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.

The Prince of Wales has been on many official visits - but few places are as sensitive or controversial as Saudi Arabia.

As Prince William arrives in Riyadh this week, he writes the latest chapter in a remarkable story of friendship between the UK and Saudi Arabia — one that stretches back almost a…