Aside from the unfortunate and unavoidable cancellation of the the visit to West Pakistan and the helicopter flight over the Khyber Pass, this has been an exceptionally well planned and executed royal tour. The engagements were well chosen and offered some fantastic opportunities for William and Catherine to highlight causes and initiatives that are in their areas of special interest, and to present themselves as polished representatives of both the
Queen and UK interests. I thought Kate's speech showed huge improvement over her early efforts--you can tell how much work she's put into doing better at something that is obviously not one of her special talents. I really respect that.
There were so many very special moments: Catherine wearing primarily Pakistani or Pakistani inspired dress, the arrival by tuk-tuk and William emerging from the tuk-tuk in a sherwani, the tea party and visit to the pediatric cancer ward, the visit to the mosque to highlight interfaith efforts, the visit to Chitral, the trip to to the glacier and meeting the villagers who had been affected by flooding, the dancing and the hats.
I was also impressed by William insisting that the press be taken care of due to the unexpected detour back to Lahore--it was considerate on a human level, but also a good longer term investment in goodwill which shows that William (or someone) is thinking ahead.
Overall, an excellent tour. I usually begin to lose interest after about day 2 or 3 of a tour, and this one kept my interest for the entire trip.
Yes, I was very impressed by the professionalism and the diplomatic skills of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on this tour. They are clearly stepping up their game.