Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed at 60: rare images shed light on Crown Prince's early life in Abu Dhabi

To mark his 60th birthday, 'The National' and the National Archives present 32 pictures that capture a life of military service and public duty

The future President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed in the 1960s. The Al Nahyan family is from Al Ain and has remained strongly connected to the Garden City. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohamed in class in March 1969. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohamed practises writing in March 1969. He was schooled in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, Rabat in Morocco and spent a summer at Gordonstoun in Scotland. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohamed dressed in military uniform at the age of about 10, in the 1960s. Sheikh Mohamed has spent his entire life in the service of his country. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohamed gives the opening speech at the open day for Al Kindi Primary School in Abu Dhabi in April 1971. Photo: National Archives

UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, with Sheikh Mohamed at the open day at Al Kindi Primary School in Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Mohamed's teacher, Mohamed Al Tamimi is standing behind him. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Zayed with four of his sons, Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Sheikh Mohamed and Sheikh Hazza in November, 1974. Photo: National Archives

The future President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi cycles with relatives in the 1960s. Some of the National Archives images of Sheikh Mohamed have rarely been seen before. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohamed enjoys a quiet moment in a garden in 1969. Courtesy: National Archives

Sheikh Zayed with Sheikh Mohamed in October 1971, two months before the Union was formed. With Sheikh Zayed now the country’s founding President, his sons found themselves increasingly in the public eye. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Khalifa, the future second President, with Sheikh Mohamed. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohamed on horseback in the 1960s. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Zayed with three of his sons, Sheikh Mohamed, Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Hazza. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in August 1971. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohamed is known for his love of falconry. Here he is pictured with one of the birds of prey during a visit to Pakistan in 1970s. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohamed trains with a rifle at a military camp in Al Ain in the 1970s. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Zayed congratulates Sheikh Mohamed after his graduation from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, UK, after his return to Abu Dhabi on April 7, 1979. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Zayed, King Khalid bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Fahd bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia and Sheikh Mohamed during annual Saudi military manoeuvres in Abha, south-west Saudi Arabia, on June 27, 1979. Photo: National Archives

Back in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed tends to a falcon at the Falconers Club. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Zayed with the Ruler of Umm Al Quwain, Sheikh Rashid bin Ahmad Al Mualla, and Sheikh Mohamed performing Umrah. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohamed with Sheikh Khalifa and Britain's Prince Charles, at a banquet hosted by the British ambassador to the UAE on March 15, 1989. Also present are Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Sheikh Surour bin Mohamed and Ahmad Khalifa Al Suwaidi. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Mohamed attend the final of the Arabian Camel Festival at Al Wathba Racetrack, Abu Dhabi, on April 26, 1991. Photo: National Archives

Lt Gen Sheikh Mohamed, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, at the graduation for non-commissioned officers at the Land Forces Non-commissioned Officer School on June 9, 1994. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Mohamed in March, 1996. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Zayed with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mohamed. The three were attending 'The Arabs' Knight' operette, staged by the UAE Equestrian And Racing Federation at the close of the horse racing World Endurance Championship at Zayed Sports City, in Abu Dhabi. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohamed inspects the UAE's forces in Kuwait on March 18, 2003. The Second Gulf War began that month. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Mohamed at the wedding of Awaida Al Khaili in Al Ain on April 2, 2003. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohamed welcomes Britain's then prime minister Tony Blair in 2006. Reuters

Sheikh Mohamed introduces US President George W Bush to a falcon in Sweihan, Abu Dhabi, on January 14, 2008. Mr Bush was on a Middle East tour. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Mohamed visit the Idex defence exhibition in Abu Dhabi in 2003. Sheikh Zayed died the following year. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, with Queen Elizabeth II of the UK, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Sheikh Mohamed and UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi on November 25, 2010. Photo: Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Mohamed with Britain's Prince Charles at Abu Dhabi International Airport on February 21, 2014. Photo: Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi

King Mohammed VI of Morocco awards Sheikh Mohamed the Order of Muhammad First Class on March 17, 2015 in appreciation of the fraternal relationship between the UAE and Morocco. Photo: National Archives

Sheikh Mohamed with US President Barack Obama during a summit meeting at Camp David, Maryland, US in May 2015. AFP

Pope Francis and Sheikh Mohamed at the Abu Dhabi presidential airport, in February 2019. EPA

Sheikh Mohamed receives a briefing via video conference, about the efforts to combat Covid-19, in March 2020. Photo: Ministry Of Presidential Affairs

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed with his mother Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, on Mother's Day 2021.  

