The prince, who has extended his Nepal-visit by six days, had shown interest to visit Gorkha and attend the Lig Lig race, which is organized in Gorkha district biannually.But the trip had to be cancelled as the prince's schedules were already packed.
Prince Harry was training to become a pilot at that time and his secretariat had asked for another date for his visit. "His secretariat had told me that prince had regretted missing the chance to attend Lig Lig race," said Rajendra Bajgain, managing director of Gurkha Encounters Adventure, which had initially corresponded with Harry's secretariat.
The race has interesting historical connection to how a ruler for the tiny Gorkha principality was selected, before over two dozens of such states were unified into Nepal around 247 years ago.
The race became popular after Drabya Shah, an ancestor of former king Gyanendra Shah, became the king of the principality by winning the Lig Lig race.
Some rounds of correspondences had taken place between the prince's secretariat that oversees his activities and an adventure agency in Nepal, said officials involved in the process.
The biannual marathon was halted for some years due to political disputes at the local level. "We again approached the UK embassy in Nepal as a follow-up of our invitation, but our initiatives could not yield any result," said Bajgain.
Altogether 50 participants from around the world were invited to attend the 12-day-long marathon. Prince Harry had been invited for the inauguration of the event and to become patron of the marathon.
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