Queen Camilla pulls out of welcome for Emir of Qatar state visit as Kate Middleton steps in – Royal family news

The Queen has had to pull out of the welcome for the Emir of Qatar’s two-day state visit to the UK that is being hosted by the King, while the Princess of Wales has stepped in.

Charles will welcome Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the first of his three wives, Sheikha Jawaher, during a ceremony of pomp and pageantry staged in Whitehall on Tuesday.

But missing will be Camilla who, on Monday evening, pulled out of the official open-air greeting on Horse Guards Parade and a carriage ride back to Buckingham Palace, due to lingering effects of a recent viral chest infection.

She will join the royal party later for a private lunch with the Emir and his wife and will also take part in all but one of the elements of the evening state banquet at Buckingham Palace, staged in honour of the Emir.

Meanwhile, the Prince and Princess of Wales will take part in the ceremony on Horse Guards Parade, one of the few official appearances by Kate during a year in which she has been successfully treated for cancer.

The princess has been gradually returning to royal duties after she announced in September she had completed her chemotherapy treatment and her focus was “doing what I can to stay cancer free”.

She will travel with her husband in the carriage procession and the couple will join Charles and Camilla as they host a lunch for their guests Sheikh Tamim and Sheikha Jawaher.

However, Kate will not attend the state banquet hosted by the King, although William will be a guest.

Doctors have urged Camilla, 77, to take time to rest and recover fully because of the lingering effects of the illness, contracted a month ago following her long-haul trip to Australia and Samoa, which include diminished reserves of energy.

The event will be broadcast as part of the programme Royal Carols: Together At Christmas, screened on ITV1 and ITVX on Christmas Eve, and it will feature three films about the stories of people and organisations who have inspired, counselled and comforted others in their times of need.

Alongside the event at Westminster Abbey, 15 community carol services will take place around the UK in the coming days, to provide a moment for people to come together and celebrate community work during the festive season.

Hosted by Lord Lieutenants, and supported by William and Kate’s Royal Foundation, these events will be tailored to their local communities and include elements of the Westminster Abbey service – including Kate’s letter.

King Charles’s decades’ old celebration of traditional architecture, arts and handicrafts is being embraced by the Arab world, now keen to promote their own arts and crafts in similar fashion.

This week an agreement effectively uniting the commitment of two kingdoms was signed in Riyadh. The co-operation agreement commits The King’s Foundation to participate in Saudi Arabia’s Year of Handicrafts 2025 initiative through the Foundation’s School of Traditional Arts.

The signing ceremony on Wednesday was attended by Prince Bader bin Farhan, minister of culture, at the Saudi International Handicrafts Week Exhibition in Riyadh. Khaled Omar Azzam, director of the traditional arts school at The King’s Foundation, and Hamed Fayez, deputy minister of culture, also attended the signing of the agreement, which aims to revive and promote handicrafts in Saudi Arabia throughout 2025.

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“I love the holidays,” Meghan shared enthusiastically. “Archie and Lilibet are now three and five, so every year it gets better.”

Fewer than 3% of the UK’s hospitals have accepted a free portrait of the King after more than 20,500 were made available following his coronation.

The scheme was launched in November 2023, and was billed as a chance to commemorate Charles’ reign.

The portrait, showing Charles in the Royal Navy uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet, was taken by photographer Hugo Bernard at Windsor Castle last year.

It was offered free to public institutions by the last Conservative government, but the scheme has seen mixed success.

Take-up has ranged from 100% of Coastguard centres, to just 40 of the nation’s 1,454 hospitals – or 2.75%.

The second highest take-up was Lord Lieutenancies at 76.7%, while the second lowest was universities and higher education institutions at just 7.4%.

Only 25.5% of Church of England churches accepted the offer, despite the King being the head of the Church.

The total cost of the scheme was £2,710,705.50 with an average price of £131.81 per portrait. The total number of portraits commissioned was 20,565.

The cost of King Charles’ coronation has been revealed, with government accounts showing that £72 million in taxpayer money was spent on the event.

An annual report from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) shows that it spent £50.3 million on the coronation. This was alongside the £21.7 million in policing costs for the royal event.

The coronation took place on 6 May 2023, marking the crowning of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Around 18 million viewers tuned in to watch the ceremony on the BBC – fewer than the 28 million that watched Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

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It looks as though Meghan Markle’s lifestyle brand may be still be months away from launching, as lawyers for the duchess request an extension for her trademark application.

Meghan originally soft-launched her brand American Riviera Orchard back in March with prospective customers told to join a waiting list to keep them updated on products, thought to include jams and other lifestyle goods.

However, the brand, has suffered a series of setbacks in the months since, and they are yet to begin trading.

Her inititial trademark application was refused by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in September, noting that American Riviera was a “common nickname” for Santa Barbara.

She was given three-months to address the issue, with lawyers now filing a request for another three month extension.

Earl Spencer has gushed over his new partner, “brilliant archaologist” and Nordic Person of the Year, Dr Cat Jarman.

The brother of the late Princess Diana met Professor Jarman, who is also the co-host of a podcast he produces, on his own family estate in 2021, as she searched for the remains of an ancient Roman villa for a Channel 4 documentary.

“I’m too old for hearts and flowers stuff, but the best way to describe it is that with Cat, I can be myself,” Earl Spencer told MailOnline.

“She knows who I am. Who I really am. I don’t have to pretend to be something I am not. And she brings out the best in me.”

Prince Harry could reportedly cite the decision to provide Taylor Swift with a police escort as she performed in London in his own security case against the Government.

The singer was provided with an escort to Wembley Stadium in August after a foiled terror plot forced her to cancel her shows in Vienna earlier that month.

The duke is currently embroiled in his own legal battle against the home office over their decision to remove police protection for him after he stepped down from official duties. Though he lost the case this year, he is due to challenge the ruling in the Court of Appeal.

The Telegraph has now reported that the duke could use the decision to provide Swift with police protection to bolster his own case.

The Duke’s spokesman declined to comment but a source close to the situation told the newspaper: “The decision to provide a police escort for Taylor Swift has exposed troubling inconsistencies in how protection decisions are reached.”

They added: “The dangers to Taylor Swift were and are real, but so are those faced by Prince Harry and his family.

“There may well be no imminent threat, but there is always risk, risk that can be mitigated by the tactics used by the Met Police on the day.”