Old Project Avalon Forum (ARCHIVE) - View Single Post - QUEEN CANCELS STATE VISIT TO DUBAI AND ABU DHABI - 23-27 March

piers2210 · 02-07-2009, 08:31 AM

The article published today in London's The Times is very interesting.

http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_an...cle5679715.ece

The Queen has cancelled a State Visit to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, scheduled for 23rd to 27th March, due to an overburdened diary, as President Calderon visits London on 30th March followed by the meeting of G20 leaders in London. The unofficial reason is possibly Prince Philip's health.

Bearing in mind the importance of the rulers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, not just to Britain, but to the West, and Britain's extremely close ties to the United Arab Emirates, not to mention the Rulers and the Monarchy's mutual interest in horse racing, this is an amazing step.

The decision would not have been taken lightly, as the article points out, and will have rendered useless months of preparatory work which would go into a major visit of this sort. The visit of the Mexican President and the G20 meeting would have been known for months too.

Anyone care to hazard a guess at any other reason for the cancellation (beyond the official reason)?

It will certainly have disappointed the massive British expat community there.

02-07-2009, 08:31 AM	#1
piers2210 Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 403	QUEEN CANCELS STATE VISIT TO DUBAI AND ABU DHABI - 23-27 March The article published today in London's The Times is very interesting. http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_an...cle5679715.ece The Queen has cancelled a State Visit to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, scheduled for 23rd to 27th March, due to an overburdened diary, as President Calderon visits London on 30th March followed by the meeting of G20 leaders in London. The unofficial reason is possibly Prince Philip's health. Bearing in mind the importance of the rulers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, not just to Britain, but to the West, and Britain's extremely close ties to the United Arab Emirates, not to mention the Rulers and the Monarchy's mutual interest in horse racing, this is an amazing step. The decision would not have been taken lightly, as the article points out, and will have rendered useless months of preparatory work which would go into a major visit of this sort. The visit of the Mexican President and the G20 meeting would have been known for months too. Anyone care to hazard a guess at any other reason for the cancellation (beyond the official reason)? It will certainly have disappointed the massive British expat community there.