UK's Queen Elizabeth spent time alone after Philip’s funeral, book reveals

Queen Elizabeth II shut herself in her sitting room and spent time alone after the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, her personal adviser said.

Angela Kelly has updated her book about serving the queen and included a new chapter that covers the pandemic and Philip’s funeral.

The service took place under strict Covid restrictions that prevented the queen from sitting with family members.

Ms Kelly, the queen’s senior dresser and personal adviser, described her return to Windsor Castle from St George’s Chapel last April.

“I helped her off with her coat and hat and no words were spoken,” she wrote, according to Hello magazine, which is publishing the new chapter this week.

“The queen then walked to her sitting room, closed the door behind her, and she was alone with her own thoughts.”

Ms Kelly was part of “HMS Bubble”, the nickname believed to have been given to the reduced household of dedicated staff who isolated themselves with Elizabeth during lockdown.

In her revised book, The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, first published in 2019, she also described the “sombre” mood among the team when they were told of Philip’s death.

Also on Monday, Prince Harry said it was “great” to see the queen, who gave him messages for British Invictus Games athletes when he visited her last week.

Harry and Meghan visited the queen and his father, the Prince of Wales, in Windsor on Thursday, having flown in from their home in the US before travelling on to The Hague in The Netherlands for the games.

It is the first time the couple had been seen together publicly on that side of the Atlantic for two years.

“She had plenty of messages for Team UK, which I’ve already passed on to most of them so it was great to see her," Harry told the BBC. "I’m sure she’d love to be here if she could.”

The surprise meeting has been regarded as an “olive branch” by royal commentators after a turbulent two years following the couple’s decision to step down as senior royals in 2020.

They were absent from the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service in London last month.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

Bert van Marwijk factfile

Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder

Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia

Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands

Kalra's feat

Becomes fifth batsman to score century in U19 final
Becomes second Indian to score century in U19 final after Unmukt Chand in 2012
Scored 122 in youth Test on tour of England
Bought by Delhi Daredevils for base price of two million Indian rupees (Dh115,000) in 2018 IPL auction

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Starring: Lana Condor and Noah Centineo

Two stars

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Director: Athale

Rating: 4/5

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Friday Stuttgart v Cologne (Kick-off 10.30pm UAE)

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Mainz v Borussia Monchengladbach (5.30pm)

Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)

Union Berlin v SC Freiburg (5.30pm)

Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (5.30pm)

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Bayer Leverkusen v Augsburg (11.30pm)

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