King Charles welcomes Qatar's Emir for UK visit | BBC News

uh so we've been seeing uh in the last hour these pictures of the state banquet for the Qatari Amir in London um but you will see from these pictures uh that uh Queen Camila is there uh right so I was going to tell you that she wasn't there tonight because she's been suffering from a form of pneumonia um she didn't take part we're told in the outdoor public ceremonies to greet the Amir but she's uh she's there she has been speaking to guests at the reception and presumably she is sitting for dinner so that that

uh that's reassuring isn't it um given some of the reports that we were seeing a little earlier in the day let's speak to Ian Lloyd he's the Royal biographer and former Royal photographer he's photographed Camila on many occasions good to see the queen out and about because there there was some concern earlier in the day particularly when people talk of of pneumonia and recovering from pneumonia yes hello Christian it's a very odd thing I think pneumonia I've never had it but apparently you can walk around and not realize you've got it so she probably thought

she had a chest infection that's what we were told and it wasn't clearing up but uh obviously at some point it's been diagnosed and um certainly she looked okay but she was obviously being sensible and not going out in the mile in horse guard's parade this morning because the last state visit the Japanese visitors were 10 minutes late due to the traffic so um you don't want to be hanging around in the middle of London yeah and what she did cancel tonight was not the banquet but actually the the lineup the presentation beforehand because the

guests and there are about 200 of them they all shake hands with the king and the Queen and so on so you're standing there for you know 10 15 minutes just shaking hands with people and being Pleasant and that she sat out somewhere and then she came back for the actual banquet so um so she's obviously being sensible and taking it easy I think we should just remark on on the lineup there because the Princess of Wales is resuming duties and she's there tonight the king of course being treated for cancer the queen who's had

pneumonia it's been a pretty tough time for the royal family all told I thought Katherine wasn't going this evening I don't know but um she um yes it has been and that's when we heard that Camila was Ill you've got this this succession of illnesses obviously there was the death of Prince philli and then the queen and then of course the king the present King being uh having cancer and then Kate so you you you know alarm Bells go when you have hear of an illness and uh I'm told she's not that we were only

just seeing these live for the first time so the lineup is is new to me but but I don't think she is there Princess Anne is there um but I don't see the princess of well no she wasn't supposed to be going but um again that's that's a precautionary thing that you you um she stepped in this morning for that event because um Camila wasn't there and that's what they've been doing all year so Camila of course stepped in for the king at the beginning of the year so she went to uh uh Northern Ireland

on her own for a two-day visit and then distributed the m money before Easter so um they've all been helping each other and Princess an as you just mentioned and Camila were the main two during the spring so we've got this very depleted monarchy at the moment and um and and she's uh she's been fantastic in the spring certainly how important are these the these State Banquets in in in the diplomacy that goes on on a state visit like this well they're very important because it's it's um it's exercising soft power I mean everybody wants

to um you know meet the king or the queen and um and it's not just them that are present but their their ministers their foreign secretaries and so on and they'll be talking to each other as well as the Royals talking to each other so um trade deals are done and so so on so it's it's a very important thing but it's it's you know sort of I say soft power really I think the king's about to speak shall we listen then evening on your first state visit to the United Kingdom in many many ways

this evening might be seen as a homecoming your highness is no stranger to these Shores having spent so many of your younger years here at three of our most renowned institutions sherban Harrow and the Royal Military Academy sants your many visits since then have served as a testament to the close personal Ties That Bind our nation s and our families this evening I am delighted to Mark the renewal of our enduring friendship Al balad Al your highnesses are unique shared history stretches back over 16 years the United Kingdom is proud to be g's oldest friend

in the Western World we have a special bond founded on mutual respect which has stood the tested time indeed G's role in navigating the challenges of recent years has been invaluable from supporting evacuations from Afghanistan to helping keep the world moving in some of the darkest days of the pandemic your Humanity vision and Leadership matter more than I can possibly say joh hanes's visit comes at another moment of great Global change we are living through significant turbulence the climate emergency and the white heat of a scientific and technological Revolution just as our parents served and

worked so hard to confront the challenges of their ages so too must we and at such times of uncertainty and upheaval old friendships assume even greater importance if I may I would um particularly like to express the United Kingdom's deepest gratitude for your tireless mediation efforts uh over the past year in pursuit of Peace in the face of unbearable heartache and suffering in these most desperate of circumstances gaa's continued toil perseverance and diplomatic efforts are quite simply Beyond Compare these are duties that we all share as the Quran says whoever Saves a Life it will

be as if they saved all of humanity and as the Bible says blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God we stand with you in our commitment to a world where peace and Justice Prevail over a division so as we work together to address the immediate and Urgent issues of the day I take some comfort in the knowledge that our governments are also collaborating to tackle the most pressing shared threats to humanity of climate change and biodiversity loss on clean energy are joint initiatives are Paving the way for a much

less polluted future one where economic growth and environmental stewardship go handin hand I I am greatly encouraged to know that we are embarking on a partnership that will uh over the next 20 years place our Nations jointly at the Forefront of clean energy technology development in the rapidly advancing fields of Science and Technology British and Gat researchers and clinicians are working together on cuttingedge projects that have the potential to transform our world this includes work on genomic genomics where experts are developing unique models to identify rare disease at an early stage a technology developed uh

the king pay tribute to uh the peacekeeping that Kata has been involved in over the past year also making reference uh to the enormous importance Kata plays in energy supplies to the UK as well one of the Big Gas producers uh in uh the Middle East in the Gulf uh region um Ian Lloyd the Royal biographer is uh with us it's quite interesting what the sort of topics that the king picks up obviously climate change very important to him and the clean energies and the money that Kata has to develop clean energies and they are

a big investor here in the UK in that direction but also the role that Kata have played this past year in trying to bring Hamas and Israel together yes absolutely there was a bit of flattery in there wasn't there and did you notice he used a few words from the the amir's language so um that's that's something that is inherited from the late Queen who when she was in Ireland spoke a few words in GIC you may remember that back in 2011 and it brought the house down and that's something that um he's learned from

the Queen the late Queen is to um you know flatter the host and and um um BR bring out his his strengths and so on it's what I was saying earlier about soft diplomacy and the other thing with the king is how well he speaks now I mean I remember in the 90s when I was doing a few things there he some of his speeches were quite agonizing to listen to because he was he he wasn't as conf confident and that's down to Queen Camila because she's given him tremendous reassurance and confidence uh in a

way that the queen mum did to him when he was younger and uh and that makes a difference he's he's noticeably stepped into the role of of King and and does these things brilliantly well I think indeed so and uh no doubt reassured by Queen Camila's presence alongside him there tonight recovering from that boat of pneumonia uh Ian it's good of you to be with us tonight thank you very much for your time