The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall witnessed the devastating impact of the Asian earthquake as they travelled to a small town in Pakistan-administered Kashmir which was ravaged by the disaster.
Charles and Camilla spent around three hours in Pattika.
They were flown in to the mountainous village by Army helicopter and scores of guards wearing berets and camouflage fatigues and clutching rifles were in position to protect them.
As the Prince's security team attempted to keep the media and residents at bay as they walked through the village, one of Charles's protection officers asked a man who he was about to move: "And who are you?"
"I'm the Prime Minister of Kashmir," he replied, being Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan.
At the makeshift girls' school with its tented classrooms, Charles and Camilla passed five graves - the final resting place for five of the girls who died when the school collapsed.
Their families never claimed their bodies because they too were believed to have been killed.
It was early in the morning when the earthquake struck and the girls were in their classrooms.
Villagers are hoping to set up a more permanent site for the college by November but it will take three years to fully rebuild it.
Banners were put up across the road through Pattika, celebrating the visit. "We welcome honourable and respectable Prince and Princess of Wales," one read.
