Prince Charles and Camilla visit Al Azhar and Egypt’s other historic sites during second leg of Middle East tour
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, arrived in Egypt on Thursday.
The British royals met President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and his wife Entissar Amer before visiting historic sites in Cairo.
They were accorded a formal welcome at the presidential palace at the start of their first visit to Egypt in 15 years.
The Prince of Wales and Mr El Sisi discussed efforts to counter terrorism and extremism as well as co-operation between the two countries in areas such as health and higher education, the president’s office said.
After a separate meeting with
Camilla, Ms Amer wrote on her Facebook page that the two discussed the country’s efforts to empower women.
Several markets in the Egyptian capital were closed for security reasons as the British royals visited Al Azhar Mosque, with television footage showing the prince meeting Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, and other officials.
Social media buzzed with a positive reaction to Camilla, who wore the hijab. Egyptian Twitter and Facebook users praised the duchess for showing respect for the country’s culture.
Prince Charles’s meeting with the Grand Imam of Al Azhar was seen as particularly important given their shared interest in interfaith dialogue.
The Prince of Wales helped start an academic scholarship programme, which allows Al Azhar scholars to pursue degrees in Islamic studies at British universities before returning to Al Azhar to work as faculty members.
Launched in 2015, the programme aims to promote mutual understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Dr Al Tayeb has forged close relations with the Vatican and has also met the Archbishop of Canterbury, the most senior figure in the Anglican Church.
The Al Azhar mosque in Cairo’s old quarter was built more than a 1,000 years ago and has become one of the foremost seats of Sunni Islamic learning.
The old quarter is also home to the Khan El Khalili bazaar, with sites dating back to the Mameluke and Ottoman eras, and the city’s historic gold market and tea houses.
While Prince Charles met Dr Al Tayeb, the Duchess of Cornwall attended a sebou – a traditional celebration usually held on the seventh day after a child’s birth that dates back to Pharaonic times.
The duchess could be seen in videos posted on social media attending a gathering of local women at a house near Al Azhar.
South-west of Cairo, tourists and onlookers at the Giza plateau waited for the royals to arrive amid high security.
“We were asked on Wednesday night to clear out of the Giza complex and instructed to take our camels and horses out of the area,” said one tourism worker at the pyramid complex.
The heir to the British throne arrived as the sun began to set, with a convoy of vehicles snaking through lines of journalists and security personnel to reach the pyramids.
The royal couple were scheduled to make the two-hour journey to Alexandria.
The prince and his wife arrived from Jordan, where they met environmental activists, King Abdullah and other royals and visited the city of Gadara – a major Roman settlement – as well as the site on the Jordan River where Jesus is believed to have been baptised.