Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toured the Taj Mahal with his wife and children on Sunday as he began a week-long visit to India.
The family was pictured larking around by the famous marble benchwhere Princess Diana once sat looking forlorn and alone in 1992, and where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge returned in 2016.
Trudeau, his wife Sophie Gregoire and their three children posed for a family portrait before marvelling at the legendary marble monument frequently visited by foreign leaders.
It came after an apparent ‘snub’ at the start of his trip when the country’s PM Narendra Modi failed to meet them at the airport and instead sent a junior agriculture minister.
Justin Trudeau, his wife Sophie Gregoire and his three children are pictured visiting the Taj Mahal at the start of a trip to India
Trudeau’s children, from left: Xavier, 10, Hadrien, 3, and Ella-Grace, 9, joined their parents for a photoshoot on the famous bench
The family was pictured larking around on the bench where Princess Diana once looked lonely and forlorn near the end of her marriage to Prince Charles
Canadian PM Trudeau was visiting the Taj Mahal at the start of a visit to India in which he will aim to promote trade and investment with India
Sophie Gregoire (left) wore a colourful full-length blue dress as she posed for the pictures
Diana was pictured looking forlorn and alone on the bench as her marriage to Prince Charles crumbled
The picture of Diana sitting on her own became one of the iconic images of her relationship
Two years ago William and Kate marked happier times as they posed for pictures together on the marble bench
The image of Diana looking forlorn and alone on the bench as her marriage to Prince Charles crumbled became one of the iconic images of their failed relationship.
But two years ago William and Kate marked happier times as they posed for pictures together on the marble bench.
Trudeau will spend the week talking with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about how they can boost their relationship.
But the arrival was a far cry from when former President Barack Obama and the leaders of Israel and the UAE made the trip, with Modi patiently waiting for them on the tarmac.
The PM and his smiling family were in stark contrast to the lonely image of Princess Diana
The visit to the legendary marble monument in Agra came at the start of a week-long trip
The Trudeaus’ daughter Ella Grace wore a long patterned skirt and was joined by her younger brother Hadrien in wearing a hat to keep out the sun
The family is flanked by security and other visitors as they admire the Taj Mahal
The Canadian PM is seen leading his family for a stroll around the gardens of the Taj Mahal
Trudeau and Modi will hold talks on civil nuclear cooperation, space, defence, energy and education.
Trade between Canada and India has doubled in the last decade to just over $8 billion in 2016, a figure which India’s foreign ministry says ‘does not reflect true potential’.
At Davos last month, while President Donald Trump supported new tariffs on imports, Trudeau and Modi came out forcefully against a drift toward protectionism in the global economy.
Canada is home to more than 1.2 million Indians – more than three percent of its population – with Sikh members of Trudeau’s cabinet joining in the visit.
Trudeau and Modi will hold talks on civil nuclear cooperation, space, defence, energy and education
There was no sign of PM Modi on the red carpet when the Trudeaus touched down, with the family greeted instead by a junior minister
Then-President Barack Obama is greeted by Modi at a New Delhi airport in January 2015 (left), while Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was warmly received by Modi last month
The delegation will walk a diplomatic tightrope in Punjab where Trudeau will visit the Golden Temple – the holiest site in Sikhism, and the scene of a bloody massacre of religious separatists in 1984.
Trudeau is scheduled to visit Modi’s home state of Gujarat on Monday before jetting off to India’s financial capital of Mumbai for talks with CEOs and business leaders the next day.
After visiting Amritsar in Punjab on Wednesday, Trudeau will meet Modi and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi following a welcome at the presidential palace and a wreath-laying at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial.
Modi visited Canada in 2015 and addressed a crowd of 10,000 from the Indian diaspora in Toronto.