Staff Reporter
Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla arrive in Doha today on a private visit.
The royal couple will stay in Qatar until Sunday, British Ambassador Simon Collis said yesterday. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall arrive in Qatar from Kuwait. They are also scheduled to travel to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Soon after his arrival in Doha, Prince Charles will travel to Ras Laffan where he is the guest of honour at the opening of the Shell GTL Plant, the largest of its kind in the world.
“It is a huge project both from the Qatari and Shell points of view,” the ambassador said. The Qatar-Shell joint venture will take the bilateral relations to a “strategic level of co-operation in the energy sector”.
From early next year, Britain is likely to use the clean and environmentally friendly fuel produced by the high-tech plant, Collis said.
The clean fuel, which will be used for Britain’s public transport system, will have a “huge impact on the quality of life” there.
On return from Ras Laffan, Prince Charles will be joined by the Duchess on a tour of Education City “to see the development of higher education institutions and the involvement of British organisations in the city complex.”
Shell and Rolls Royce are participating in the Science and Technology Park.
Tomorrow is a “private day” for the royal couple. They will attend church and pay a visit to Souq Waqif to see Doha’s cultural heritage.
On Saturday, they will visit two museums – the Museum of Islamic Arts and the smaller museum where artefacts from Samarkand are kept. Charles will meet the embassy staff on the same day, the ambassador said.
In the evening, they will attend a charity concert by schoolchildren. Proceeds from the event will go to the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan.
On Sunday, the royal couple is “expected” to meet HH the Emir and other dignitaries. The Prince will also pay a visit to a British school before leaving Doha.
The ambassador stressed that the visit was of a “personal nature”. The Prince knew the region well and had a deep personal interest in “engagement with the local religion”. He understood the regional and cultural issues, the ambassador said.
The current visit follows the one by HH the Emir to Britain in January last year. For the Prince, this will be his third trip, the last being in “the late 90s”.
“Energy is an important issue. There is a lot of talk in Europe about energy security. We are looking forward to Qatar becoming a strategic partner as an energy supplier,” the ambassador commented.
The Prince also had an active interest in environmental issues and cultural matters. He would have opportunities to discuss “conservation, preservation and urban development on a human scale”, the ambassador said.
British community members will get a chance to interact with the royal couple at various public functions, Collis said.
Simon Collis |
