Morocco was Queen’s ‘tour from

WHEN the Queen made her only state visit to Morocco in 1980, it was dubbed the “tour from hell”.

She endured a lengthy wait in a swelteringly hot tent in the desert while ruler Hassan II vanished and went to lounge in his air-conditioned caravan.

Reports told how the Queen was “clearly very angry” and showing signs of displeasure. “Keep your cameras trained. You may see the biggest walkout of all time,” she told stunned photographers.

Royal tours to the North

African country have proved challenging over the years. The Queen’s sister Princess Margaret reportedly warned her: “Going to Morocco is rather like being kidnapped – you never know where you are going or when.”

Hassan II, who ruled from 1961 to 1999, was extremely paranoid, having been targeted in several assassination attempts, so was highly erratic in his movements.

He made the Queen change cars seven times on the road from Marrakesh to the Atlas Mountains. Schedules were thrown into disarray and venues were switched without notice.

At one point, the Queen arrived in full regalia for the King’s state banquet to find the chosen palace closed. She was left waiting for her host for nearly an hour.

Another time, the monarch rounded on the King for criticising one of her aides, telling him: “I’ll thank you not to speak to my staff like that.”

She also overruled him when he cancelled a visit to a Britishfunded Leonard Cheshire centre