Dubai: Britain’s Prince William made his first official visit to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, where the future monarch is highlighting his passionate work around wildlife conservation and climate change.
The one-day visit by the Duke of Cambridge marks a significant milestone in relations between the U.K. and the UAE, a Western-allied Gulf Arab nation ruled by hereditary leaders. The prince is expected to meet with Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the son of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Sheikh Mohammed’s headline-grabbing divorce settlement and custody battle has played out in British courts over the past year.
Queen Elizabeth II first visited the UAE as monarch in 1979, while Prince Charles’ last visit was in 2016.
The former British protectorate is a magnet for British nationals, whose culture permeates nearly every aspect of expatriate life in this country of over 9 million, where foreigners comprise around 90% of the population.
There are more than 100,000 British citizens living in the UAE and more than 6,000 British companies operating in the country, according to the British Business Group in Dubai and Northern Emirates.
The Duke of Cambridge’s visit coincides with the U.K.’s national day at Expo 2020, the world’s fair taking place in Dubai. Prince William is expected to visit the U.K. pavilion and tour the $7 billion grounds of the Expo site, where he will discuss the importance of conservation efforts with young Emiratis, officials and conservationists.
One initiative close to Prince William’s heart is United for Wildlife, established in 2014 by the duke to help facilitate efforts to counter the trade in illegal wildlife.
In his first stop in Dubai, Prince William visited DP World’s massive Jebel Ali Port, where he watched cargo being unloaded from container ships by crane and then scanned and inspected by customs. This is apparently aimed at highlighting efforts tackling the illegal wildlife trade.
The Dubai-based global ports operator DP World is a principal partner of Prince William’s United for Wildlife. The Dubai government-owned port operator, in partnership with Dubai Expo 2020, is also among the founding funding partners to the prince’s Earthshot Prize.
Launched by Prince William and The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in late 2020, The Earthshot Prize held its first-ever award ceremony late last year, offering five, 1 million-pound ($1.36 million) prizes to innovators,
entrepreneurs and scientists seeking solutions to the world’s greatest environmental problems. The award is being funded for 10 years, totaling 50 prizes.
This year’s award ceremony will be held in the United States. Last year’s finalists will showcase their innovative solutions to an audience at Expo’s DP World pavilion following a speech by Prince William.
The duke, like his father Prince Charles, has long used his platform to advocate for greater environmental awareness, warning that the Earth is at a tipping point and facing irreparable damage unless action is taken to repair the planet.
Prince William, who is traveling without his wife, Catherine, began his tour in the UAE with a visit to Abu Dhabi’s Jubail Mangrove Park to learn more about local conservation efforts for the plant that helps protect coastal areas from erosion. There, he met with children planting mangroves, and he planted one himself.
He was accompanied by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a son of Abu Dhabi’s powerful crown prince.
While in Dubai, the duke is also expected to meet with U.K. sports figures as the Queen’s Baton Relay makes it way around Dubai’s Expo site to pavilions of countries in the Commonwealth — mostly territories with former colonial ties to Britain.
The baton contains a message from Queen Elizabeth and travels to all all 72 nations and territories ahead of the Commonwealth Games. AFP
