COURT CIRCULAR

Windsor Castle 

The Amir of the State of Kuwait today commenced a State Visit at Windsor Castle to The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.

The Prince of Wales welcomed His Highness on behalf of The Queen.

The Amir of the State of Kuwait, accompanied by The Prince of Wales, drove to the Royal Dais in Datchet Road, Windsor, and was met by The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.

The Amir of the State of Kuwait, accompanied by The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh with The Prince of Wales, drove in a Carriage Procession to Windsor Castle with a Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry.

Gun Salutes were fired in the Home Park (Private) by The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company.

A Guard of Honour was provided at Windsor Castle by 1st Battalion Irish Guards.

Her Majesty’s Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, The Queen’s Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard, the Military Knights of Windsor and a Detachment of the Household Cavalry were on duty.

The Amir of the State of Kuwait this afternoon visited the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Camberley, Surrey, and was received by the Commandant (Major General Timothy Evans).

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh gave a State Banquet this evening in honour of The Amir of the State of Kuwait at which The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke of York, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and The Duke of Kent were present.

The following had the honour of being invited:

Suite of The Amir of the State of Kuwait:

His Excellency Sheikh Ahmad Humoud Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior), His Excellency Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah (Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs), His Excellency Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah (Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs), His Excellency Dr Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf (Minister of Finance, Acting Minister of Education, Acting Minister of Higher Education), His Excellency Mr Anas Khalid Al-Saleh (Minister of Commerce and Industry, Minister of State for Housing Affairs), His Excellency Mr Ahmad Fahad Al-Fahad (Director of the Office of The Amir of the State of Kuwait), His Excellency Sheikh Khaled Abdullah Al-Sabah (Chief of Amiri Protocol and Chamberlain), His Excellency Ambassador Mohammad Abdulla Abo Al-Hassan (Advisor at the Amiri Diwann), His Excellency Mr Khaled Sulaiman Al-Jarallah (Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), His Excellency Mr Khaled Al-Duwaisan (Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the United Kingdom and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps) and Mrs Al-Duwaisan, His Excellency Mr Yousef Hamad Al-Roumi (Under-Secretary for Information and Cultural Affairs at the Amiri Diwan), His Excellency Sheikh Fawaz Saud Al-Sabah (Under-Secretary for Economic and Political Affairs at the Amiri Diwan), His Excellency Sheikh Sabah Al-Sabah (Political Department of the Office of The Amir of the State of Kuwait), His Excellency Ambassador Sheikh Dr Ahmed Al-Sabah (Director, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister’s Office), and Mr Mazen Al-Essa (Political Department of the Office of The Amir of the State of Kuwait).

Special Kuwaiti Invitations:

Mr Bader Al-Saad (Head of the Kuwait Investment Authority), Mr Khaled Abdulmohsin Al-Babtain (Chief Executive Officer, Al-Babtain Group), Mr Saleh Yaqoub Al-Homaizi (Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Al-Homaizi Group), Mr Abdullah Soud Al-Humaidhi (Chief Executive Officer, Commercial Facilities Company), Mr Isam Al-Sager (Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Bank of London and the Middle East), Mr Fahad Boodai (Chief Executive Officer, Gatehouse Bank London) and Sheikha Azzain Alsabah Budei, Mr Hamad Al-Marzouq (Chief Executive Officer, Ahli United Bank), Mr Ayman Boodai (Head of the Kuwait Stock Exchange Market), Mr Dabous Al-Dabous, Ambassador Abdulla Bishara (Chairman, North Africa Holding Company), Mr Fahad Al-Bahar (Chairman, Fahad Al-Bahar Sons Trading Company), Mr Mohammed Al-Shaya (Chief Executive Officer, Al-Shaya Group), Mr Mohammed Al-Naki (Chairman, Kuwait Industries Company Holding), Ambassador Walid Al-Khubaizi (Head of Europe Directorate, Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry), and Ms Safa Al-Hashim (Chairman and Director, Advantage Consulting Company).

Specially attached to The Amir of the State of Kuwait:

The Viscount Hood (Lord in Waiting) and the Viscountess Hood, Mr Frank Baker (Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the State of Kuwait) and Mrs Baker, and Lieutenant Commander Andrew Canale RN (Equerry in Waiting).

Diplomatic Corps:

His Excellency the Ambassador of the State of Qatar and Mrs Mooza Saif Al-Mansouri, His Excellency the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Prince Mohamed Bin Nawaf Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud), His Excellency the High Commissioner for the Republic of Cyprus and Mrs Aliki Pascali, His Excellency the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt and Mrs Seif El Nasr, His Excellency the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (Mr Abdulrahman Ghanem Almutaiwee), His Excellency the Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman and Mrs Al Hinai, and Her Excellency the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain (Ms Alice Samaan).

The Cabinet and Government:

The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Mrs Hague, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Hon Mrs Osborne, the Leader of the House of Lords and the Lady Strathclyde, and the Lord Alderdice (Convenor, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party in the House of Lords).

Special Invitations:

The Lord Speaker, the Baroness D’Souza, the Earl Marshal and the Duchess of Norfolk, the Earl and Countess of Home, the Lord Foster of Thames Bank and the Lady Foster, the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean and Mr Philip Bassett, the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords, the Baroness Royal of Blaisdon, the Lord Chief Justice and the Lady Judge, the Rt Hon Sir John Major and Dame Norma Major, the Rt Hon Edward Miliband and Mrs Miliband, General Sir David and Lady Richards, Sir Mervyn and Lady King, General Sir Peter and Lady Wall, Sir Jeremy and Lady Heywood, Sir Kim and Lady Darroch, Sir Ian and Lady Johnston, Sir John Armitt and Ms Beverley McGregor, Mr Simon Fraser, Major General and Mrs George Norton, the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and the Lady Mayoress, Mr and Mrs Douglas Flint, Dr and Mrs Farhan Ahmad Nizami, Mr Osama Al-Ayoub and Ms Abeer Alfahed, Dr and Mrs Ulrich Bez, Mr Victor Chavez and Mrs Fiona Black, Mr and Mrs John Connolly, Professor Anoush Ehteshami and Professor Emma Murphy, Mr and Mrs Nicholas Flew, Mr and Mrs Charles Geffen, Mr and Mrs Richard Olver, Mr Robin Southwell, Mr Carl-Henric Svanberg and Ms Louise Julian, and Mr and Mrs Robert Yerbury.

St James’s Palace 

The Duchess of Cambridge this evening opened the Treasures Gallery at the Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7, and was received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London (Sir David Brewer).

Buckingham Palace 

The Countess of Wessex, Patron, Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, this afternoon attended an Honours and Giving Voice Awards Ceremony at Church House Conference Centre Westminster, Dean’s Yard, London SW1.

Buckingham Palace 

The Princess Royal, President, Animal Health Trust, this morning chaired the Industry Committee Meeting and subsequently the Council of Management Meeting and later opened a Cancer Centre at Lanwades Park, Kentford, Newmarket, and was received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk (the Lord Tollemache).

Her Royal Highness, President, Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, this afternoon received Sir Alan Rudge at Windsor Castle upon relinquishing his appointment as Chairman and Mr Bernard Taylor upon assuming the appointment.

Kensington Palace 

The Duke of Gloucester, Grand Prior, the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, this morning installed the Most Reverend Desmond Tutu as Prior for South Africa in St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, South Africa, and afterwards attended a Luncheon at Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town.

His Royal Highness this evening departed from Cape Town for the United Kingdom.