Veteran Kuwaiti ambassador recalls three decades of memories with the Queen

A veteran Kuwaiti diplomat has recalled his fondest recollections with the Queen over three a long time of formal friendship.

Khaled Abdulaziz Al-Duwaisan, 75, the longest-serving ambassador to Britain, stated he beloved the Queen for her power, data and sense of humour.

Talking with the PA information company from his residence in Kuwait on Friday, Mr Al-Duwaisan stated he met the monarch on greater than 150 events, with the ultimate time being for her Platinum Jubliee this summer time.

Reflecting on this encounter, the recently-retired ambassador stated: “I can’t consider that at this age, her thoughts, her physique, her sense of humour – she was great.

“On a private degree, she preferred me. I like her in fact.”

Mr Al-Duwaisan, who joined Kuwait’s Ministry of International Affairs in 1970, recalled their first assembly in 1993 when he was simply months into the job as a London-based ambassador.

Resulting from royal protocol, his diplomats had to make sure they by no means turned their again to the Queen, which concerned them strolling backwards whereas carrying a conventional males’s cloak, generally known as a Bisht.

Mr Al-Duwaisan stated: “I had about seven diplomats with me, and all of them have been carrying the gown – the large gown taller than them – as a result of that is our system.

“I used to be afraid that in the event that they return they may fall, and it could be embarrassing.”

The veteran ambassador stated that after some dialogue, he discovered a approach for the boys to manoeuvre safely across the Queen. “She preferred it,” he stated.

Mr Al-Duwaisan was later invited for a dinner at Windsor Fortress together with his spouse, the place he sat beside the Queen.

“I’ll always remember that she has a system prior to now, to ask the ambassador to remain in Windsor Fortress, so I went with my spouse at 5 o’clock on the reception and personal dinner,” he stated.

“I used to be on her proper. So we discuss a variety of issues, in fact they instructed me to not discuss politics.

“We had an extended dialog about her youngsters, going to Kuwait – and the Kuwaitis who’re coming to England.

“I stated to her, that’s as a result of the relation between our two nations could be very shut – very, very shut.”

“She confirmed me a giant sword given to King George V from the Sheikh Ahmed Al-Jaber, the daddy of the present emir,” he added.

“I really feel unhappy now to recollect all this with Her Majesty the Queen, however I say to myself, that is life, she lived life, she lived an extended life.

“Britain won’t be the identical as when she was in energy.”

In 1995, the Queen made Mr Al-Duwaisan an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.

He turned Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in 2003, a job which has seen him advise greater than 750 newly-arrived heads of mission about diplomatic life in London.

Mr Al-Duwaisan stated the Queen’s dying has been felt deeply in Kuwait, with many official buildings bearing the British flag to mark her passing.

He stated the monarch supplied a way of stability and fostered an vital relationship between the UK and Kuwait throughout years of turmoil within the nation, together with via the Iraq invasion in 1990.

Britain despatched its largest single deployment of troops for the reason that Second World Struggle to defend the nation, at round 35,000 servicemen and girls.

Western powers additionally feared Iraq would invade Saudi Arabia and seize the area’s oil provides.

Kuwait turned a British protectorate in 1899, and in 1961 it gained independence.

Mr Al-Duwaisan met King Charles III on a number of events, together with 3 times in Kuwait, and he believes “the longer term will likely be good” underneath his reign.