Sheikh Mohamed and French President Emmanuel Macron, wearing Expo 2020 Dubai wristbands, at the Fontainebleau Palace, France, in September 2021. Photo: Ministry Of Presidential Affairs

Sheikh Mohamed meets Sheikh Mohammed in Dubai, April 2022. Photo: Ministry of Presidential Affairs

Sheikh Mohamed celebrates Eid Al Fitr with his grandchildren, in May 2022. Photo: Ministry Of Presidential Affairs

Sheikh Mohamed and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, help carry the body of Sheikh Khalifa. Photo: Ministry of Presidential Affairs

Sheikh Mohamed leads funeral prayers for Sheikh Khalifa on May 13, 2022. Photo: Ministry of Presidential Affairs

Latest: Sheikh Mohamed's childhood teacher leads birthday wishes as past pupil turns 60

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed celebrates his 60th birthday on March 11.

It can be said the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces has lived his entire life in the service of his country, from the earliest age.

He was born in Al Ain, the third son of Sheikh Zayed, at the time the Ruler's Representative in the Eastern Region.

It was an important moment, not just as the birth of the future Crown Prince. He was delivered at the new Oasis Hospital, the first in the emirate, and set up only that year by American missionaries at the invitation of Sheikh Zayed.

The realisation that the ruling family were among the first to trust these new doctors undoubtedly  gave others the confidence to have their babies delivered at the hospital.

This greatly reduced the toll of death in childbirth and infant mortality, that until then had been all too common.

As Abu Dhabi became part of the UAE in December 1971, Sheikh Mohamed had already turned 10.

With their father now the country’s founding President, his sons found themselves increasingly in the public eye, seen through the rapid growth of television, newspapers and magazines.

Several of the photographs seen here, in a unique collection assembled from the UAE’s National Archives, show the childhood of the future Crown Prince.

One of the earliest photographs is from 1970, when Sheikh Mohamed was just nine.

It is an intimate family portrait of Sheikh Zayed with sons Sheikh Mohamed, Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Hazza. Sheikh Zayed looks at Sheikh Mohamed, smartly at attention in his uniform, as a loving father.

Another image from the same time shows Sheikh Zayed with his arms around the two younger boys as Sheikh Mohamed shares the same sofa.

In others we see him enjoying the simple pleasures of childhood, playing on a swing with his brother Sheikh Hazza or joyously riding a bicycle, taken in the 1960s, and another from the same period, sitting proudly on his horse.

By then Sheikh Mohamed was beginning his education, enrolled at Al Kindi Primary School where we see him serious, sitting at a desk with his books and writing on the classroom blackboard just before his  eighth birthday in 1969.

A little later, Sheikh Mohamed was beginning to assume public duties, given the responsibility of presenting the opening of the school’s first annual exhibition, in April 1971.

Watched by his teacher, Mohamed Al Tamimi, we see Sheikh Mohamed being greeted by the guest of honour that day, the President of the UAE – but also a proud father.

By 1979, Sheikh Mohamed had graduated from the prestigious Sandhurst Military Academy in the UK, greeted on his return to Abu Dhabi by Sheikh Zayed, the moment captured in a photograph from Alittihad newspaper.

That same year, now an officer in the UAE Armed Forces, Sheikh Mohamed accompanied Sheikh Zayed to Saudi Arabia for the country’s annual military manoeuvres. A photograph shows him in his uniform, smiling behind his father and King Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Several images show him carrying out military duties. The earliest photo of the Crown Prince in uniform is from the 1960s, a portrait of a serious young boy in the cap of the Abu Dhabi Defence Force and the insignia of a lieutenant on his shoulders. Another, from the 1970s, shows him training in Al Ain.

Many years later we see Sheikh Mohamed, now a lieutenant general, inspecting the UAE Armed Forces in Kuwait, in March 2003. From that same year we see Sheikh Mohamed with Sheikh Zayed at a wedding in Al Ain and, in uniform again, with his father at the Idex defence exhibition in Abu Dhabi.

Sheikh Zayed passed away the following year. With his older brother Sheikh Khalifa now President, Sheikh Mohamed became Crown Prince, along with the position of Deputy Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. In 2005 he was promoted to the rank of general.

Since then, Sheikh Mohamed has been a familiar figure on the world stage. His long association with the British royal family is illustrated with images of a banquet hosted by the British ambassador to the UAE for Prince Charles in 1989, greeting the Prince of Wales again at Abu Dhabi International Airport in 2014, and with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, UAE Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, as Queen Elizabeth II began her second state visit to the UAE in 2010.

Two contrasting photographs show first Sheikh Mohamed being presented with the Order of Muhammad First Class by King Mohammed VI of Morocco in 2015 and then dressed as a simple pilgrim performing Umrah in Makkah, with Sheikh Zayed and the Ruler of Umm Al Quwain, Sheikh Rashid bin Ahmad Al Mu'alla.

From January 2008 we see Sheikh Mohamed welcoming US President George W Bush at his tent in Sweihan. The Crown Prince is introducing the president to a falcon, an echo of two much earlier photographs, one at the Falconers Club in Abu Dhabi, and the other, as a smiling teenager, holding a falcon aloft on a trip to Pakistan.

They are a reminder that, at heart, Sheikh Mohamed is a true son of the desert.