Dubai: Expatriate Britons in Dubai, excited about the prospect of Queen Elizabeth's impending second visit to the UAE, have reminisced about her first visit in 1979.
Brian Wilkie, MBE, who founded the charity Gulf For Good and Ductac (Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre) remembers the Queen's visit, having lived in Dubai for 34 years. He saw the Queen when she visited the British Embassy in Dubai.
Last year, Wilkie was honoured with the MBE (Member of the British Empire), receiving the award from the Queen in London. "She said I must have seen a lot of changes in all those years [in Dubai]. I think it's brilliant [her visit]. It's certainly overdue, and it's a great sign of how close the ties are becoming between Britain and the UAE. I'd love to see her again, the Queen is very special," he told Gulf News.
The 1979 Gulf tour took the Queen and Prince Philip to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman.
Beryl Comar, NLP trainer, has also lived in Dubai for 34 years. In 1979 she was working for the British Council and was part of a delegation invited aboard the royal yacht Britannia for a reception with the Queen and the then Ruler of Dubai, Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
"We were told initially that we had to wear thin white gloves to shake hands with the Queen, which sent all of us [ladies] into a flurry, because there were no malls back then," she said. "I wrote to my mum in Manchester and asked her to mail me some, but luckily they said we didn't have to wear them in the end."
Comar also met Princess Diana when she visited the Al Ain Women's College in 1989. Lesley Muncey is the chairperson of charitable cat organisation Feline Friends. She too is excited about the Queen's visit.
"I think it's wonderful that Her Majesty is coming to the UAE and hope it will make ties stronger, to bring the Middle East and the West closer together. With quite a lot of bad press recently about the behaviour of a small number of Britons in Dubai, it will be good for all to see our true culture. God bless the Queen."
British Ambassador to the UAE Dominic Jermey told Gulf News in a press statement: "We're delighted that Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh are returning to the UAE at the invitation of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan."
