Prince Charles attends sustainability event on second day of Egypt visit

His wife Camilla visited Brooke animal hospital in Sayeda Zeinab district of Cairo

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  Britain's Prince Charles the Prince of Wales meets with Pope Tawadros II, head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, in Cairo. EPA

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  Prince Charles, accompanied by his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, are greeted by officials and a children's quartet as they arrive at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt's northern Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria. AFP

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  Prince Charles stands next to the 'mahmal', the palanquin formerly used to transport the 'kiswa' protective cover that engulfs Islam's holiest shrine the Kaaba from Egypt to Mecca, during his visit to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. AFP

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  Britain's Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, accompanied by his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, sign the guestbook during their visit to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. AFP

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  Prince Charles visits the Jesuit Cultural Centre in Alexandria. Reuters

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  Camilla visits the Brooke Hospital for Animals in Cairo. EPA

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  Prince Charles poses for a photo with chairman of The Greek Campus Ahmed El Alfi, Egypt's Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad and other attendees, as he visits the GrEEK Campus workspace for the Sustainable Markets Initiative event in Tahrir Square. Getty Images

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  The Prince of Wales and his wife arrive at Cairo airport in Egypt from Jordan, on the third day of their tour of the Middle East.

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  Camilla leaves the royal flight at Cairo airport.

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  Prince Charles and Camilla were met at Cairo airport by Gareth Bayley, the UK ambassador to Egypt, and his wife, Sara Fawcett.

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  Prince Charles with Gareth Bayley, the UK ambassador to Egypt, after his arrival in Egypt.

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  Camilla, left, is welcomed by Entissar Amer, the wife of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, at the presidential palace in Cairo. Reuters

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  Prince Charles and Camilla meet President El Sisi and Ms Amer at Al-Ittahadiya Palace in Cairo.

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  Camila arrives to meet President El Sisi and his wife at Al-Ittahadiya Palace.

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  Prince Charles and President El Sisi at Al-Ittahadiya Palace.

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  Charles and Camilla arriving at Al-Ittahadiya Palace.

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  Prince Charles and Camilla on the third day of their tour of the Middle East.

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  Camilla in the courtyard of Al Azhar Mosque. EPA

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  Camilla arrives at Al-Ittihadiya Palace. Reuters

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  Prince Charles meets Egypt's Antiquities and Tourism Minister Khaled al-Anany. Reuters

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  Egyptian Islamic scholar and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar mosque, Sheikh Ahmed Al Tayeb, right, meets Prince Charles, left, at the mosque in Cairo. AFP

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  The Grand Imam, centre left, receives Prince Charles, centre-right, and Camilla, centre, upon their arrival at the mosque. AFP

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  The Grand Imam invites Prince Charles and his wife Camilla to the courtyard of the mosque. EPA

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  Charles and Camilla visit the Giza Pyramids plateau on the western outskirts of Cairo. AFP

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  Prince Charles surrounded by students during his visit to Al Azhar Mosque. AFP

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  The Grand Imam of Al Azhar Mosque, Sheikh Ahmed Al Tayeb, right, meets Prince Charles. left. AFP

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  Prince Charles and Camilla at Al Azhar Mosque, the oldest Sunni institution in the Muslim world, with the Grand Imam, left, and the Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Alexandria Samy Fawzy, right. AP

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  Prince Charles and Camilla, left, at the Al Azhar Mosque. AFP

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  Charles and Camilla at the Giza Pyramids plateau. AFP

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  Charles and Camilla pass the Sphinx at the Giza Pyramids plateau. AFP

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  Charles and Camilla in front of the Great Pyramids of Giza. Reuters

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  Charles and Camilla next to the Great Sphinx of Giza on the third day of their tour of the Middle East. Getty Images

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  The royal couple are on an official visit to Egypt as part of their first royal tour since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. EPA

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  Prince Charles and Camilla with Egypt's Antiquities and Tourism Minister Khaled al-Anany near the Pyramids of Giza. Getty Images

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  Prince Charles surrounded by students on a visit to Al Azhar Mosque in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. AFP

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  Prince Charles is greeted by Egypt's Environment Minister, Dr Yasmine Fouad, on a visit to a Sustainable Markets Initiative event in Tahrir Square, downtown Cairo. Reuters

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  Prince Charles in Tahrir Square, downtown Cairo, during his visit to the Middle East. Reuters

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  Prince Charles at a round table meeting on a visit to the GrEEK Campus workspace for the Sustainable Markets Initiative in Tahrir Square, Cairo. Reuters

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  The Prince of Wales at the Sustainable Markets Initiative in Tahrir Square. Reuters

Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla attended separate events in Cairo on Friday, the second day of their visit to the Egyptian capital. While Charles visited a sustainability event to promote climate change co-operation, one of the main agendas of his trip, Camilla visited a nearby animal hospital.

The Prince of Wales met Egypt’s Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad and other prominent officials at an event organised by the Sustainable Markets Initiative at the American University in Greek Campus, Cairo. He also took part in a roundtable discussion on climate change, attended by Ms Fouad and Greek Campus chairman Ahmed El Alfi.

Meanwhile, Camilla visited the Brooke Hospital for Animals in the Sayeda Zeinab district. Photographs of the duchess showed her petting a donkey at the hospital.

Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, visits the Brooke Hospital for Animals in Cairo. EPA

The royal visit, part of a Middle East tour that began in Jordan this week, has been touted as a passing of the UN Climate Change Conference baton, which ended its 26th conference in Glasgow last week and is set to come to Egypt for its 27th next year.

“We have to be the custodians of a truth that our ancestors understood so well, that we are, in actual fact, part of the natural world, not separate from it, and above all it is our duty to do all in our power to protect nature rather than testing her to literal destruction,” Prince Charles said at a press event overlooking the Giza pyramids on Thursday night.

A planned visit on Friday to the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, moored off the coast of Alexandria, was cancelled due to "operational reasons" after one of its F35 fighter jets crashed into the Mediterranean on Wednesday.

British aircraft carrier 'HMS Queen Elizabeth', moored off the Egyptian coast at Alexandria, was to have received a visit from Prince Charles and his wife Camilla but the arrangement was cancelled. AP

An extensive multination search is being mounted for the aircraft. The pilot ejected safely and was returned to the aircraft carrier.

The royal couple arrived in Cairo on Thursday on their first visit to Egypt since 2006, and were received at the Al Ittihadiya presidential palace by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and first lady Entissar El Sisi.

In a nod to another of Charles’s agendas, religious inclusivity, the couple visited Al Azhar.

Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla visit the Al Azhar Mosque, the oldest Sunni institution in the Muslim world, with the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Ahmed Al Tayeb (L) and the Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Alexandria, Samy Fawzy. AP

The Prince of Wales helped start a British academic scholarship programme, which allows Al Azhar scholars to pursue degrees in Islamic studies at British universities before returning to Al Azhar to work as faculty members.

The couple then headed to the pyramids of Giza, the Egyptian capital’s most popular tourist attraction.

The Giza site was not cleared of tourists, however.

Camel drivers and vendors were instructed to leave the area by 2pm, one of them told The National., but tourists were allowed to remain to highlight the recovery of the country’s tourism sector.

Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, pose in front of the Sphinx as they visit the pyramids in Giza. EPA

The royal visit led to more congested than usual on the capital's streets on Thursday, as many main roads were closed to secure the couple's route through the city.

Several markets were also closed for security reasons as the royals visited Al Azhar.