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TRH spend a day in Kuwait

20th February 2007

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall spent the first full day of their 10-day overseas tour of the Gulf in Kuwait.

The day began with a formal meeting between the two royal houses of Britain and Kuwait held at the Bayan Palace in the capital, Kuwait City.

The Prince and The Duchess held an audience with Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwait`s 15th Emir, his younger brother, Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and Kuwait Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

Afterwards The Prince and The Duchess conducted separate engagements throughout the day.

The Duchess of Cornwall met young Kuwaiti cancer sufferers during a visit to the National Bank of Kuwait Hospital and spent time with youngsters being treated for leukaemia.

During the tour The Duchess saw the work of the Kuwait Association for the Care of Children in Hospital which helps young patients and their families cope with the stress of being in hospital.

The association employs Child Life specialists on paediatric wards of six hospitals in Kuwait who use play to help youngsters understand their illnesses and cope with painful procedures.

The Duchess joined in a bubble making session with leukaemia patient Farah Ahmad, who was being taught how to cope with painful treatments by "blowing away" her stress and anxiety with bubbles.

The Duchess asked the eight-year-old's Child Life specialist Mirna Tarajmar "Is she a brave girl?" before being handed a small bottle of soapy water and saying: "It's a long time since I blew bubbles."

When The Duchess turned to Farah and said she liked the Kuwaiti-flag brooch that the little girl was wearing, the young patient immediately took it off and carefully pinned it on The Duchess.

The Duchess of Cornwall toured the Centre for Child Evaluation and Teaching, which works with children with learning disabilities, and spent time with a group of enthusiastic eight-year-olds.

In one classroom the children wore glove puppets in the shape of animals to mark the Gulf state's national day on Sunday and The Duchess found herself shaking hands with a donkey as she chatted to the pupils.

The Duchess joined another group of youngsters in the school in Kuwait City, who were being taught arithmetic through art, before touring the establishment's music centre, cafeteria and watching a dance performance.

The Prince of Wales visited the Mubarak Al Abdullah Joint Command and Staff College in Kuwait City to recognise the achievements of British and Kuwaiti officers, who have turned it into the premier college of its kind in the Gulf.

The college, founded by the UK after a request by Kuwait, has British servicemen filling its key posts and, uniquely for the region, teaches its courses in English.

The Prince watched as about 60 students, from the Middle East and countries like Russia and the US, took part in a maritime strategy lesson using a large map of the sea showing a stretch of coastline.

Divided into two teams, one group devised a plan to deliver aid to a region while the opposing students tried to stop them.

The Prince later met staff and students from the military academy at a reception before travelling to the College of Business Administration to learn about initiatives to encourage youth development and entrepreneurship in Kuwait.

In the evening The Prince dined with the Crown Prince and The Duchess dined separately with the wife of the Crown Prince.

The Duchess joined the Crown Prince's wife Sheikha Sharifa Al-Sabah, and more than 100 of Kuwait's most prominent and successful women for dinner on a traditional dhow.

She was greeted warmly by Sheikha Sharifa and told her: "All these ladies - it's wonderful."

The women were taken to the dining area inside the huge wooden land based ship - Al Hashemi II - built in Kuwait City in 2000 at a cost of more than £10 million.

They were seated at large table laid out for 50 diners who included the wives of leading members of Kuwait's ruling family.

The meal started with fish - grilled hamour in lemon sauce with parsley potatoes, followed by a choice of either beef tenderloin in morel sauce, or grilled chicken breast and saffron rice, with Kuwaiti sweets or chocolate mousse for dessert.

The Prince spent the evening dining with the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf and the leading men of the Kuwaiti ruling family at the Bayan Palace.

The 10-day tour of five Gulf states - Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Abu Dhabi and Dubai from the United Arab Emirates continues tomorrow.