UK’s Charles hails queen’s kinship with Jordan late king

Britain’s Prince Charles paid tribute Wednesday in Amman to the kinship between his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and Jordan’s late King Hussein, both veteran monarchs.

“I feel this friendship in the most personal of ways, as Jordan has always been a part of my life,” Charles said in a speech at the Jordan Museum.

“His Majesty King Hussein came to the throne in 1952, the same year as my dear mother, the queen,” he said.

“They would be of great mutual support to each other through the decades ahead.”

King Hussein died in 1999 as the world’s longest ruling executive head of state.

The visit to Jordan by the prince who is heir to the throne started a day after Queen Elizabeth, 95, missed an annual remembrance service for fallen soldiers in London on Sunday “having sprained her back”.

However, Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, on Wednesday made her first public appearance in almost a month, hosting a reception at Windsor Castle, west of London.

Prince Charles, accompanied by his wife Camilla met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Hussein’s son and successor, Tuesday at the start of a tour of Jordan and Egypt.

On Wednesday, they also visited the Greco-Roman archaeological site of Um Qais, north of Amman.

The couple are Thursday to travel on to Egypt, which is to host the next round of the UN climate summit in its Sharm el-Sheikh resort next year.

Prince Charles is the most senior royal who travels overseas, representing the Queen, who stopped overseas tours a few years back because of her age.

There has been a heavy focus on him in recent weeks amid the concerns over the monarch’s health.