The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall spend a second day in Oman before arriving in the United Arab Emirates

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall finished their visit of Oman with engagements to celebrate young leaders and promote literacy before arriving in Abu Dhabi for the Royal visit to the United Arab Emirates. 

The Prince of Wales began the day meeting inspiring young Omani leaders and representatives from a number of organisations, including Outward Bound, The Prince's Trust International, Mosaic, and the Anglo-Omani Next Generation Group.

One of the young people The Prince met today was Anisa Al Raisi, who hopes to become the first ever Omani to reach the North Pole.

Following the reception, His Royal Highness met the Crossing the Empty Quarter Expedition, which is made up of three people who recreated the journey of the British explorer Bertram Thomas.  

Mark Evans, Mohammed Al-Zadjali and Amour Al-Wadibi retraced the steps of Bertram Thomas, who crossed the Empty Quarter in 1931. One of the hottest, driest, most inhospitable and loneliest places on earth, the Empty Quarter covers 650,000 square kilometres of the Arabian Peninsula in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen and the UAE. 

The Prince met the three explorers to hear some of the highlights of their expedition.

The Duchess meanwhile ended the visit to Oman at the Dar Al Atta’a Bookshop, before opening Oman’s first children’s public library.

The charitable organisation Dar Al Atta’a was established in 2002 and has helped to improve the lives of more than 50,000 people through its various outreach programmes.

The ‘Let’s Read Campaign’ was founded in 2007 by Jane Jaffer, a primary school teacher who has lived in Oman for 36 years. It is committed to promoting the love of reading to children in Oman.

Her Royal Highness toured the bookshop and joined local schoolchildren who were taking part in reading activities, before opening The Children’s Library. The first of its kind in Oman, the library’s slogan is ‘Access to Knowledge is our Right’ and it is located adjacent to The Children’s Museum and The Museum of Natural History, creating a cultural centre catering for childhood development. Here The Duchess toured the new library and met three children who had won a local writing competition. 

The Duchess of Cornwall is a keen advocate for the promotion of literacy and story writing, and is Patron of a number of charities who work to encourage literacy and reading.

Departing Oman, Their Royal Highnesses travelled to Abu Dhabi for the start of the Royal visit to the United Arab Emirates.

Welcomed on arrival by The Minister of Foreign Affairs and HM Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, The Prince took the salute from the Guard of Honour before Their Royal Highnesses travelled to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque for a religious tolerance event.

The Prince and The Duchess visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in 2007, prior to its completion. During today’s visit Their Royal Highnesses were able to tour the finished mosque and hear about its design. Afterwards, the Royal coupled joined an event with guests from different faiths and nationalities to celebrate and support the work the United Arab Emirates is doing to promote tolerance in the region and beyond.

The event was hosted by the United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Tolerance, Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was established in 2008 and sits at the entrance to Abu Dhabi City Island. The centre aims to work with research centres, and religious, educational and cultural institutions within the UAE and across the world.

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