It generally seems like Queen Elizabeth is not doing well, and that she’ll be resting and having a very limited schedule for the rest of the year, if not longer. It seems like the palace is actively trying to cover up the Queen’s health issues as well. But the Queen’s heirs are telegraphing the fact that they are unworried and unbothered. The same day the palace announced the Queen’s hospitalization, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge jetted off for vacation. And now the Prince of Wales has scheduled his first overseas tour in two years:
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will take their first major overseas tour since the pandemic began with a trip to the Middle East. Clarence House said Prince Charles, 72, and Camilla, 74, have been asked by the British government to visit Jordan and Egypt and will tour the countries from November 16 to 19.
Tours are a significant part of the royal calendar and allow the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to use their legendary ‘soft power’, opening doors not normally available to diplomats and politicians. But the royal family have had their wings clipped as a result of the Covid pandemic and this will be the first royal overseas tour for almost two years.
The prince and duchess are both double jabbed and will likely have had their boosters by the time the trip takes place. As the Queen no longer travels abroad, any trip by Charles is akin to a state visit and treated with huge significance.
Chris Fitzgerald, deputy private secretary to the prince, said climate change would be one of the main themes of the visit, and other issues would include inter-faith dialogue, female empowerment and efforts to preserve cultural heritage. Mr Fitzgerald said: ‘The first royal tour in almost two years will come at a significant moment in the UK’s relationship with both countries. Their royal highnesses will first travel to Jordan, where they will celebrate both Jordan’s own centenary and 100 years of the UK-Jordan bilateral relationship.
[Their royal highnesses’ visit to Egypt comes as the UK holds the Cop presidency and Egypt has been nominated to assume the Cop27 presidency in 2022. In this decisive decade for climate action, the next 12 months is therefore expected to see a significant co-operation between the UK and Egypt. Indeed, both visits will have a major focus on addressing the climate crisis.’
Just so we’re clear, Prince Charles and Camilla are going to set off in a private jet bound for the Middle East so that they can speak to Egyptian and Jordanian leaders about… the environment?? How much of this could have been done via Zoom? I know, I know, historic ties and King Abdullah II is one of the more progressive voices in the Middle East. But still! What odd messaging and what an odd moment for Chaz and Cam to go galavanting off on a tour. It’s likely that they’ll see King Abdullah and President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi at the climate change summit in Glasgow just two weeks before this tour!!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
What is not being said, is Charles is probably making representation on behalf of the Ministry of Defence to lock in arms deals with Jordan and Egypt. It has been reported that usually when Charles goes and Andrew went to the Middle East it is to do the British Government’s bidding to secure arms deals for British defence companies.
+1
Yes. This. Not bothering to visit commonwealth countries either I see.
I would rather they didn’t visit Australia thank you. The cost borne by the taxpayer could definitely be better spent. Stop these PR porn tours.
EXACTLY my first thought. GB gets a LOT of money in the arms deals, also cements “personal” relationships (lots of jewels and gifts in the Royal vaults from the Middle East).
So why isn’t the BM all up their asses about private jets, carbon footprints, cost of Cam’s bespoke wardrobe for this tour, GUNS!, POLITICS! COSTS!!
Hmmm.. wonder why.
That makes sense.
Side question: does PW even realize that these types of activities come with the territory?
Puzzling countries to visit, since neither Egypt nor Jordan are Commonwealth countries. So you’re probably right, it’s likely to do with sales of arms.
They’re going to fly in a private jet to Jordan and Egypt for less than 5 days to talk about the environment. Sure, that sounds about right.
These palace operations are really bad. Absolutely no coherent and cohesive strategy. Queen is knackered but still going to COP26. The Cambs are vacation who knows where. Now the Prince of Wales to Jordan. It all feels so random for an institution we are told is critical to the stability of the UK.
Charles looks like he drinks a lot. His face is so red which is a side effect of way too much booze. Camilla wears sack dresses like an old lady.
Yeech to both of them and the whole family who are white racists who pay their staff slave wages. Imagine working for 22,000 a year and trying to live on that.
