Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud offered his condolences to King Charles III on the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The grieving sovereign spoke to King Salman by phone, a representative of the new British monarch said on Thursday. He said the new king had also chatted with the presidents of Germany, Greece, Italy and Rwanda.
King Charles has over the years been a frequent visitor to Saudi Arabia.
His educational charity, the Prince’s Foundation, has satellite operations in the kingdom.
In 2015, Prince Charles, as he was then, undertook a whirlwind tour of Middle Eastern countries that took in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan. The following year, he was joined by his wife Camilla ― now queen consort ― for a tour of the UAE, Oman and Bahrain.
Messages of support also poured in from leaders and dignitaries around the world.
US President Joe Biden offered his condolences to the king in a phone call, remembering the queen’s “kindness and hospitality, including when she hosted him and the first lady at Windsor Castle last June”.
"He also conveyed the great admiration of the American people for the queen, whose dignity and constancy deepened the enduring friendship and special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom," the statement said. President Biden stressed he was keen to "continue a close relationship with the king" as he takes on his new role.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter that he held a phone conversation with the king on Wednesday evening in which he “expressed France’s condolences on the death of his mother” and said that he would attend the queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday.
Since the death of his mother at Balmoral on September 8, the 73-year-old king has undertaken a whistle-stop tour of the UK’s four nations.
After leading the procession of royals behind his mother’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on Wednesday, King Charles was afforded a day of respite on Thursday at his Highgrove Estate in Gloucestershire.
On Friday he will undertake his first official visit to Wales since taking over the throne from his mother. He will be joined by his wife Queen Consort Camilla at a prayer service for his mother at Cardiff’s Llandaff Cathedral and an event at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay.
Crowds gathered across the city on Friday morning, including outside Cardiff Castle where the king will greet members of the public on a visit considered by many to be a historic day for Wales.
The royals will make their appearance on Owain Glyndwr Day – the day Welsh communities gather to celebrate the life and legacy of the “rebel” Prince of Wales. The same day in 1400 was when Glyndwr began a 15-year uprising against the king of England, Henry IV, after which his followers would proclaim him Prince of Wales.
The revolt is considered to be the last Welsh war of independence and Glyndwr has since been viewed as a figurehead of Welsh nationalism and the independence movement.
After the death of the queen, a number of Glyndwr Day events were cancelled, prompting disappointment and anger in some communities. But as the king and queen consort are led on a procession through the Welsh capital, some have vowed to continue their Glyndwr Day traditions.
Charles visiting the Middle East over the years - in pictures
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The UK's Prince Charles, now King Charles III, plays polo near Muscat, Oman, in 1986. Getty -
Prince Charles and Princess Diana at a picnic near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 1986. Getty -
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak with Prince Charles during a visit to the UAE in 1988. Photo: Al Ittihad -
Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, attend a camel race in Al Ain in March 1989. Getty -
Prince Charles visits the Karnak Temple Complex during a visit to Egypt in 1995. Getty -
Prince Charles tours the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca during a three-day official visit to Morocco in 1995. Reuters -
The British royal is served Arabic coffee during a visit to Bait Al Zubair in Muscat in 2003. Reuters -
Prince Charles with Maj Gen Andrew Stewart, right, at a British military base in Basra, Iraq, in 2004. Reuters -
The UK royal is shown a map of Arg-e-Bam during a 2004 visit to the ruins in Bam, southern Iran. Reuters -
Prince Charles in Petra, Jordan, in 2004. Getty -
Charles, Prince of Wales at the time, visits the College of Islamic Art at Salt University in Amman, Jordan, in 2004. Getty -
Prince Charles wears a bisht during a 2007 visit to a traditional handicraft centre in Kuwait with Camilla, now Queen Consort. Reuters -
The royal visits Al Safwa farm in Doha in 2013. Reuters -
Prince Charles with former Saudi tourism minister Prince Sultan bin Salman at Al Diriyah in 2014. Reuters -
Prince Charles wears a traditional Saudi uniform to perform a sword dance, known as ardah, in Riyadh in 2014. Reuters -
Prince Charles visits Jordanian children and Syrian refugees at a sports ground in Zaatari, Jordan, in 2015. Getty -
The royal is greeted by children during a walking tour in Muscat in 2016. Getty -
Prince Charles during a visit to the Tubil Bay regeneration project in Bahrain, in 2016. Getty -
Prince Charles visits Manama Souq, Bahrain, in 2016. Getty -
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, receives Prince Charles and Camilla in Abu Dhabi in 2016. Photo: Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court -
Sheikh Abdullah with Prince Charles and Camilla after a meeting at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in 2016. Photo: Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court -
President Sheikh Mohamed, who at the time was Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, receives Charles and Camilla, at Al Jahili Fort in Al Ain in 2016. Photo: Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court -
Prince Charles visits the site of Expo 2020 Dubai in 2016. Getty -
Prince Charles visits Bu Tinah island on the second day of his tour of the UAE, in November 2016. Getty -
Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, with Prince Charles during his visit to the Regional Conservation Centre in Sharjah, in November 2016. Photo: Ab Dhabi Crown Prince Court -
Prince Charles lays a wreath during the Fifth World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem in 2020. Reuters -
Prince Charles with Roman Krassovsky, right, Archimandrite of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and chief of its Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, during a visit in Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene in 2020. Reuters -
Prince Charles and Camilla visit the Great Sphinx of Giza during a regional tour in 2021. Getty -
Prince Charles stands next to the mahmal, the palanquin used to transport the kiswah that covers the Kaaba in Makkah, during a visit to Alexandria, Egypt, in 2021. AFP
