The Princess of Wales lit up the state dinner in honor of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq at Windsor Castle on Tuesday evening. It was the first state visit by an Omani sovereign to the United Kingdom in almost half a century.
Dressed in a vaporous yellow dress by Elie Saab, she wore jewelry from the late Queen Elizabeth II and chose to place the Lover’s Knot tiara, her favorite, in her hair. Created in 1913, the jewel is made up of 19 diamond arches and two rows of pearls, decorated with so-called “lovers” knots. Positioned to the right of the evening host, Kate appeared very comfortable with the Omani ruler, who graduated from Oxford.
King Charles III, for his part, welcomed Oman’s mediation efforts in the Middle East on Tuesday. The Sultanate of Oman, a long-time military ally of the United Kingdom and bordering the strategic Strait of Hormuz currently seized up, plays a mediating role in the negotiations between the United States and Iran, for this conflict that Donald Trump and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu triggered at the end of February.
“Our greatest respect”
“I would particularly like to welcome, at a time when conflict has resumed in such a painful manner in the region, the lasting commitment of Oman as a trusted interlocutor for all parties,” declared the British monarch during a large dinner at Windsor Castle. “Oman’s role in the entire Gulf and its ‘constructive neutrality’, to use your words, have a scope that goes well beyond the Strait of Hormuz and deserve our greatest respect,” he added to Haitham ben Tariq.
The Omani sovereign is due to meet on Wednesday at Downing Street with the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, on the occasion of this three-day visit which began on Tuesday, a first in 44 years.
The two leaders must sign an agreement aimed at stimulating bilateral investments, particularly in the strategic areas of renewable energy, technology, critical minerals, space, health, and financial services, Downing Street said.
Mr Burnham is among the guests at Tuesday’s banquet, alongside executives from Shell, BP and Airbus, various members of the royal family and other dignitaries.
The British military has been training alongside Omani forces in Oman for decades, and the port city of Duqm has long been home to a strategic British military presence.
