Charles to tour Gulf, then joined by Camilla for South Africa trip

Previous tour: Charles and Camilla in India
12 April 2012

Prince Charles is to embark on a tour of the Gulf to recognise the changes brought about by the Arab Spring uprising.

The 10-day trip starts with the Gulf visit at the end of the month and has been organised by the Government and UKTI, the quango that the Duke of York represented abroad.

Camilla will join Charles when he arrives in South Africa at the start of November, with the prince paying for her scheduled flight out of his own pocket.

Charles, who will be accompanied by 14 aides excluding security, will hire a plane to take him on the entire trip, which concludes in Tanzania.

The purpose of the Gulf visit is to mark the 20th anniversary of Kuwait's liberation from Saddam Hussein and its 50th year of independence from Britain.

The Prince will then visit the Emir of Qatar in Doha, maintaining links between the two royal families that saw him intervene in the Chelsea Barracks development. Clarence House was today forced to deny the Duchess of Cornwall was suffering health problems because she will only join him for the second leg of the tour in southern Africa.

Aides also dismissed suggestions that Charles was visiting Kuwait and Qatar in place of his brother, Prince Andrew, who stood down from foreign business trips after a furore about links to questionable regimes.

In South Africa, Charles and Camilla will be shown round the Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg by Nelson Mandela's wife, Gracie Michel, but they will not meet the former president, who has retired to his home village.

They will also visit townships and Camilla will continue her efforts to promote literacy, which has seen her back the Standard's own campaign.

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