Prince William in UAE: To visit Jubail Mangroves, meet Sheikh Hamdan at Expo 2020

The British Royal landed at Dubai International Airport on February 9 evening

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Anjana Sankar

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Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. Photo: AFP
Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. Photo: AFP

Published: Thu 10 Feb 2022, 12:36 AM

Britain's Prince William will commence his UAE visit with a tour of the Jubail Mangrove Park on Thursday morning, an ecological sanctuary in Abu Dhabi.

The Duke of Cambridge will also meet Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, the British Embassy in the UAE has confirmed. Prince William will also visit Jebel Ali Container port and take part in the UK National Day celebrations at Expo 2020.

The British Royal, who is on his first official visit to the Emirates, landed at Dubai International Airport on February 9 evening.

A champion of environmental conservation and climate change mitigation, The Duke will visit Abu Dhabi's wetlands at the Jubail Mangrove Park to learn more about the UAE's efforts to protect the regional flora and fauna from human and environmental challenges, said the British Embassy.

In Abu Dhabi, Prince William will meet Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Office, to discuss conservation and other important issues.

Visit to Jebel Ali Port

The next stop of The Duke will be at the Jebel Ali Port, where he will learn about the regional efforts to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, another one of his passions.

In 2014, Prince William established the United for Wildlife, which has been working in the region to facilitate public-private partnerships in the UAE to help tackle the illegal wildlife trade.

DP World, the operator of Jebel Ali Port and many ports around the world, is a key United for Wildlife taskforce member supporting efforts to raise awareness of and action on the illegal trade.

During the visit, The Duke will be shown the scale of operations at the Middle East's largest port and watch a demonstration of cargo being unloaded from container ships by crane, scanned for suspicious items and inspected by customs.

Afternoon visit to Expo2020

The Duke will add a royal touch to the grand UK National Day celebrations at Expo 2020. In the afternoon, he will tour the site and visit several pavilions to celebrate the UK, showcase The Earthshot Prize and champion UK sport and talent.

He will also interact with young Emiratis and discuss the importance of conservation and working in partnership, alongside other issues.

The British Royal will meet with UK sportspeople and Commonwealth representatives as he takes part in the Birmingham 2022 Queen's Baton Relay, which will be making its way around the Expo site to various Commonwealth Pavilions.

The Queens Baton will leave the UK pavilion at 10.30 just before the flag hoisting ceremony at Al Wasl Dome at 11.30 am.

The Prince will address an audience at the first-ever Earthshot Prize Innovation Showcase and also listen to finalists pitching their innovative solutions to the audience.

Following the Showcase, The Duke, finalists and guests will have the opportunity to discuss the innovations as part of a networking event connecting the finalists with the influential audience to scale their solutions and accelerate their impact.

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The Duke will be meeting Sheikh Hamdan at Expo 2020. He will also take a seat to enjoy a performance celebrating the achievements of the UK and the contributions it has made to the world.

The Duke will watch performances by up-and-coming UK music talent and the Band of the Coldstream Guards before viewing a short film projected across the interior of the impressive Al Wasl dome – the centrepiece of Expo2020.

anjana@khaleejtimes.com


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