Completely agree but I would just note that Camilla IS an old lady so it makes sense for her to dress like one! 🙂
Being outdoors in the sun with rosacea, not from drinking. Camilla was the smoker and drinker, but she stopped smoking for Charles.
@notasugarhere – thank you! I suffer with Rosacea and do not drink, but my face looks like Chuck’s. People who assume it’s from drinking really steam my clams!
@atorontogal I love that expression “steam my clams!” have never heard it before
Charles has rosacea Camilla has osteoporosis.
@Notasugarhere & atorontogal – I also have rosacea and if I am in the sun for more than 30 minutes without sunscreen or facial protection like make-up, my face, neck and chest will get as blotchy red as Chucky’s.
The lighting in the photograph probably makes Chucky’s condition look much worse than it is.
@Marehare, no he’s not a “boozehound”, he has rosacea and Camilla does not wear “sack dresses”, she has serious osteoporosis which has caused her spine to pretty much crumble so it’s hard to wear fitted clothing. I have it too and have been on meds for years trying to build back lost bone. I think by the time she was diagnosed, the damage was irreparable. Do some research before you make these comments.
50% of what Angelina Jolie wears are sack dresses, many people like the look, and there’s nothing wrong with a woman dressing for comfort rather than to please the male gaze.
I actually think Camilla always dresses pretty appropriately for her events and age.
@Jaded I’m sorry to hear that. I saw a clip of a new interview from Camilla for osteoporosis (I think it was National Osteo. Day? maybe?) and she was talking about her mother’s deterioration and it was really pretty hard to hear.
The scrutiny should be reserved for issues such as are they selling titles or privileges or arms? Are they ethical politically and financially?
Whatever else we might say, it’s less useful to comment on faces and frocks of the elderly. I have rosacea and have enjoyed approximately one cocktail a year throughout my life. People who comment on my beet-red face make me feel acutely unhappy and uncomfortable.
I get it about the rosacea- but there is absolutely life altering treatment for Rosacea, and I don’t understand if that is what Charles has why he isn’t using it? Mine was like burns across my face and the Australian sun was merciless. When it was treated and managed I could not have been more grateful. It was like a miracle.
@NCDancer
Apparently betty isnt going the cop26, They announced it earlier today. See scobie on twitter.
Omid Scobie
@scobie
After being advised last week to rest at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace have announced that the Queen has decided she will not travel to Scotland for #COP26. HM was originally scheduled to attend a COP26 evening reception on November 1.
This seems like a lot for 3 days for people their age.
They’re scrambling. I think she’s dying
I’m starting to think the same. I believe a lot of people assumed she would live to be 101 like her mother, but there is no guarantee of that even with her long life of organic eating, never having to worry about money, and the best medical care. She definitely seems to be in a decline. Even if she does live longer, I think her Queening days are almost up for good.
I hate to even go there but i agree. I think her health is way worse than is being led on
@KFC, same. Obviously their PR has been awful for years, but it seems to have gone *completely off the rails* in the past week or two.
She did a Zoom meeting today with two ambassadors – it stands out to me that she does those meetings via zoom, I would expect those would be pretty low stress meetings, while they expect her to attend big receptions and fly to NI etc.
Anyway in the meeting, her dress looked big on her. Part of it could have been from the way she was sitting, but it looked like it was gaping and AK couldn’t take it in fast enough.
I think she’s worse off than they are saying.
She did a Zoom meeting today with two ambassadors – it stands out to me that she does those meetings via zoom, I would expect those would be pretty low stress meetings, while they expect her to attend big receptions and fly to NI etc.
Anyway in the meeting, her dress looked big on her. Part of it could have been from the way she was sitting, but it looked like it was gaping and AK couldn’t take it in fast enough.
I think she’s worse off than they are saying.
I think so too Becks1. Visiting the Middle East has always been a priority for the royals and the hidden agenda is certainly arms/fossil fuel deals with a soupçon of environmental issues thrown in for good measure. And it’s not so far away that they can’t get back quickly should the Queen take a turn.
I think she’s in withdrawl because they took away the G&T’s.
