The Prince of Wales, who arrived in the country on Feb. 9, is spending the day seeing the conservation efforts under way in the desert kingdom
Aaron Chown – Pool/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Prince William is spending the third day of his visit to Saudi Arabia at AlUla, a world heritage site
- The Prince of Wales is focusing on seeing the conservation and regeneration efforts in the historic region
- It comes as the royals weather the storm over the latest revelations in the Epstein files
Prince William is spending a day in Saudi Arabia learning about the conservation efforts in the desert kingdom.
The Prince of Wales, 43, is on the third and final day of his visit to the country and was taken to a historic area.
In AlUla, William was taken to the Sharaan Nature Reserve, where he met rangers helping the crucial conservation efforts being made to protect the area's natural wildlife and landscape. William has championed rangers and other wildlife guardians around the world (and made a series of short films about wildlife heroes around the world), and supports them through backing the charity Tusk and rewarding them through his Earthshot Prize and United for Wildlife coalition.
Then, deeper into the reserve, Prince William heard about the tree-planting initiative and learn about the fragile ecosystem's geology of the area. The rangers help protect native species and have been undertaking a reintroduction program to bring back gazelles, Arabian oryx and the critically endangered Arabian Leopard and restore acacia woodlands.
Aaron Chown – Pool/Getty
Later, in AlUla Old Town, the royal heir was shown around a building named for his title: Prince of Wales House. The U.K.'s new cultural space is based there, and he was shown some of the collaborations between Saudi Arabia and the U.K. on culture, creativity and regeneration.
The prince was expected to join in and help some young Saudis with the final stage of painting for the building’s renovation.
Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace
Prince William is visiting the country on behalf of the U.K. government and as a crucial part of his diplomatic role as heir to the throne.
As he has continued with his travel, William's trip has been dogged by headlines about what's happening back in the U.K.: the reaction to the ongoing revelations from the release of the Jeffrey Epstein-related files by the Department of Justice.
On the day of his arrival, he and his wife, Kate Middleton, 44, issued a statement addressing the situation and reiterating support for the victims of the late convicted sex offender.
Later that day, King Charles' team at Buckingham Palace said that they supported the police as they assessed a complaint alleging that and allegations that the King's brother, the former Prince Andrew, shared confidential information related to his role as a trade envoy with Epstein.
Towards the end of the day, William, accompanied by Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud, Minister of Culture and Governor of the Royal Commission for AlUla, met artists who have been working on a project with the educational and cultural body, the British Council, to spread knowledge about the regeneration of the Old Town and its central role in AlUla’s cultural comeback.
William is scheduled to end the three-day tour by meeting farmers at AlUla’s Oasis and Eco-Gardening Farm and learn about their commitment to sustainable farming and to preserving AlUla’s rich agricultural history.
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The Eco-Gardening Farm promotes the area’s traditional agriculture and creates links between farmers, the local population and travelers through ecotourism, agricultural training and educational workshops for schools in the community.
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