Prince William respects all faiths with pilgrimage to holiest sites

Prince William prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Photo / Getty Images

It was the simplest of gestures. Eyes closed, with one hand resting reverentially on the sacred stones, Prince William took a moment of quiet contemplation at Jerusalem's Western Wall.

At the close of a landmark trip to Israel, few could blame him if the Duke of Cambridge felt the weight of history on his shoulders.

Fresh from navigating the political differences in one of the world's most turbulent regions, he visited Jerusalem's holiest sites, paying his respects to Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

Taken on a whirlwind tour of the Old City, he took in the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, Temple Mount and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in a morning which left onlookers of each faith visibly moved.

Little surprise, then, that Ephraim Mirvis, the Chief Rabbi, described it as a "moment of history".

Given a tour of the sites by religious leaders, William wore a kippah to the Western Wall, took his shoes off to visit the mosque, and took bread and salt at the Russian Orthodox church at the end of a royal visit that has seen him undertake a finely balanced programme designed to respect both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

In his last few hours in Jerusalem, he extended the same courtesy to those of faith in a series of solemn engagements during which he was surrounded by jubilant, chaotic crowds and armed local guards.

He began on the Mount of Olives, a Jewish burial ground and site of pilgrimage for Christians.

Prince William, (center), British chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, (right) and Western Wall chief Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, (left), at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. Photo / Getty Images

He then moved to the Church of St Mary Magdalene, a golden-domed Russian Orthodox church in the Garden of Gethsemane and was welcomed by Father Roman, the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, before entering for private contemplation.

He visited the crypt of Princess Alice, his great-grandmother, where he laid flowers picked from the garden and bowed his head to pray.

Father Roman told him: "Please send our best wishes to your grandfather and your father, and let them know that we are taking care of Princess Alice and we pray for her."

William left with an array of gifts, including small crosses and wooden Easter eggs for Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte.

Next on the packed itinerary was Temple Mount, exceptionally holy to Jews and Muslims.

At the fourth site of the day, the Western Wall, he was watched by hundreds of onlookers as he placed a written prayer on a folded piece of paper into one of the cracks in the wall.

William lit a candle at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Jesus is believed to have been crucified — the holiest site in the Christian world.

The Chief Rabbi called the visit a "remarkable gesture of friendship", while Father Roman proclaimed it a "great honour".