KUWAIT: His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s visit to the United Kingdom, which started earlier on Tuesday, opens a new chapter in the distinguished and deeply-rooted relations between the two friendly countries. This is the fourth visit HH the Crown Prince pays to the United Kingdom since his assumption to post on October 7, 2020. HH Sheikh Mishal visited the UK for the first time on September 18, 2022 as a representative of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to pay tribute to the late Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth States Elizabeth II.

During this visit, HH the Crown Prince met King Charles III. HH Sheikh Mishal visited Britain for the second time on May 6, 2023 to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III as the new King of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth States. On August 28, 2023, HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal visited Britain for the third time upon an official invitation from the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. During his visit, HH Sheikh Mishal sponsored and attended a ceremony held to mark the 70th anniversary of opening the Kuwaiti Investment Office in London.

On the other hand, King Charles III visited Kuwait for the first time on March 12, 1989 when he was the Crown Prince of Britain and the Prince of Wales and he was accompanied by his late wife Prince of Wales Diana Spenser. During this visit, he held talks with the then HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on bolstering bilateral ties.

On November 9, 1993, the then Crown Prince Charles III visited Kuwait for the second time. HH Sheikh Jaber decorated him with the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Medal in recognition of the United Kingdom’s honorable role in the liberation of Kuwait from the Iraqi occupation. On February 21, the Crown Prince Charles III visited Kuwait and held talks with Kuwaiti officials over bilateral ties and several issues of common interest.

Prince Charles III’s fourth visit to Kuwait was on January 17, 2006, to pay tribute to the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. He visited Kuwait also on February 19, 2007, accompanied by his wife Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles. During this visit, he discussed with the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah strengthening bilateral ties.

On October 30, 2011, Prince Charles III visited Kuwait for the sixth time. On February 6, 2015 Prince Charles headed a delegation on a two-day visit to Kuwait. On October 4, 2020, Prince Charles III visited Kuwait and met HH the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to pay tribute to the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

These visits reflected the peculiarity of relations between the two countries which extended over 124 years and underwent several milestones: The signing of the Anglo-Kuwaiti Agreement of 1899 by the late Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah in 1899; The signing of the Kuwait independence agreement in 1961; and the United Kingdom participation in the liberation of the State of Kuwait from the Iraqi occupation in 1990. The first visit paid to the UK by a Kuwaiti official was in October 1919 when Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah visited London as a representative of the then Kuwaiti ruler Sheikh Salem Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah to congratulate King George V on the victory of Britain and Allies in the World War I.

In mid-1935, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber, who became the Amir of Kuwait, paid the second visit to the United Kingdom. The first official visit to Kuwait by a UK official was on February 12, 1979 when Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, visited Kuwait upon an official invitation from the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. — KUNA