Britain's Prince Edward arrives in Sri Lanka

Britain's Prince Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, today arrived in Colombo to attend Sri Lanka's 70th Independence Day celebrations.
Prince Edward accompanied by Princess Sophie will participate in the celebrations on February 4 as the chief guest, representing the Royal family of Britain, the Lankan foreign ministry said.
This is the first time that Queen Elizabeth's son other than Prince Charles has visited Sri Lanka. Charles was the chief guest at the 50th Independence Day celebrations in 1998 and later made two separate trips to the island nation.
Edward and his wife are scheduled to engage in several social welfare activities during their stay in Sri Lanka and will also tour the central town of Kandy tomorrow.

His five-day visit assumes significance as it has come ahead of the Commonwealth Summit to be held in London this summer, officials said.