The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visit Bahrain

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall carried out engagements in Bahrain today as part of their week-long Royal tour. 

The day began with a joint visit to the Old Post Office Museum in Manama, Bahrain’s capital city. Their Royal Highnesses were briefed on the history of Bahrain's postal service, and shown selected rare stamps before unveiling an enlarged version of two new stamps that have been designed to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the UK – Bahrain relationship.

The Prince and The Duchess then toured the Manama Old Souq, an old bazaar area in Manama between the old parts of the city and the Central Business District. It is home to shops, the gold market and various religious places of worship. Here Their Royal Highnesses met members of the public and browsed some of the various stalls. 

After departing the Souq, The Prince and The Duchess toured the Krishna Temple to learn about its history and the history of the Hindu community. The Royal couple were welcomed to the compound with garlands before having a short meeting with priests.

Parting ways, The Duchess then visited St Christopher's School, a British-style school with 2,200 pupils. Here Her Royal Highness met schoolchildren and learned about the school’s programmes in literacy and music.

This was followed by a visit to the Supreme Council for Women, accompanied by Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, who is President of the council.

The Duchess chatted to dozens of women from fields as diverse as the judiciary, the media, aviation and engineering, academics and medicine - and the country's first ever Paralympic medallist, Fatima Nedham, who won gold in the shotput at Rio.

The Supreme Council for Women consists of 16 women from a wide range of backgrounds who work with the Bahraini government and ensure that the status of women is given due prominence.

The Prince of Wales meanwhile attended a private audience with Prince Khalifa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of Bahrain, before joining a roundtable discussion on the topic of empowering communities for positive change.

The discussion included a diverse group of Bahrain's society, including young leaders, and covered a wide-range of issues including education and active citizenship.

This was followed by a visit to Al-Fateh Grand Mosque, where His Royal Highness spoke with six members of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.

The mosque, the largest in Bahrain, is in the same complex as the National Library and the Shaikh Isa Cultural Centre.

The Prince also went to the cultural centre, where he viewed a traditional and geometric art workshop with students from the University of Bahrain. He met Sara Al Zayani, the first Bahraini graduate from The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, who told him about a mosque she had designed.

His Royal Highness then visited the Royal Navy Support Base and opened the welfare block of the HMS Jufair, before touring the Bahrain National Museum and joining a reception of 32 young Bahraini leaders.

In the evening, Their Royal Highnesses attended an exhibition and reception to celebrate the 200th anniversary of relationships between the UK and Bahrain.

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