Charles and Camilla do Kuwait. After a fashion...
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall enjoyed "his and hers" tours of Kuwait City on the first day of their official 10-day visit to the Gulf States. While he talked Middle Eastern politics with the emir and military ties with the top brass, she found herself blowing bubbles, shaking hands with a toy donkey and admiring a glitzy tiara made out of egg cartons - though she resisted the temptation to try it on.
In a country where women have only just got the vote, the duchess's itinerary was, predictably, family and child orientated(sic). (ed. note: I hate it when people use made up words. Note to the Telegraph. The correct word: oriented.)
The couple even had separate official dinners. (It's that old He-Man Woman hater's club protocol. Hate to break it to you ladies, but up until the mid 70's Georgetown dinners featured the quaint custom of whisking the women upstairs while the men enjoyed cigars, cognac and serious talk. I just finished reading The Georgetown Ladies Social Club: Power, Passion and Politics in the Nation's Capital last night.)
His was a male-only affair with Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who, at 68 years, possibly has the distinction of being the only royal heir-in-waiting older than the 58-year-old Prince himself.
Hers was the Kuwaiti equivalent of a girlie night with the crown prince's wife, Sheikha Sharifa Al-Sabah, a mother-of-five and accomplished hostess.
"The women usually have much more fun than the men," confided one source. (Dinah's not buying it.)
It's good to be queen - er, duchess I mean.
Earlier the duchess, who chose to wear a special Omani turquoise stone and silver necklace given to her as a wedding present by Stuart Laing, the British Ambassador in Kuwait, and his wife Sibella...
It's all official business, people:
The couple's 10-day tour, which will take in Qatar, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, aims to further foster good relations with these oil-rich and strategically important Arabian Peninsular states in a turbulent region from which Islamic extremists have pledged to cleanse western influences.
Kuwait, where the terror threat is strongest, is just over three-hours drive from Basra, and vital for the logistical support of the coalition's military operations in Iraq.
The tour was planned after Prince Charles met Tony Blair at Balmoral last summer and offered to visit the region to support the Government's counter-terrorism offensive. During a private 20-minute meeting with Kuwait's 15th Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, the crown prince and the prime minister, aides said the Prince Charles, among other topics, the Middle East peace process and the delicate subject of Iran.
In a country where women have only just got the vote, the duchess's itinerary was, predictably, family and child orientated(sic). (ed. note: I hate it when people use made up words. Note to the Telegraph. The correct word: oriented.)
The couple even had separate official dinners. (It's that old He-Man Woman hater's club protocol. Hate to break it to you ladies, but up until the mid 70's Georgetown dinners featured the quaint custom of whisking the women upstairs while the men enjoyed cigars, cognac and serious talk. I just finished reading The Georgetown Ladies Social Club: Power, Passion and Politics in the Nation's Capital last night.)
His was a male-only affair with Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who, at 68 years, possibly has the distinction of being the only royal heir-in-waiting older than the 58-year-old Prince himself.
Hers was the Kuwaiti equivalent of a girlie night with the crown prince's wife, Sheikha Sharifa Al-Sabah, a mother-of-five and accomplished hostess.
"The women usually have much more fun than the men," confided one source. (Dinah's not buying it.)
It's good to be queen - er, duchess I mean.
Earlier the duchess, who chose to wear a special Omani turquoise stone and silver necklace given to her as a wedding present by Stuart Laing, the British Ambassador in Kuwait, and his wife Sibella...
It's all official business, people:
The couple's 10-day tour, which will take in Qatar, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, aims to further foster good relations with these oil-rich and strategically important Arabian Peninsular states in a turbulent region from which Islamic extremists have pledged to cleanse western influences.
Kuwait, where the terror threat is strongest, is just over three-hours drive from Basra, and vital for the logistical support of the coalition's military operations in Iraq.
The tour was planned after Prince Charles met Tony Blair at Balmoral last summer and offered to visit the region to support the Government's counter-terrorism offensive. During a private 20-minute meeting with Kuwait's 15th Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, the crown prince and the prime minister, aides said the Prince Charles, among other topics, the Middle East peace process and the delicate subject of Iran.
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