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TRH spend a second day in Qatar

24th February 2007

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall today toured a new museum in Qatar that will hold fabulous treasures from the Islamic world.

The Prince, who has a long-held interest in Islamic culture, and The Duchess visited the new Fahd Bin Ali Museum which is built on reclaimed land in the Persian Gulf.

The building, connected by a causeway to the waterfront area of the capital Doha, has been designed by the architect Ieoh Ming Pei who created the Louvre museum's iconic glass pyramid.

Their Royal Highnesses were received by Shaikha Mayasa, the Amir of Qatar's daughter, who is Chairman of the Qatar Museum Authority.

Guided by Shaika Mayasa, The Prince and The Duchess spent time examining the outside of the building, which is scheduled to open around the end of the year, before heading into a vast open atrium five storeys high.

They stood at the base of two flights of unfinished stairs and gazed up at the roof space high above their heads before heading to an outside courtyard to admire the stunning views of the Doha skyline.

During their visit Their Royal Highnesses toured the exhibition "From Cordoba to Samarqand" and were fascinated by the ancient objects that included ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, glass and other items from medieval Spain to central Asia and India.

His Royal Highness founded The Prince's School of Traditional Arts which aims to teach Arts and Crafts skills which have profound roots in all the major faith traditions.

Museum Director Dr Sabiha Al Khemir described the items in detail to The Prince and The Duchess and at one point took them to a cream coloured plate made in the 10th Century which had a saying in Arabic written around its perimeter.

In another part of the exhibition Their Royal Highnesses were shown a four inch high carved emerald cup made in India in the 17th Century.

Afterwards, The Prince and The Duchess attended a children's concert at a theatre in Doha in aid of the victims of the Pakistan earthquake and watched as talented youngsters sang and performed musical pieces for the audience.

The performers, including musicians and a large choir, were made up of children from English language schools in Doha and were directed by Elizabeth Morgan, a head teacher of a school in Bristol.

The youngsters performed popular songs and classical pieces, and during one tune, The Court of King Caractacus, the children performed a series of movements to illustrate the lyrics which made Their Royal Highnesses smile.

Last November The Prince and The Duchess witnessed the devastation caused by the earthquake first-hand when they visited Pattika, a tiny mountain town in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

During an interval in the concert, Their Royal Highnesses went on stage to meet some of the young performers.

The Prince told them: "Well done all of you. You did very well with the Court of King Caractacus, you're very clever to remember all of the words - I don't know how you did it."

Their Royal Highnesses are mid-way through a ten-day tour of the Gulf and have already visited Kuwait. They will also visit Bahrain, and Abu Dhabi and Dubai.