Britain's Prince William and wife Catherine were greeted by huge crowds as they landed in the lush, steamy Solomon Islands on Sunday, while a row raged in Europe about topless photos of the Duchess. Pacific warriors gave the glamorous royal couple a ceremonial welcome as they touched down in the capital Honiara as part of their nine-day Southeast Asian and Pacific tour marking Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. William, second in line to the British throne, inspected an honour guard of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force -- the Pacific nation has no military -- before the couple left for the capital in a colourful motorcade. Thousands of locals packed the route for a glimpse of the pair as they passed on an open-top truck decorated as a gleaming black and turquoise canoe adorned with frangipani flowers and a leafy canopy. Their final destination was the city's St Barnabas Cathedral where they were special guests at a Jubilee Thanksgiving service, marred by a brief power outage as the congregation waited for the generator to kick in. After calling briefly on Solomons Governor-General Frank Kabui later this evening the royal duo will be treated to a traditional island feast in the gardens of Government House. Excitement has been building for days in the Solomons, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have two days of engagements, with at least one resort reportedly tidying its palm gardens ahead of the visit. It is the first stop of the Pacific leg of their Jubilee tour, which has already taken them to Singapore and Malaysia, where Kate made her first public comments on foreign soil, and they will move Tuesday to tiny Tuvalu. Tuvalu is one of the world's smallest independent nations, lying about halfway between Australia and Hawaii. William and Kate are expected to take part in sporting activities and wear traditional dress while they are in the Solomons and Tuvalu, with warrior dancing and a canoe trip reported to be on the cards.
