Prince William Pays Respects on Behalf of Queen Elizabeth for the First Time

This week, Prince William traveled to the United Arab Emirates for the second time this year. His unexpected second visit came in the wake of the death of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE monarch who passed away Friday at age 73.

According to the UK embassy in the UAE, "The Duke of Cambridge met with HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan today to pay his sincere condolences following the death of HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. HRH also offered his warmest congratulations to HH on his appointment as President of the United Arab Emirates."

This is the first time Prince William has traveled to pay respects to a foreign ruler on the behalf of the Queen. Typically, if Queen Elizabeth is unavailable, her son, Prince Charles, steps in. However, Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, are set to undertake a royal tour of Canada beginning tomorrow and he was unable to go to the Middle East.

On Friday, Queen Elizabeth wrote a letter to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed expressing her condolences, writing, "Your distinguished brother devoted his life to serving the people of the United Arab Emirates and his relationship with its allies and friends."

She continued, "He will be long remembered by all who work for regional stability, understanding between nations and between faiths, and for the conservation cause. I offer Your Highness my sincere condolences and I extend my sympathy to the people of the United Arab Emirates."

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed succeeded his half-brother Sheikh Khalifa as president of the UAE. The brothers are both part of the the Al Nahyan royal family, one of the wealthiest royal families in the world. (Forbes estimated their wealth around $150 billion in 2009.)

Prince William was not the only foreign royal to travel to the UAE: Belgium's King Philippe, Spain's King Felipe, Jordan's King Abdullah, Bahrain's King Hamad and Prince Salman, Morocco's Prince Moulay, and Luxembourg's Grand Duke Henri all arrived to pay their respects to Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed.

In February 2022, William met with Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed during his visit to the UAE. It was his first visit to the Gulf country.

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