Royals gone wild! Duchess Kate and Prince William carved out time on their India trip to feed baby elephants and rhinos at Assam’s Kaziranga National Park on Wednesday, April 13. Us Weekly‘s European bureau director Omid Scobie was the only member of the press to accompany the royals on their safari in Kaziranga.
Several hundred villagers turned out for a glimpse of the couple, some wearing traditional Indian robes, others dressed in western clothes and taking pictures with their smart phones.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge played Mom and Dad to the orphaned animals by feeding them with large bottles of milk. The real-life parents of Prince George, 2, and Princess Charlotte, 11 months, fed the adorable creatures milk — enhanced with coconut oil for extra nutrition — every few hours throughout their visit.
While the elephants won Kate’s heart, the future queen, 34, was particularly smitten with the park’s newest addition: Dunga, the rhino. The tiny mammal was found alone by forest staff on patrol before finding refuge at Kaziranga. When the rhino’s mother was unable to be located, orphaned Dunga was brought to the wildlife center.
While at the park, the prince, 33, and Middleton also met with members of Elephant Family, an environmental foundation helmed by William’s stepmother, Duchess Camilla.
William and Kate have had a busy few days in India. Earlier this week, the pair rubbed elbows with Bollywood stars, paid tribute to the country’s late pacifist leader Mahatma Gandhi, celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday and met with locals in impoverished neighborhoods.
The royals, who head to Bhutan on Thursday to meet King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema, will return to India on April 16 and stop at the nation’s historic landmark, the Taj Mahal, where William’s late mother, Princess Diana, visited in 1992.
A Kensington Palace spokesman tells Us Weekly, “[William] feels incredibly lucky to visit a place where his mother’s memory is kept alive by so many who travel there.”