William and Catherine greeted by huge crowds in Solomon Islands

HONIARA (AFP) - 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 South-east 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.