As all but the most somnolent
members of the British
community in Abu Dhabi will
be aware, Their Royal Highnesses
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess
of Cornwall visited Abu Dhabi and
Dubai at the end of February as part
of a tour of four Gulf states. The main
objectives of the tour, according to an
official statement, were "to advance
key British Government priorities in the
promotion of moderate Islam, military
co-operation, environmental protection
and energy security."
During their visit to Abu Dhabi, H.R.H
The Prince of Wales was received
by H.H. President Sheikh Khalifa
bin Zayed Al Nahyan and by H.H.
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al
Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi
and Deputy Supreme Commander of
the UAE Armed Forces, while H.R.H.
The Duchess of
Cornwall was
received by H.H.
Sheikha Fatima
bint Mubarak.
The programme
began with a call
to pay respects
at the tomb of the late H.H. Sheikh
Zayed, and viewing the construction of
the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
The couple also visited the Diabetes
Centre, built as a joint venture between
Mubadala and Imperial College,
London, to meet patients, staff and
members of the UAE National Football
Team involved in the launch of the
centre's healthy lifestyle campaign.
The Prince's implied criticism of
McDonald's, overheard by the
accompanying British journalists, made
headlines in the local papers and the
British tabloids.
Other engagements for Prince
Charles included a visit to a Climate
Change Exhibition by the British
Council and UAE environmental
groups at The British School Al
Khubairat. While there, he also viewed
an inter-active presentation on Masdar,
Abu Dhabi's new programme to drive
innovation in energy, technology
and sustainable resources and met
with leading figures from the Masdar
Initiative and three of its foreign
partners, Imperial College's Energy
Futures Lab, BP and Shell.
He also visited the Beach
Rotana Hotel to attend the Tawteen
Symposium, a long-term strategic
initiative of the UAE's Emirates
Foundation, designed to address
social and cultural obstacles to careers
and self-development of nationals throughout the UAE and
across the Arab World.
Another meeting was with
30 of the top performing
students participating in the
Education Without Borders
International Student
Conference held at the
Emirates Palace Hotel.
A highlight, for the British
community, at least, was
the reception at the British
Embassy.
The selection of
photographs on these pages
provide a pictorial record of at
least part of what was a very
busy – and, by all accounts,
a very successful – visit. We
look forward to more.
|
|  |
|
Join Us!
If you would like to apply for
BBG membership, please click here |
|
|
|
