The King has spoken for the first time since the release of a controversial new royal book on Tuesday.
The monarch, 75, kicked off his two-day visit to Dubai on Thursday ahead of Cop28. It comes after Omid Scobie’s new book made a number of claims about the royal family.
As Charles met the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he was asked: “How are you?”
The King, wearing a tanned suit, replied: “I’m all right very much… just about. Having had a rather ancient birthday recently, recovering from the shock of that.”
Charles celebrated his 75th birthday on 14 November, stepping out for a number of public engagements as well as a private birthday party at Clarence House.
The King’s meeting with Nigeria’s President was the first of a number of bilateral discussions with world leaders.
Charles also met students and graduates from across the Commonwealth to hear about green tech, sustainable innovations and the role of young people in delivering climate solutions.
On Thursday evening, he will join Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, to formally launch the Cop28 Business and Philanthropy Climate Forum.
Friday will mark a new milestone for Charles as he delivers the opening address at Cop28 – his first as King – having previously opened Cop26 in Glasgow in 2021 and Cop21 in Paris in 2015 when he was Prince of Wales.
Cop28 – or the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – begins at Expo City Dubai on Thursday and runs until December 12.
It will be attended by heads of state and government from across the globe, as well as delegates and climate bodies.
Meanwhile, it is claimed in Mr Scobie’s book that there is a rift between Charles and his son and heir, Prince William.
The author wrote: “Distrust and simmering animosity between father and son are nothing new to their working relationship.”
The Dutch version of the book was pulled from the shelves in The Netherlands on Tuesday, the day of publication, after early reviewers spotted it mentioned a member of the royal family who was said to have questioned Prince Archie’s skin tone before he was born.
In their interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex alleged an unidentified member of the monarchy – but not Queen Elizabeth II or her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh – had raised “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.
Mr Scobie states in his book that two people, not one as Meghan said, made the comment about their son Archie, widely interpreted as a racist remark.
The book’s publisher said in a statement on its website: “Xander Uitgevers is temporarily withdrawing the book Final Battle by Omid Scobie from sale. An error occurred in the Dutch translation and is currently being corrected.”
Speaking to Dutch TV, the writer said: “The book is available in a number of languages and unfortunately I can’t speak Dutch so I haven’t seen the copy for myself, but if there have been any translation errors I am sure the publisher has got it under control.
“For me, I edited and wrote the English version; there has never been a version that I’ve produced that has names in it.”
source: hello magazine .com