I think she’s been declining more quickly than the palace anticipated. The drs have been able to keep her going for short engagements and pretty outfits and red lipstick help too. But there’s no disguising her frailty now. Prince Philip walked out of hospital ‘in good spirits’ and died 3 weeks later.
She’s now ducked out of the Cop26 in Glasgow, so maybe she really is ill. Or maybe she was afraid of getting booed/heckled, or asked about her Scottish exemption from environmental law requirements, so decided to leave this one to Charles and his idiot son
I don’t have a problem with the private plane in this case. The British government has requested they make this trip, there is national interest behind it and state visits don’t always run on a commercial time-table. I do have a problem with helicopter jaunts for private convenience.
I don’t have an issue with the private planes for trips like this either, but remember when the British press insisted that H&M fly commercial to South Africa? And there were so many “concerns” about how Harry was getting from SA to Botswana?
It’s really just more proof (not that we particularly need it) that they criticized H&M for the exact same things the other royals do on a regular basis.
Yes, what’s worse is that BP did nothing about it
I have the same energy for them, as I do for anyone else taking private jets. Are they filling the jet with staff, and do they really need such a large entourage? They absolutely could fly commercial, if they really wanted to
While I think that out of all the royals, Charles is the most environmentally aware, I also can’t see him going light on staff because he is so used to being waited on constantly.
Is there somewhere that describes how large a staff they’ll be traveling with? And actually, these excerpts from the DM don’t mention a private plane, so we’re assuming that, too. Flying commercial is nice for optics, but I wonder how real the savings would be. As you say, there will be staff, there will be security, a good amount of the plane could be taken up with people associated with this state visit. And then , what if the meetings and dinners and whatnot run late – does the Prince say “Sorry King Abdullah, I have to get to the airport” or do the commercial travelers sit and wait on the tarmac until the Prince’s business is done?
I don’t know about Egypt, but in Jordan usually foreign dignitaries land at a different airport, where they’re greeted by one of the Hashemites, so a commercial flight wouldn’t work for this.
I’m not really sure what benefit will come of this trip though. They have the meeting in Scotland just before, where King Abdullah will be present. They could discuss whatever it is then. I mean the meeting subject is climate change already.
The Middle East is going hard on the climate change front right now too, so maybe it was an invite that the British government thought would cause issues to decline.
I know not much is covered here when it comes to the Royals of the Middle East, but Charles and Camilla have nothing on them when it comes to being all talk. King Abdullah is currently on an EU tour, and Jordan’s Crown Prince flew privately to Saudi Arabia to participate in the Green Middle East conference, hosted by the eternally upstanding MBS.
King Abdullah also flew out to the US on at least two separate occasions this year, including for UNGA, which he then only gave a pre recorded speech for… so really, did he need to fly there for that? He was back in Jordan before it even took place.
@Eurydice – charles HATES to fly commercial. Hates it. I read somewhere that the few times he has flown commercial for tours like this, he buys out the whole of first class and then complains the whole time about being on a commercial plane.
@Becks1 – Omg, that is too funny, I mean totally horrible, but also hilarious. There’s no doubt where William gets his attitudes.
I do. No one , bar elected officials should fly private jets. It is simply beyond unnecessary. There are commercial flights with first class available, they and their staff can take those.
i’m so beyond the bullshit excuses.
I’ve given up the car, i take public transport everywhere, have brought my garbage down to 1 small bag every 2 weeks, i dont buy anything wrapped in plastic, i only fly once a year to visit my family and i know people who do much much more.
Will i save the planet ? No, but what it has done is make me far more aware of the sacrifices that are necessary from all of us, and greatly increase the expectations that i have on the ruling class. No one needs to be lectured about the environment by Charles, William or Harry, i don’t know any kids ( or adults) in the first world that is looking at any of them for inspiration, Greta, a regular schoolgirl has done for more than any of these posers.
The people they should be lecturing is their own ilk, not the rest of us.
Sure, I get it – I’ve never owned a car and I totally agree with you about the RF’s hypocrisy. But I think when the government requests that the Prince make this trip, it’s like he is an elected official.
