Oval Maidan, where they will meet representatives from three charities before interacting with kids who live in slums around the western Indian city.

After the cricket, William and Kate will visit the ancient Banganga Tank, a hugely significant site in Hindu mythology, where makeshift homes sit beneath luxury skyscrapers in the plush Malabar Hill district.
Other highlights of their week-long trip include a trip to Kaziranga National Park in Assam and a two-day spell in Bhutan, where they will meet the Himalayan nation’s king and queen/

“The Duke and Duchess are very much looking forward to the tour,” Kensington Palace, the official residence of the royal couple, tweeted on Friday.

The royal couple will wrap up their Mumbai stay on Monday morning by meeting young entrepreneurs.

They then head to Delhi where they will have lunch with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among other events, before heading to Assam and Bhutan and finishing their trip in Agra, home to the Taj Mahal.