LONDON: Prince William’s three-day visit to Saudi Arabia this week reflects deep British interest in the “expectation of an important future” with the Kingdom, a former ambassador told Arab News on Monday.
Ties between the two royal families are “almost 100 years old, and it’s the kind of relationship that runs at a sort of deeper and longer wavelength than the day-to-day politics,” said Simon Collis, ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2020.
“Prince William’s grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth, visited Saudi Arabia and hosted several of the kings of Saudi Arabia on their state visits to the UK.
“King Charles, as prince of Wales, visited Saudi Arabia many times — over a dozen times — and actually his last visit came shortly after I arrived in Riyadh as ambassador.
“When Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited London in 2018, he had lunch with the queen, the late queen, and dinner, and that was at Buckingham Palace. He had dinner at Clarence House with Charles as prince of Wales, and William was there at that dinner.”
