Actress Joanna Lumley has arrived in Nepal at the start of a week-long trip to meet ex-Gurkhas and their familiesMs Lumley, whose father was an officer in the Gurkha regiment, fronted their campaign to gain UK settlement rights.
Accompanied by members of her family and by Peter Carroll, who started the campaign, Ms Lumley will meet Nepal’s prime minister and president.
The actress said she was “humbled” by a visit which would be “such a privilege”.
“It’s thrilling, it really is,” Ms Lumley said at London’s Heathrow Airport, prior to her flight on Saturday evening.
"We were met by the most wonderful group of Gurkhas outside Terminal 3, with silk scarves and bunches of flowers.
“I don’t think it can be anything other than wonderful”
Joanna Lumley
“It’s just incredible. I’ve never been to Nepal before, and this is really going to be just stunning,” she added.
"I feel so humbled by the fact I’m going to meet so many ex-Gurkhas and their families, and see where they are and how they live.
“I don’t think it can be anything other than wonderful.”
On Tuesday Ms Lumley will visit Jhapa and Dharan to meet Gurkhas.
Mr Carroll said some people were expected to walk for three days just to be there.
“I think it’s going to be an amazingly emotional experience,” he said.
In May, the government said all retired Gurkha soldiers - originally from Nepal - with at least four years service in the British Army, could stay in the UK.
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