If they are so concerned about the environment they need to stay on that island and stop the sewage being dumped into the channel and other waterways in Britain. What a nightmare.
The environment has to be a front. Idk what they’re doing but doubt it’s really about the environment. At this point, even Charles’ environmental bonafides are whatever. He represents and heads a system that hoards wealth. I’ve always been of the mind that every little bit helps but I’m feeling grumpy this morning. They are a mockery and I don’t think the queen cares about the environment or this C0 whatever except for the fact that it shows whether or not people will show up to their event.
I wouldn’t be surprised if arms deals were made or at least negotiated on these trips to the ME. That’s what Andrew was doing when he went on these trips to those countries.
It’s definitly a front, but they had to pick something for the reason, and Charles wanted it to be the environment since that’s been this thing, not realizing how tone deaf it was.
It’s 100% a front. The Sunday Times broke the news this week that one of the largest donors to Charles’ charity is the Saudi oil company Aramco. Charles & co are “investigating” of course.
How about an overseas trip to Monticeito?
No money to be made visiting there. He won’t bother.
I hope it’s intentional shade that after the Cambridges F off on vacation, Charles and Cams announce a big work trip.
For those talking about Charles’ mode of transportation, he’s likely going to take the RAF Voyager i.e. the plane used by royals and the PM for foreign trips.
What they aren’t mentioning, never do, is the number of times Camilla flies ahead separately. She experiences severe vertigo for days after longer flights.
I’ve never heard about her vertigo, but OMG! If I was in her position I believe I might make a very big deal of seeing Charlie off and welcoming him home, but avoiding flying at all for myself. I’ve experienced bad vertigo only once due to severe flu, but it was horribly disorientating. It made me feel as if my bed was spinning, and in attempting to cling to it and not get flung off, I literally threw myself off the bed, banged my head and got a concussion. Vertigo is the devil.
Yeah she has a really hard time with long haul travel, wish she could just stay home-she’s not a spring chicken herself here…
I was just about to mention that — she has to take sedatives and suffers for several days after, so she generally goes before Charles and stays in her hotel room until she recovers.
Um, did I just read a fairly reasonably written story, not placing one iota of blame for the increased workloads on Harry & Meghan? In the DAILY MAIL?
I only read the excerpt posted here, but it seems like that article was written in a completely different universe. It wasn’t riddled with errors, and seemed to have been written by someone intelligent who actually knows wtf they’re talking about.
I’m genuinely shocked!
You know, I’m so used to seeing random digs at H&M that I didn’t even notice there weren’t any here.
“Lord Salisbury (1830-1903), 19th-century Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, dismissed the Daily Mail as “a newspaper produced by office boys for office boys”. By 1902, at the end of the Boer Wars, the circulation was over a million a day, making it the largest read newspaper in the world.”
The Daily Mail has been catering to the same readership for over 150 years.
“In February 2017, the Daily Mail became the first source to be deprecated as an “unreliable source” for use as a reference on the English Wikipedia.”
I think the above statement says all one needs to know about the integrity of The Daily Fail!
The only thing that will be interesting in this tour is the Queen of Jordan’s fashion.
That woman is a style ICON
This is a bitchy comment, but why does Charles, the freakin Future King, not have a stylist or member of his staff who checks his appearance when he heads out? Specifically the extreme redness he gets in his cheeks? As a person who has redness myself as well, a little light tinted lotion goes a long way- lessens it without caking on a ton of makeup, and not even covering it per se, just blending a little more with the rest of the skin tone…
I don’t know, just thinking out loud here. 😆
There was a recent article in NY Times that King Abdullah of Jordan is parking a significant amount of money in multi million overseas real estate investments, even though a significant part of Jordan’s GDP is foreign aid and it’s an incredibly poor country under a lot of stress. They’re all in the same wealth hiding club. What exactly could Charles tell these people that they don’t already know?
Really going to discuss how to cover up the information coming out in the Pandora Papers
Has anyone ruled out that the queen tested positive for COVID before the NI trip? Perhaps that’s the reason for the trip to the hospital, zoom meetings and ‘taking it easy’ might just be isolating.