Pomp and pageantry for Emir of Qatar's two-day UK state visit

King Charles hosted Sheikh Tamim at a banquet in his honour with David and Victoria Beckham hogging the limelight

Pictured left to right, Britain's Queen Camilla; Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim; King Charles III; and Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani ahead of a state banquet at London's Buckingham Palace. Getty Images

King Charles walks next to Sheikh Tamim and his wife, Sheikha Jawaher. Reuters

King Charles with Sheikh Tamim, followed by Queen Camilla and Sheikha Jawaher. PA

Britain's Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, left, and Qatari Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, right, arrive at Buckingham Palace. AFP

Ms Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. PA

Foreign Secretary David Lammy and guest. PA

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and guests. Getty Images

King Charles and Queen Camilla with Sheikh Tamim. PA

Guests are seated for the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace. PA

King Charles and Sheikh Tamim. PA

Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim, marked the start of a two-day state visit to Britain on Tuesday, which included a state banquet in Buckingham Palace after a day of pageantry.

In the morning, King Charles III greeted the Emir with a handshake at Horse Guards Parade, where the Qatari national anthem was played and a royal salute took place.

The ceremony was also attended by Prince William and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, who escorted Sheikh Tamim and his wife, Sheikha Jawaher, to the ceremonial parade ground near Buckingham Palace. The princess, who was wearing jewellery that belonged to the late queen, recently returned to royal duties after completing cancer treatment.

Sheikh Tamim, accompanied by the king, inspected a guard of honour formed by the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards before he travelled in a carriage with other royal family members along The Mall, which was lined with British and Qatari flags, to Buckingham Palace, for a second guard of honour before lunch. Afterwards, Sheikh Tamim and Sheikha Jawaher were taken on a tour to see Qatari artefacts in the palace gallery.

King Charles III travels inside the Irish State Coach with Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim, and his wife Sheikha Jawaher, along The Mall to Buckingham Palace in London. PA

During an address to parliament, attended by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Sheikh Tamim pointed to his country’s efforts to halt the violence in Gaza.

Despite succeeding in securing the release of 109 hostages and 250 Palestinian detainees, the situation was dire with the “weaponising of access to food and medicine” and a failure to stop the violence. “The Gaza Strip has been subject to near total destruction,” he said.

Sheikh Tamim invoked the Victorian writer Jane Austen to call for a “tenderness of heart” in redoubling efforts to end the war.

Banquet

Later, the king, joined by the queen and Prince William, hosted a state banquet in the Buckingham Palace Ballroom in the Emir's honour, with guests including David and Victoria Beckham.

David and Victoria Beckham attend the state banquet for Sheikh Tamim. PA

Beckham was invited because of his close relationship with Qatar after acting as a paid ambassador for the country when it hosted the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

They dined on a menu of Windsor pheasant wrapped in savoy cabbage, Cornish lobsters with quail eggs and a Balmoral plum sorbet, receiving a special mocktail after dinner called a Royal Mirage, which was made of smoked pomegranate and ginger with black lime garnish.

The non-alcoholic drink reflected the colour of the Qatari flag, which was also celebrated with seasonal flowers.

Vivid red amaryllis in silver-gilt centrepieces served as a focal point, with bright scarlet winterberries, hydrangeas, red nerines and black tulips among the foliage, collected from Windsor Home Park and the Orchard Garden at the glasshouses in Windsor.

Music was played by the Hiraeth String Quartet and the King's Harpist Mared Pugh-Evans, with tunes including Moondance by Van Morrison and excerpts from the film La La Land.

Strategic investments

Qatar is set to confirm an initial commitment of £1 billion to a “clean-energy partnership” between the two states.

The deal includes investment in technology programmes operated by Rolls-Royce, as well as start-ups in the UK and Qatar focused on energy efficiency, carbon management and green power.

“I am proud that Qatar has chosen to base this global partnership here in the UK and I am delighted that the project is getting off the ground with this initial £1 billion commitment,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to say when he formally meets Sheikh Tamim in Downing St.

The partnership was originally announced in 2021 at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow and is expected to lead to the creation of “climate technology hubs” across Britain and Qatar.

Qatari Emir says he wants to increase investment in the UK

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Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds described Wednesday’s announcement as “a huge vote of confidence in the UK” that would “help create thousands of highly skilled jobs”.

King Charles arrived at the Grand Entrance in the Irish State Coach with Sheikh Tamim and Sheikha Jawaher to the sound of the Qatari and British national anthems. The Prince and Princess of Wales travelled with the Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, in the second carriage, the Australian State Coach.

Inside Buckingham Palace, the king and queen introduced the emir and his wife to members of the royal household who had gathered to wait in a receiving line. The king and emir walked together, followed by Camilla and Sheikha Jawaher.

Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales, with Sheikh Tamim, and his wife Sheikha Jawaher in London. AP

On Wednesday, Sheikh Tamim will also visit the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst before travelling to the palace to bid farewell to the king and queen.

The trip, the first incoming state visit since Mr Starmer’s Labour Party took power in July, comes as the UK seeks a trade agreement with the GCC, of which Qatar is a member.

The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, deliver a royal gun salute to mark the Qatari state visit to the UK. EPA

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told The National the emir’s visit would involve discussions to promote stability in the region as well as the countries’ economic ties. The UK’s Business and Trade Department estimates a free trade deal with the GCC could boost the UK economy by £1.6 billion ($2.12 billion).

The Gulf nation has several investments in Britain, with the state's sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, owning stakes in Barclays, Sainsbury's and Canary Wharf, among others.

King Charles and Sheikh Tamim, who visited Britain eight times between 2014 and last year, most recently met at the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai last December.

Sheikh Tamim was educated in Britain, where he attended private schools before graduating from Sandhurst. He and Sheikha Jawaher attended King Charles's coronation in May last year and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.