THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: He has long been fascinated by the culture and art of the Middle East, and now the Prince of Wales is taking his interest to a new level by having lessons in Arabic, it emerged today.
The Prince modestly told guests at a reception in Qatar that the language “goes in one ear and out the other”, but an aide disclosed that he is so keen to learn it that he has been having private tuition for more than six months.
Understanding Arabic would enable the Prince, who is passionate about encouraging dialogue between different religions, to read the Koran in its original form.
It would also mean he could decipher Arabic script during visits to mosques and museums of Islamic art.
The Prince was in Doha attending the launch of the Qatar-UK Alumni Network, for Qataris who have attended British universities, when he told a group of guests: “You all speak such good English.”
Dr Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, chairman of the association and Qatar’s energy minister, asked the Prince if he spoke any Arabic, and the Prince said: “I tried to learn it once but I gave up. It goes in one ear and out the other.”
Dr Al-Sada told him: “It’s never too late to learn.”
Later, one of the Prince’s aides confirmed that he has been having lessons in Arabic recently, adding: “He is enormously interested in the region.”
The Prince speaks good French, some German, and has also had lessons in Welsh. » | Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter, Doha | Thursday, March 14, 2013
