Prince Charles not going to remote PNG town

The man in charge of planning Prince Charles' visit to Papua New Guinea says reports the royal tour will visit the home town of its first PM are false.

PORT MORESBY, PNG (AAP) ---- The man in charge of planning Prince Charles' visit to Papua New Guinea says reports the royal tour will visit the home town of its first PM are false. Events minister Justin Tkatchenko says Prince Charles will not visit Wewak, East Sepik despite a statements from PNG's department of foreign affairs and former PM Sir Michael Somare that the trip would be included in the Prince of Wales' two day visit in November. “It must have been miscommunication,” Tkatchenko told AAP. “With all due respect to my friends at foreign affairs ... this was decided by Buckingham Palace. “I have the program with me now, there is no planned trip to Wewak. He is not going to Wewak at all.” Sir Michael Somare on Wednesday put out a statement saying Prime Minister Peter O'Neill had agreed that Wewak would be a destination for the Prince of Wales and his wife, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall visit Port Moresby on Nov 3-5. A spokesman from PNG's department of foreign affairs, Richard Lepi, told AAP the visit to Wewak had been approved and would be included in the trip. When asked why the statement was put out, Tkatchenko said Sir Michael must have been “misinformed”. “We have apologised to Sir Michael Somare,” he said. On the Prince Of Wales' website, it says the royal couple plan to visit traditional cultural groups, church workers, charity and community volunteers, military personnel and young people at various locations in and around Port Moresby. Prince Charles first visited Wewak in 1975 to celebrate the start of PNG's independence from Australia.